Class 10 English Chapter 1 Question Answers - First Flight

Short Answer Questions

Q1: In what way did Anne’s diary become the most widely read book?
Ans: The diary of Anne provides a close examination of her daily life. Her original work was in Dutch language. Then there came several films, television and theatrical productions of her diary.

Q2: Why did Anne feel like writing?
OR
Anne wrote in her diary to get things off her chest. List any two reasons why getting things off one’s chest is recommended by counsellors as therapeutic. (CBSE QUESTION BANK)
Ans: Anne had no real friend. Even she had a greater need to get all kinds of things off her chest. So she felt like writing. Though she had a whim that none would take interest in her views because of her small age.

Q3: Anne was not alone in this world. How?
Ans: Anne was not alone in this world. She had loving parents and a sixteen year old sister She had a deep intimacy with thirty people She could call them friends. She had a family, loving aunts and a sweet home.

Q4: What were Anne’s thoughts on having a true friend?
Ans: Anne thought that one could have a good time with a true friend. Friendship brings closeness and helps in confiding in each other though we can talk about ordinary things with anybody else too.

Q5: What did Anne tell about her father?
Ans: Anne said that her father was the most adorable man. He married at the age of thirty six and her mother was twenty five at that time.

Q6: What shows that Anne was deeply in love with her grandmother?
OR
Grandma had a significant place in Anne’s heart. Explain. (CBSE 2012)
Ans: Anne loved her grandmother from the core of her heart. She died in January 1942, but Anne still went on loving her. When her birthday was being celebrated in 1942, a special candle was lit for her as well.

Q7: Why was Anne’s entire class quacking in the boots?
Ans: Anne’s entire class was shaking with fear and nervousness because of the forthcoming teacher’s meeting. The teachers had to decide who would move up to the next grade and who would be kept back or not promoted.

Q8: Why was Anne in tears when she left the Montessori school?
Ans: Anne studied at the Montessary school. She stayed there till she was in the sixth form. She was very much attached to her teacher and headmistress Mrs Kuperus. At the end of the year they were both in tears as they bid a heartbreaking farewell.

Q9: Where did Anne stay before going to Holland?
Ans: Anne’s father emigrated to Holland in 1933 and her mother went with him in September. Anne and her sister did not go with their parents. They were sent to Aachen to stay with their grandmother

Q10: Why did Anne feel alone?
Ans: Anne felt alone though she had loving parents, relatives and thirty friends. It was because she could not confide in them. Though she enjoyed their company, yet she could not get close to any one of them.

Long Answer Questions
Q11: What punishment did Mr Keesing give to Anne Frank? How did she finally stop him from punishing? (CBSE 2012)
OR
Enumerate any two reasons that justify Mr. Keesing’s displeasure at Anne’s talking in class. (CBSE QUESTION BANK)
Ans: Mr Keesing was an old-fashioned maths teacher. Anne talked too much during Mr Keesing’s class and this annoyed him. He gave her several warnings but that did not keep Anne away from talking in the class. So Mr Keesing had to punish her time and again. Mr Keesing assigned her some extra homework as a punishment for talking in the class. He asked her to write an essay on the subject A Chatterbox. On the second occasion, she was asked to write an essay, on the subject An Incorrigible Chatterbox On the third occasion, Mr. Keesing assigned her a more difficult topic : “Quack Quack, Quack, Said Mistress Chatterbox.”
Mr Keesing was trying to play a joke on her when he asked her to write an essay entitled “Quack Quack, Quack Said Mistress Chatterbox” so she decided to play a joke on Mr Keesing himself. She had nearly exhausted her ingenuity on the topic of chatterboxes. Her friend Sanne suggested she write the essay in a poetic form. She wrote about a mother duck and a father swan with three baby ducklings who were bitten to death by their father because they quacked too much. Mr Keesing took the poem in the right way and understood the joke. After that he never assigned any extra homework to Anne for talking in the class. On the contrary, he was always making jokes in the class.

