Chapter 4 From the Diary of Anne Frank

(1) Diary

(2) Log

(3) Journal

(4) Memoir

Diary writing was a strange experience for Anne Frank because of two reasons, first she never had a diary and second it was a birthday gift. She considered it her best friend on which she relied the most and with whom she shared all her ups and downs.

 Anne decided to keep a  diary, as she had no "true" friend. Anne always feels lonely and distressed so to get out of all these burden and pain she wants to keep a diary in which she finds a true friend.Her caring parents, elder sister and thirty people are there whom she called her friends

Anne felt that writing diary is much better than people to listen to her without any judgement. Therefore she decided to write and reveal everything in a diary that was easier for her to write all kind of thoughts which are running in her mind. She wanted to write to get the things off her chest.

Anne provide a brief sketch of her life by giving the description of her family, relatives and her age which helped the reader to build a connection with the author.

Anne revealed that she loved her grandmother as she lived with her for sometime while her parents were in Holland. She was attached to her Grandmother. It is written in her diary that “No one knows that how much she thinks of her and  still love her the most”. On her 13th birthday, she lightened up a candle for Grandmother to show her love. 

Mr Keesing was annoyed with Anne because of her talkative nature. Extra homework given to her by Mr Keesing to write essays as punishment to keep her silent and the topics always related to her nature.

Anne justified her being a chatterbox in her essay by explaining that it is due to her mother who was also very talkative and nobody could do anything about their inherited traits.

No, Mr Keesing was not a strict teacher because a teacher did something for the welfare of his students.  Like every other loyal and motivated teacher, he wanted his students to concentrate on their studies.  Any teacher would be annoyed ifchildren keep on talking in the class. Secondly, if he had been strict he would not have laughed at Anne’s funny arguments.

Mr Keesing allowed Anne to talk in class because of her last essay in the form of a poem showed him the lighter side of a naughty child that helped bridge the generation gap between the teacher and the student.

Anne was not right when she said that the world would not be interested in the musings of a thirteen-year-old. Instead She became one of the most discussed of all holocaust victims. It was not just an article to jot down facts like other people. Her ‘diary’ has been translated into many language.

The diary of Anne was originally written in Dutch. It was different from the others in many aspects. It is closer to the memoir in which the name of Raj Kapoor has been mentioned. It was written in Dutch originally. It has informal tone which explains the careful nature of a teenager.

To clear the doubts , Anne gave an introduction of her family in the ‘diary’ because it was hard to make other realise that a 13 years old teenager could write about her loneliness. Kitty was outsider gifted by her parents on her birthday but she treated it as her best friend and an insider.

Anne expressed her feelings  that she has very lovely and caring family. She was loved by them a lot. The way she represents all of them in her diary reveals that Anne was very good at understanding people and at developing interpersonal relations.

'A Chatterbox' is the title of her first essay in which she wanted to write convincing arguments to prove the necessity of talking. She accepted the disadvantages of being talkative but argued that it's in her genes as her mother was also very talkative. It was difficult to change the habit suddenly.   Mr Keesing laughed at her argument after reading her essay.

Mr Keesing was seen as unpredictable because he seemed to be indifferent towards Annes’ behaviour. Firstly he laughed at her but allowed Anne to talk in the class after reading her essays.

1.A. Anne is introvert. 

2.A. She is self-confident and creative.

3.A. She has a good sense of humour.

4.A. She is intelligent and sincere.

5.A. She has a concerned and convincing attitude.