Class 10 English Chapter 7 The Girl Who Was Anne Frank

Comprehension I: The Girl Who Was Anne Frank

Question 1.
Why does the professor say, “I have read Anne Frank’s diary”?
Answer:
The professor mentioned reading Anne Frank’s diary when a student questioned him on how he could be certain that humanity was worth saving.

Question 2.
What does his statement imply?
Answer:
His statement implies that every human life has value and that all races are precious and worth preserving.

Question 3.
Who was Anne’s father?
Answer:
Anne’s father, Otto Frank, was a banker who lived in Germany.

Question 4.
Give one example of the popularity of Anne Frank’s Diary.**
Answer:
After Anne Frank’s diary was published by her father, people sent numerous gifts, including exquisite dolls from Japanese girls, and flowers were sent anonymously on the birthdays of Anne and her sister Margot.

Question 5.
a) Name the members of Mr. Otto Frank’s family.**
Answer:
The members of Mr. Otto Frank’s family were his wife, Mrs. Frank, and his two daughters, Margot and Anne. His mother was also alive, but she had emigrated to Switzerland long before.

b) What impression did people have about Anne?**
Answer:
People generally thought that Anne’s elder sister, Margot, was more promising, while Anne was not considered to be particularly brilliant as a student.

Question 6.
Why did Otto Frank decide to migrate to the Netherlands? Give two reasons.
Answer:
Otto Frank decided to migrate to the Netherlands in the autumn of 1933 because Hitler began enacting anti-Jewish laws, and the Netherlands was hospitable, allowing him to start a small business.

Question 7.
Who was Mr. Van Daan?
Answer:
Mr. Van Daan was a fellow refugee whom Otto Frank took in as a partner in his business.

Question 8.
What qualities of Mr. Frank did his staff admire?
Answer:
Mr. Frank’s staff admired his warm personality, courage, and the attention he gave to ensuring a good education for his two daughters.

Question 9.
Paragraph 7 refers to a lucky fact. What was that lucky fact?
Answer:
The lucky fact was that the Franks lived in a town surrounded by friends, allowing the girls to lead a happy life, even though the family could rarely afford holidays and did not own a car.

Question 10.
What finally forced Frank to go into hiding?
Answer:
In early July 1942, Margot Frank received a deportation notice, but she did not comply, which forced the family to go into hiding.

Question 11.
Where did Otto Frank and others hide?
Answer:
Otto Frank prepared rooms on the upper floors of his business office, known as the ‘Annexe,’ where his family, the Van Daan family, and a Jewish dentist hid.

Question 12.
How many people managed to hide in the Annexe, and who were they?
Answer:
In total, eight people hid in the Annexe: Mr. Otto Frank, his wife, their two daughters, the Van Daan family, and a Jewish dentist.

Question 13.
What helped the hiding party maintain contact with the outside world?
Answer:
The hiding party kept in touch with the outside world through the radio and the help of Otto Frank’s four courageous staff members, two of whom were typists who secretly brought them food, magazines, and books.

Question 14.
What did Anne Frank record in her diary?
Answer:
Anne Frank recorded her life in the Annexe, detailing the tensions and conflicts, and created a delicate and honest account of her adolescent thoughts and feelings.

Question 15.
How did Anne compare herself to a songbird?
Answer:
Anne compared herself to a songbird with clipped wings, trapped and flying in darkness against the bars of its own cage.

Question 16.
What does Anne reveal about her mother in the diary?**
Answer:
Anne expresses her grief in her diary, feeling that her mother does not understand her.

Question 17.
How did Anne try to keep her diary a secret?**
Answer:
Anne hid her diary in her father’s briefcase to keep it a secret from everyone.

Question 18.
Pick out two examples from paragraph 16 of the inhumane treatment of Jews by the Nazis.
Answer:
The Jews were transported in cattle trucks to Auschwitz, a Nazi death camp in Poland, where men and women were separated and tortured to the point that many died from exhaustion.

Question 19.
Why does the writer call Anne a courageous leader?
Answer:
The writer describes Anne as a courageous leader because, despite the harsh conditions, she bravely went to the kitchen at the Auschwitz Concentration Camp to ask for food and encouraged her sister and others to stay strong.

Question 20.
Describe Anne’s physical state during her last days in the concentration camp as depicted in paragraph 18.
Answer:
Anne was frail, starving, had her head shaved, and her skeletal frame was dressed in the coarse, striped clothing of the camp. She was very weak and suffering from typhoid fever.

Question 21.
When and where did Miep find Anne’s diary?
Answer:
Miep found Anne’s diary when she returned to the Annexe a week after the Frank family had been arrested.

Question 22.
Why does the writer believe that Miep would have destroyed the diary if she had read it?
Answer:
The writer thinks Miep would have destroyed the diary for safety reasons, as it detailed the assistance she and others provided to the Franks at great personal risk.

Question 23.
Why did Mr. Frank take a long time to finish reading the diary?
Answer:
It took Mr. Frank several weeks to finish reading the diary because he would break down in tears every few pages, overwhelmed by emotion.

Question 24.
What became the mission of Mr. Frank’s life?
Answer:
Preserving and sharing his daughter’s diary became Mr. Frank’s mission and purpose in life.