Q12: What do you know about Mr Keesing? How did he punish Anne?
OR
Do you agree with Anne when she says that teachers are the most unpredictable creatures on earth. Rationalize. (CBSE QUESTION BANK)
OR
Comment on the teacher-student relationship shared between Anne and Mr. Keesing. (CBSE QUESTION BANK)
Ans: Mr Keesing was an old-fashioned maths teacher Anne talked too much during Mr Keesings class and this annoyed him. He gave her several warnings but that did not keep Anne away from talking in the class. So Mr Keesing had to punish her time and again. Mr Keesing assigned her some extra homework as a punishment for talking in the class.
He asked her to write an essay on the subject- A Chatterbox. On the second occasion, she was asked to write an essay, on the subject An incorrigible Chatterbox, on the third occasion Mr Keesing assigned her a more difficult topic. It was “Quack Quack Quack, Said Mistress Chatterbox”
Mr Keesing was trying to play a joke on her when he asked her to write an essay entitled “Quack Quack Quack, Said Mistress Chatterbox” so she decided to play a joke on Mr Keesing himself. She had nearly exhausted her ingenuity on the topic of chatterboxes: Her friend Sanne suggested she write the essay in a poetic form. She wrote about a mother duck and a father swan with three baby ducklings who were bitten to death by their father because they quacked too much. Mr Keesing took the poem in the right way and understood the joke.
After that he never assigned any extra homework to Anne for talking in the class. On the contrary, he was always making jokes in the class.

Q13: Why was Anne’s teacher annoyed with her? How was she able to bring about a change in his attitude towards her?
Ans: Mr. Keesing, her math teacher, was annoyed with Anne because she talked too much. When she did not improve, despite several warnings, he punished her. The punishment was extra homework. She was supposed to write an essay on “A Chatterbox, then an essay on “An Incorrigible Chatterbox” and finally “Quack Quack Quack, Said Mistress Chatterbox.”
In her first essay Anne argued that talking was a student’s trait and her mother talked too much. She could not do anything with an inherited trait. Finally, Anne wrote the third essay in verse form. After reading the poem Mr. Keesing read it to the class. It was about three ducklings beaten to death by the father swan because they quacked too much. After that Mr Keesing never gave her any punishment.

Q14: Write the character sketch of Anne Frank.
OR
How do you assess Anne’s character?
Ans: Anne was a sensible, 13 year old girl. Though she had loving parents and thirty friends, she was lonely. She could not share her innermost thoughts and feelings with her friends. She knew that no one would understand her need to keep a diary. Arine was very caring and loving. She adored her father. She loved her grandma and often thought of her after her death. She was quite mature for her age, for she knew that no one would have time for the thoughts of a 13-years old. It was because of this maturity that she could not confide in her friends.
She was very talkative and was often punished by her maths teacher Yet she was intelligent and had a good sense of humour She convinced her teacher with her arguments, ultimately, he took the joke and did not punish her any more.

Q15: Was Anne an intelligent girl? Give instances in support of your answer.
Ans: I think Anne was not only an intelligent girl, but she was far more mature than her age. The very fact that she thought so much that she needed to write a diary shows that she was intelligent. Anne was also intelligent enough to realise that no one would be interested in her musings. Anne believed that paper had more patience than people. She knew that she had friends with whom she could enjoy.
Yet, she could not confide in them. She realised that things would not change. She was quite a popular student. She knew that she would be promoted though Maths was her weak point. She also took her punishment of writing essays humorously, ultimately she convinced Mr Keesing with her arguments: and she got rid of her punishments.

