Page 49 - English Expedition Class 6

break myself of the habit, since my mother talked as much as I did, if not more, and that there’s not
much you can do about inherited traits.
Mr Keesing had a good laugh at my arguments, but when I proceeded to talk my way through
the next class, he assigned me a second essay. Th is time it was supposed to be on ‘An Incorrigible 13
Chatterbox.’ I handed it in, and Mr Keesing had nothing to complain about for two whole classes.
However, during the third class he’d fi nally had enough. ‘Anne Frank, as punishment for talking in
class, write an essay entitled ‘“Quack, Quack, Quack,” said Mistress Chatterback.’
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Th e class roared . I had to laugh too, though I’d nearly exhausted my ingenuity on the topic
of chatterboxes. It was time to come up with something else, something original. My friend Sanne,
who’s good at poetry, off ered to help me write the essay from beginning to end in verse. I jumped
for joy. Keesing was trying to play a joke on me with
this ridiculous subject, but I’d make sure the joke was • Why were Anne and her
on him. I fi nished my poem, and it was beautiful! It was friends nervous?
about a mother duck and a father swan with three baby
• Why did Mr Keesing have a
ducklings who were bitten to death by the father because problem with Anne?
they quacked too much. Luckily, Keesing took the joke
• Do you think talking is a
the right way. He read the poem to the class, adding his
female trait, as Anne argues?
own comments, and to several other classes as well. Since
• Who helped Anne write the
then I’ve been allowed to talk and haven’t been assigned
third essay?
any extra homework. On the contrary, Keesing’s always
making jokes these days.
Yours, Anne

On the aft ernoon of 5 July 1942, sixteen-year-old Margot received a call-up notice, which meant
she was in danger of being sent away alone to the dreaded labour camps. Early next morning,
the Frank family got dressed in multiple layers of clothing in order to avoid getting discovered
with luggage and left for the hiding place that Anne’s father, Otto Frank, had secretly set up with
the help of his friends and colleagues. Margot was taken there separately by a friend on a bicycle.
Th is hiding place, a ‘Secret Annexe’ on the third fl oor towards the back of the house, was located in
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Mr Frank’s offi ce building. A few days later, another family, the van Daans and their sixteen-year-
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old son Peter, joined them. A family friend, Mr Dussel , followed in November. In these cramped
quarters, the group spent two years in hiding, living with the constant fear of being discovered and
surviving on the limited food and supplies that their friends were able to bring them without arousing
suspicion. Th e experience was a great trial for the lively, talkative Anne.

FRIDAY, MAY 26, 1944

My dearest Kitty,
At long, long last, I can sit quietly at my table before the crack in the window frame and write you
everything, everything I want to say.

13 incorrigible: impossible to correct 16 Anne refers to the van Pels family as ‘the van Daans’ in
14 roared: (here) burst into loud laughter her diary. Mr van Daan was Otto Frank’s friend and
15 ingenuity: the skill to create something original and business partner.
innovative 17 ’Mr Dussel’ was Fritz Pfeff er, a dentist and friend of the
family.
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