Chapter 4 of the English textbook for Class 10, First Flight, has a prose piece titled From the Journal of Anne Frank, which is an autobiography of a little girl called Anne Frank who kept a diary. Here is a synopsis of the text in the form of CBSE English Notes for Class 10. Students enrolled in CBSE Class 10 may access a prose summary of From the Diary of Anne Frank here. While studying for their examinations, students may also refer to CBSE Class 10 English Prose Notes – From the Diary of Anne Frank.

CBSE Class 10 English notes will assist students in studying the topic thoroughly and clearly.

These CBSE Class 10 English notes were written by subject experts who made the study material very basic, both in terms of language and format.

Anne’s Need to Write a Diary 

Her father gave Anne Frank, a thirteen-year-old girl, a diary. Writing was a strange experience for her. She’d never kept a diary before. She expressed her desire to confide everything in the diary in her first entry. Paper, she felt, had more patience than people. She assumed no one would be interested in reading her diary.

Anne regarded her diary as a true friend with whom she could confide all of her secrets. She didn’t have such a friend. Despite the fact that Anne had a loving family and a number of friends, she could only talk to them about mundane matters. As a result, Anne felt compelled to keep a diary, which she began in June 1942. She adopted it as her best friend and dubbed her ‘Kitty.’

Anne’s Childhood and Family

Anne felt that a brief overview of her family and life thus far was required. She thought it would help others understand what she was going to write in her diary. Otto Frank, Anne’s father, was described as the most adorable father. He was 36 years old when he married her 25-year-old mother, Edith Hollander Frank.

She went on to say that her elder sister, Margot, was born in 1926, and she was born on June 12, 1929. Her parents moved to Holland in 1933. Anne and her sister were living with their grandmother in Aachen at the time. Anne and her sister moved to Holland after their parents had settled down.

Anne’s Schooling

Anne attended the Montessori nursery school until the age of six. Both she and her headmistress, Mrs Kuperus, were overcome with emotion as they bid her farewell.

Mrs Kuperus bid her a tearful farewell.

The Untimely Death of Anne’s Grandmother

Anne cherished her grandmother. Anne was devastated when her grandmother became ill and required surgery in the summer of 1941. In January 1942, her grandmother died. On her own birthday in June, Anne lit a candle in her memory.

Anne’s school performance and her thoughts on teachers

Anne began her diary entry for the 20th of June, 1942, after explaining her life. She began by writing about her day at school, anticipating the announcement of the results by the teachers.

Every student is terrified, and they have no idea who will enter the next class. Anne and her friends were planning to attend the following class. Her only concern was Math. Teachers were always the most unpredictable creatures on the planet, in her opinion. As a result, she encouraged her friends not to give up.

Mr. Keesing’s Punishment and Anne’s Talkative Nature

Anne was a good student who got along well with all of her teachers, with the exception of Mr Keesing, who taught her math. Her constant chatter irritated him.

As a form of punishment, he used to assign her extra work. As a result, he disciplined her by assigning her additional homework. He assigned her an essay titled “A Chatterbox.”

Completion of Extra Homework

Anne began to consider the essay ‘A Chatterbox’ after completing her regular homework. Anne was baffled as to what she could possibly write in the essay. She began writing because she felt it was necessary to do so. She wrote the three pages just for herself. She defined it as a characteristic of a student and stated that she inherited this trait from her mother, who was also a talker.

More Punishments for Anne

Mr. Keesing read the essay in class and laughed. She was punished again in another lesson when she spoke. As a punishment, he assigned her another essay titled “An Incorrigible Chatterbox.” Mr Keesing did not object for two lessons after she turned in the essay. He did, however, catch Anne talking again during the third lesson.

So he punished her once more, this time by assigning her to write an essay titled “Quack, Quack, Quack, Said Mistress Chatterbox.” The class laughed at this. Mr Keesing was making fun of Anne, and she realised it.

Mr. Keesing is mocked by Anne Anne was amusingly trying to write something interesting and different for her homework this time. So she wrote an essay in verse with the help of her poet friend Sanne. The poem was about three baby ducklings, the offspring of a father swan and a mother duck. Because they quacked too much, the father swan bit the ducklings until they died.

Mr. Keesing received the joke correctly. He read the poem in both the class and other classes. Anne had been granted the right to speak and had not been assigned any additional homework since that time. Mr. Keesing’s demeanour has shifted, and he has begun to tell jokes in class.

Summary of the Chapter

This chapter is based on an excerpt from Anne Frank’s diary, which she kept when she was 13 years old. She keeps a diary in which she writes about everything that happens in her life and considers it to be her best friend.

Her family sought refuge during the German invasion of Holland. She began writing in her diary around that time. She spent her adolescent years hidden from the rest of the world, and her diary was where she kept all her secrets. Following her death in 1945, her father published the diary.

About the Characters

Anne Frank was a thirteen-year-old Jewish girl who kept a diary while hiding from the Nazis in Amsterdam during WWII.

Margot Frank is Anne’s sister; she is three years her senior.

Anne’s father, Otto Frank, is a Jewish businessman who fled Germany after Hitler’s rise to power in the hope of finding refuge in Holland.

Mrs Edith Hollander is Frank Anne’s mother, and she is the source of many disagreements with Anne during the family’s two-year hiding period.

Mrs. Kuperus

She was the Montessori School’s headmistress.

Mr. Keesing is Anne’s teacher, and he punishes her because he is irritated by her talkativeness.