Resource 3: From the diary of Anne Frank

Thinking about the text

1. Was Anne right when she said that the world would not be interested in the musings of a thirteen-year-old girl?
2. There are some examples of diary or journal entries in the ‘Before You Read’ section. Compare these with what Anne writes in her diary. What language was the diary originally written in? In what way is Anne’s diary different?
3. Why does Anne need to give a brief sketch about her family? Does she treat ‘Kitty’ as an insider or an outsider?
4. How does Anne feel about her father, her grandmother, Mrs Kuperus and Mr Keesing? What do these tell you about her?
5. What does Anne write in her first essay?
6. Anne says teachers are most unpredictable. Is Mr Keesing unpredictable? How?
7. What do these statements tell you about Anne Frank as a person?
   • i.'We don’t seem to be able to get any closer, and that’s the problem. Maybe it’s my fault that we don’t confide in each other.'
   • ii.'I don’t want to jot down the facts in this diary the way most people would, but I want the diary to be my friend.'
   • iii.'Margot went to Holland in December, and I followed in February, when I was plunked down on the table as a birthday present for Margot.'
   • iv.'If you ask me, there are so many dummies that about a quarter of the class should be kept back, but teachers are the most unpredictable creatures on earth.'
   • v.'Anyone could ramble on and leave big spaces between the words, but the trick was to come up with convincing arguments to prove the necessity of talking.'

Thinking about language

I. Look at the following words.

These words are compound words. They are made up of two or more words. Compound words can be:

• nouns: ‘headmistress’, ‘homework’, ‘notebook’, ‘outbursts’
• adjectives: ‘long-awaited’, ‘stiff-backed’
• verbs: ‘sleep-walk’, ‘baby-sit’.

Match the compound words under ‘A’ with their meanings under ‘B’.

Use each in a sentence.

II. Phrasal verbs

A phrasal verb is a verb followed by a preposition or an adverb. Its meaning is often different from the meanings of its parts. Compare the meanings of the verbs get on and run away in (a) and (b) below. You can easily guess their meanings in (a) but in (b) they have special meanings.

• a.She got on at Agra when the bus stopped for breakfast. Dev Anand ran away from home when he was a teenager.
• b.She’s eager to get on in life. (succeed) The visitors ran away with the match. (won easily)

Some phrasal verbs have three parts: a verb followed by an adverb and a preposition.

• c.Our car ran out of petrol just outside the city limits.
• d.The government wants to reach out to the people with this new campaign.

1. The text you’ve just read has a number of phrasal verbs commonly used in English. Look up the following in a dictionary for their meanings (under the entry for the italicised word).
   • i.plunge (right) in
   • ii.kept back
   • iii.ramble on
   • iv.get along with
2. Now find the sentences in the lesson that have the phrasal verbs given below. Match them with their meanings. (You have already found out the meanings of some of them.) Are their meanings the same as that of their parts? (Note that two parts of a phrasal verb may occur separated in the text.)
   • i.plunge in – speak or write without focus
   • ii.kept back – stay indoors
   • iii.move up – make (them) remain quiet
   • iv.ramble on – have a good relationship with
   • v.get along with – give an assignment (homework) to a person in authority (the teacher)
   • vi.calm down – compensate
   • vii.stay in – go straight to the topic
   • viii.make up for – go to the next grade
   • ix.hand in – not promoted