From the Diary of Anne Frank
Questions & Answers
- What makes writing in a diary a strange experience for Anne Frank?
Answer: Writing in a diary is a strange experience for Anne because she has never written anything before. Furthermore, she believes that neither she nor anyone else would be interested in the musings of a thirteen-year-old schoolgirl in the future. - Why does Anne want to keep a diary?
Answer: Anne wants to keep a diary because she feels she has no “true” friend to whom she can open her heart. Although she has a loving family and many acquaintances, she lacks a close confidant. She also believes that “paper has more patience than people.” - Why did Anne think she could confide more in her diary than in people?
Answer: Anne felt she could confide more in her diary because paper is a silent, non-judgmental listener. Unlike people, a diary does not get bored, impatient, or dismissive of her feelings, allowing her to express her deepest thoughts without fear of being misunderstood. - Why does Anne provide a brief sketch of her life?
Answer: Anne provides a brief sketch because she realizes that no one would understand her stories to her diary, “Kitty,” if she dived straight in. The background information about her family and childhood provides necessary context for her readers. - What tells you that Anne loved her grandmother?
Answer: Anne’s love for her grandmother is evident from her diary entries where she mentions thinking of her often. After her grandmother’s death in 1942, Anne stayed behind in Aachen while her parents moved to Holland, deepening their bond. She even lit a special candle for her grandmother on her own birthday, showing she remembered her with a heavy heart. - Why was Mr. Keesing annoyed with Anne? What did he ask her to do?
Answer: Mr. Keesing, her math teacher, was annoyed with Anne because she was incredibly talkative during his classes. As a punishment, he assigned her extra homework: writing an essay on the subject, “A Chatterbox.” - How did Anne justify her being a chatterbox in her essay?
Answer: Anne argued that talking is a “student’s trait” and that she would do her best to keep it under control. However, she justified it further by saying it was an inherited trait, as her mother talked just as much as she did, and there is little one can do about inherited qualities. - Do you think Mr. Keesing was a strict teacher?
Answer: While Mr. Keesing initially appeared strict because he punished Anne for talking, he wasn’t a “bad” teacher. He had a sense of humor and eventually took Anne’s jokes in the right spirit, showing he valued the cleverness of his students once a bridge was built between them. - What made Mr. Keesing allow Anne to talk in class?
Answer: Anne’s third essay, written in the form of a humorous poem about a father swan who bites his ducklings for talking too much, finally won Mr. Keesing over. He realized the “lighter side” of her personality and stopped punishing her, even joining in on the jokes. - Was Anne right when she said that the world would not be interested in the musings of a thirteen-year-old girl?
Answer: Factually, Anne was wrong, as her diary became one of the most famous books in the world. However, her perspective was understandable at the time; most people do not expect a young teenager to have such profound or historically significant insights. - How is Anne’s diary different from others? What language was it written in?
Answer: Anne’s diary was originally written in Dutch. It is different because she treats the diary as a person (“Kitty”) rather than just a log of events. Her writing is informal, intimate, and possesses a mature, self-reflective tone that distinguishes it from a standard journal. - Why does Anne give a brief sketch about her family? Does she treat Kitty as an insider or an outsider?
Answer: She gives a sketch to provide a foundation for her stories. While the diary was technically an object (an outsider), Anne treated Kitty as the ultimate insider—her “best friend” to whom she revealed secrets she wouldn’t share with anyone else. - How does Anne feel about her father, grandmother, Mrs. Kuperus, and Mr. Keesing?
Answer: Anne had deep affection for her father (whom she called the most adorable father) and her grandmother. She was also very attached to her headmistress, Mrs. Kuperus. Her relationship with Mr. Keesing evolved from annoyance to mutual respect. These relationships show that Anne was highly observant and emotionally intelligent. - What does Anne write in her first essay?
Answer: In “A Chatterbox,” she acknowledged that talking was a weakness but argued it was a necessary student trait. She humorously claimed that since it was a habit inherited from her mother, it was an “incurable” condition. - Anne says teachers are unpredictable. Is Mr. Keesing unpredictable?
Answer: Yes, Mr. Keesing proved to be unpredictable. Initially, he seemed like a rigid disciplinarian who would keep giving her punishments, but he surprised Anne by laughing at her poem and ultimately changing his attitude toward her talking. - What do these statements tell you about Anne Frank as a person?
“We don’t seem to be able to get any closer…”
Insight: Anne is self-aware and introspective; she recognizes her own difficulty in opening up to others.
“I want the diary to be my friend.”
Insight: She is imaginative, lonely, and seeks a deeper emotional connection than what she finds in her daily life.
“I was plunked down on the table as a birthday present for Margot.”
Insight: She has a great sense of humor and a playful way of looking at her own life.
“The trick was to come up with convincing arguments…”
Insight: She is highly intelligent, logical, and has a strong sense of propriety—she doesn’t just want to finish the task; she wants to win the argument.