Q16: “Paper has more patience than people. Elucidate. (CBSE 2012)
OR
Paper has more patience than people. Explain with reference to “From the Diary of Anne Frank”
Ans: Anne Frank thought of a saying: Paper has more patience than people; it requires a lot of patience to listen to someone’s private feelings and problems. It is not the listening that is important but the more important thing is to keep others secrets to oneself. It is a human tendency that after knowing someone’s secrets we pass them over to others. There is a limit for listening to someone’s problems.
After some time, one is fed up with the person and tries to avoid him. But paper is a lifeless thing. It is never fed up with one’s problems: One can confide as much as one likes on a paper, Paper never becomes Impatient. One can write on it as much as one desires and for as long as one wants to. As long as anyone else does not read it, the secret remains a secret.

Q17: ‘Our entire class is quacking in its boots.’ Explain with reference to from the Diary of Anne Frank.
Ans: Anne Frank was sent to Montessori nursery school. There she stayed till the sixth form. Her teacher Mrs. Kuperus was the headmistress: At the end of the year, the farewell function was arranged, it was a tearful farewell with the headmistress. Then Anne was admitted to a school. There were nine teachers. Among them two were females and the rest were the male teachers.
The meeting was going on among the teachers. They had to decide who would be moved up to the next form and who would be kept back. This was a movement of nervousness for the entire class. They were uncertain about their fate. Even some of the students had staked their savings in bets. There were some of the dummies who could be kept back. All the students were confused about themselves. Even Anne was not sure due to mathematics So the entire class was quacking in its boots.

Q18: “From the Diary of Anne Frank” throw light on teacher-student relationship, class atmosphere and discipline. Discuss.
OR
Write a paragraph on the values of these aspects of school and how far these values are necessary for learning and life.
Ans: From the Diary of Anne Frank describes the teacher-student relationship, class atmosphere and discipline. Anne Frank, who talks a lot in the class, gets punished by Mr Keesing, her maths teacher. He asks her to write essays as punishment is learning in disguise because he wanted her to focus on studies. He cannot be blamed for the punishment as he did it for the development of Anne.
The teacher student relationship is very respectful and sacred. It is about discipline and classroom manners which is essential for every student as well as teacher, otherwise both teaching or learning could hamper. This relationship is clearly shown in Mr Keesing and Anne Frank actions as they both try to joke with each other but in a very humorous and healthy manner. So this healthy relationship is needed everywhere in the class for effective teaching and learning.

Q19: “I hope I will be able to confide everything to you as I have never been able to confide in anyone, and hope you will be a great source of comfort and support.” Explain.
Ans: Anne writes this on the inside cover of her diary just after she receives it for her thirteenth birthday. At the time, she feels that she does not have any true confidants, which makes her feel lonely and misunderstood. Anne does, however, have many friends and admirers, and she is a playful, amusing and social young girl.
Thus, her sentiments in this passage may seem odd and a bit exaggerated but she later explains that even though she has friends, she is never fully able to open up to them. Anne finds that she and her friends talk only about trivial things, even when she has deeper things on her mind that she wishes to share. Having a diary-which she addresses as “Kitty like a friend-enables her to express her thoughts without fear of being criticized by others Anne’s relationship with her diary helps in comforting her through her insecure, lonely, and fearful time in the hiding.

Q20: Kitty plays a vital role in Anne’s life. Elucidate. (CBSE SQP 2018-19)
Ans: The journal Anne kept was called Kitty. Anne was a very private person who did not like to talk to people. She rarely used to divulge anything to her loved ones. She’s never gotten along with anyone well, but she’s always wanted someone to listen to her.
One of the nicest birthday presents she could have received was from Cat. This is nothing more than the diary she received for turning thirteen. She began recording everything in her diary. She utilises to describe every single event that has, in some way or another, affected her life. She expresses her feelings in her writing regarding many situations. She has a journal where she writes everything she is unable to share with anyone.
She also spoke about her love and wrote about what was right and bad in her diary. She is extremely knowledgeable about politics and the war, which she also detailed in her diary. This cat turned out to be her constant companion because she wrote extensively about both her good and bad moments. She developed a strong bond with her diary and never felt alone. She described all the events that no one else could have described. As a result, this diary started to play a significant role in her life.