Question 25.
How did Mr. Frank use the royalties from the publishers?
Answer:
Mr. Frank donated all the royalties he received to humanitarian causes that he believed Anne would have supported.

Question 26.
How did German audiences respond to the tragic play about Anne Frank?
Answer:
German audiences responded in silent remorse. During the interval, people stayed in their seats, seemingly afraid to face the lights and ashamed to look at one another.

Question 27.
How did “The Diary of Anne Frank” succeed where German administrators had failed?
Answer:
The Diary of Anne Frank succeeded in making people realize the cruelty and criminality of the Nazi regime, something that years of post-war administration efforts had failed to accomplish.

Question 28.
Why did the people of Berlin choose Anne Frank’s name for a home?
Answer:
The people of Berlin named the home after Anne Frank because she represented the spirit of racial and social tolerance.

Comprehension II. The Girl Who Was Anne Frank

Question 1
How did Anne’s Diary open the eyes of Germans to the viciousness of racial persecution?
Answer:

When Anne Frank’s diary was published, it quickly gained worldwide recognition. It was adapted into a play by Frances Goodrich and Albert Hackett, won the Pulitzer Prize, and was performed in 20 countries for over two million people. Audiences responded to Anne’s tragic story with deep remorse; in Dusseldorf, people remained silent even during the intermission, moved by the portrayal.

After the war, it was estimated that out of the 107,000 Jews deported from the Netherlands between 1942 and 1944, only 5,000 survived. Approximately 30,000 Jews who remained in the Netherlands were aided by the Dutch underground, with around two-thirds surviving the war. Through her diary, Anne gave the world a profound view of the devastation brought on by racial persecution, describing her hope for humanity even while trapped in a world of hatred. Her story succeeded in showing Germans the horrific consequences of racial intolerance and persecution.

Question 2
From your study of this write-up, what do you understand about Anne Frank’s mind and heart?
Answer:

Anne Frank was a lively, social girl who found the confinement of hiding very difficult. However, she maintained a positive outlook, creating a friendly and imaginative world for herself. She was articulate, insightful, and sensitive to her surroundings—qualities that set her apart from other teenagers in hiding.

Anne wrestled with deep thoughts about how to remain a good person amidst the cruelty surrounding her. She reflected philosophically on war, humanity, and her identity as a young Jewish girl in challenging times. Her writings reveal a mind filled with potential and the ability to express herself with depth and sophistication. Anne’s diary shows her to be an engaging and thoughtful writer who could have developed into a compelling voice in literature.

Question 3.
What glimpses of Nazi cruelty do you see in this write-up?
Answer:

The Nazis harboured intense hatred toward Jews, enforcing numerous oppressive rules. Jews were often summoned by the police without cause and then deported to concentration camps where they faced inhumane conditions. Families were separated, and many, including children, died of starvation, disease, and typhus.

The Jews were transported to camps in overcrowded cattle trucks, with adults often sent directly to gas chambers upon arrival. Anne, just 15 years old, initially avoided this fate along with her mother and sister, only to face the horrors of starvation and typhus in the camp. Conditions were barbaric, with women and children stripped of dignity, deprived of food, and left without proper clothing. The Nazis showed no compassion, treating the Jews with utmost cruelty and disregard for human life.

Vocabulary Exercises: The Girl Who Was Anne Frank

A. Give one-word substitutes to the following (look for the words in the lesson).

1. The stage of life between childhood and adulthood: Adolescence
2. Accusing somebody officially about something: Indictment
3. A name that is not made public: Anonymous
4. cruelly treating somebody because of their race, political, or religious beliefs: Persecution
5. To leave one’s own country and go to live permanently in another: Emigrate
6. An order having the force of law: Decree
7. A building that is added to a larger one: Annex
8. Forcing somebody to leave a country because they have no legal right to be there: Deportation
9. The state of being extremely tired: Exhaustion
10. To see that something is going to happen in the future: Foresee

A. Letter Writing :

Assume that you are a child like Anne Frank who is in a secluded place living with the fear of being killed. Write a letter to your friend about your life.

25th May 2014

Dear Margaret,

I hope this letter reaches you in good health and high spirits. How I long to see you and our city again! I can’t reveal where I’m hiding because if the terrorists discover it, it would mean the end for all of us here.

There are about twenty of us sheltering in a small hut deep in a remote forest. The area is so dense with trees and thick underbrush that it’s almost impossible for anyone to find us. But it’s swarming with insects and snakes, and many of us have fallen ill with various fevers. Without medicines, some people’s conditions are becoming serious, and every day feels like a struggle to survive.

At night, it’s unbearably cold, but we dare not light a fire for warmth, as even a flicker might expose our location. We have no warm clothing either, so we endure the chill as best we can. There’s no contact with the outside world, and the hope of ever leaving this place safely feels distant. I am writing this letter and leaving it here with the thought that, if someday our hiding place is discovered, you’ll understand the horror we faced.

We live in constant fear, always on edge, and it feels as though only God can help us now. Please keep us in your prayers.

Yours sincerely,
Nancy

Summary of “The Girl Who Was Anne Frank”