Settling Into The Secret Annexe Questions & Answers

Hi Everyone!! This article will share Settling Into The Secret Annexe Questions & Answers.

In my previous posts, I have shared the questions and answers of Geography Lesson, Go Kiss The World and The Sherpas so, you can check these posts as well.

Settling Into The Secret Annexe Questions & Answers

Question 1: Complete the following:

(a) The hiding place of the family was located in Anne’s father’s office building.
(b) The first thing that Anne’s family did was to sew curtains so that the neighbours could not see them.
(c) Anne gave herself a holiday from schoolwork till September.
(d) Mr Voskuijl built a bookcase in front of the entrance to the hiding place.
(e) Anne’s family made the most of the good weather by lounging on the folding bed in the attic.

Question 2: Why do you think Anne pasted her collection of postcards on the walls?

Answer: Anne pasted her collection of postcards on the walls to make the bedroom look cheerful; the blank walls were depressing.

Question 3: Why do you think the narrator was looking forward to the van Daans’ arrival?

Answer: Anne was looking forward to having some more people because the silence was making her nervous and scared. It would also be fun and not so quiet.

Question 4: Who helped the family in transforming the place?

Answer: Mr Voskuijl helped the family by building a bookcase in front of the entrance to the hiding place and thus transforming the place.

Question 5: Explain the phrase ‘our lives are changed’.

Answer: ‘Our lives are changed’ refers to the life in hiding with the van Daans. With the van Daans around, there were disagreements and arguments, so their lives were not quiet as before.

Question 6: Did the narrator and her mother agree on matters?

Answer: No, the narrator and her mother did not agree on matters. The narrator said that her mother always treated her like a baby, which she couldn’t stand.

Question 7: Read and answer the questions:

Last night, the four of us went down to the private office….

(a) Who are the four of us and why did they go to the office at night?

Answer: The four of us refers to Anne, her sister Margot and their parents. They were in hiding during the war and wanted to listen to England on the wireless, which was available in the office so they went to the office at night.

(b) What had the narrator’s mother felt well enough to do earlier in the day?

Answer: The narrator’s mother felt well enough to cook split-pea soup earlier in the day.

(c) Did the narrator’s mother accomplish the task?

Answer: No, the mother couldn’t cook the soup as she went downstairs to talk and forgot all about the soup. So, the peas were scorched black.

Settling Into The Secret Annexe Questions & Answers

Question 8: Read and answer the questions:

We started off immediately the first day with sewing curtains.

(a) What were the curtains made of?

Answer: The curtains were made of scraps of fabric, varying in shape, quality and pattern.

(b) Why were the curtains needed?

Answer: Anne’s family had gone into hiding to escape persecution by the British during World War II. They made curtains so that the neighbours couldn’t see them.

(c) Why does the narrator refer to the curtains as a ‘work of art’?

Answer: The narrator refers to the curtains as a ‘work of art’ because they varied greatly in shape, quality and pattern and were stitched together by unskilled hands. They were patchy and appeared like modern art paintings.

Question 9: Read and answer the questions:

….we were all walking around with bumps on our foreheads….

(a) What had caused the bumps on their foreheads?

Answer: A bookcase that opened like a door was built to hide the entrance to the Secret Annexe. Initially, everyone banged their heads against the low doorway causing bumps on their foreheads.

(b) Why had the alterations to the doorway been made?

Answer: Mr Kugler thought that many houses were being searched; therefore, it would be better to hide the entrance to the Annexe.

(c) How did Peter van Daan try to solve the problem?

Answer: Peter van Daan tried to cushion the low doorway by nailing a towel stuffed with wood shavings to the door frame.

Question 10: How do we know that the narrator loved the Westertoren clock?

Answer: Anne said that she loved the Westertoren clock because its sounds were reassuring to her in the dead of the night and whenever there was silence. Because the family was in hiding, they had to keep very quiet in order to not be caught. All that silence made Anne nervous and the clock’s chime reassured her in a way.

Question 11: What was special about the Secret Annexe?

Answer: It was not a proper home that but the Secret Annexe was an ideal place to hide. It was damp and lopsided but it was also somewhat comfortable and more like being in a small hotel during a holiday. Anne’s family and the van Daans made modifications to the place that made it seem more like home.

Question 12: What did Anne and her family do to make their surroundings cheerful? Why do you think there was a need to do so?

Answer: Anne decorated her walls with her postcard and film star collection. She and her father made curtains. The place had loads of food and some supply of reading material. The van Daans arrived and made a food safe and so on. Therefore, although the Secret Annexe was secret and not really a home, Anne’s family and the van Daans and their friends made it into a makeshift home.

Question 13: Do you think the narrator was happy with her situation? Support your answer with evidence from the text.

Answer: According to me, Anne was not very happy with the situation but she was trying not to be sad because there was no other way for them to survive. Anne’s nervousness can be sensed when she says she is waiting for the van Daans to arrive, when she tries to decorate her walls so that the place looks cheerful, when she says that she would give anything to have one of their helpers sleeps with her. They were not free and each of Anne’s diary entries underlines that fact. Being a child, she gets a little excited about the events in the Secret Annexe. But she is only trying to make the best of the situation.

So, these were Settling Into The Secret Annexe Questions & Answers.

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