The last Lesson

THE LAST LESSON

Q1 : What was Franz expected to be prepared with for school that day?

 Answer : That day, Franz was expected to be prepared with the lesson on participles.

 Q2 : What did Franz notice that was unusual about the school that day?

 Answer : That day, Franz noticed the absence of the routine commotion caused by the opening and closing of desks, repeating of lessons in unison and rapping of the teacher's ruler on the table. The usual hustle-bustle was replaced by a strange stillness that was the characteristic of a school on a "Sunday morning."

Q3 : What had been put up on the bulletin-board?

Answer : The bulletin-board notified the general public about an order from Berlin. It stated that only German was to be taught to students in the schools of Alsace and Lorraine.

Q4 : What changes did the order from Berlin cause in school that day?

Answer : The order from Berlin brought all the routine hustle-bustle of the school life to a standstill. The teacher, M. Hamel, became more sympathetic to his students and taught his lessons with more patience. The students became more attentive in their classes. The villagers, who were sitting at the usually empty back benches and had come to show their respect and gratitude to M. Hamel, regretted not going to school more than they did. The order also brought about a great change in the feelings of the people towards their country and their native language. There was a general sadness about not being able to utilise the opportunities of learning French when it was easily accessible.

Q5 : How did Franz's feelings about M. Hamel and school change?

Answer : Franz was shocked when M. Hamel told the students about the order from Berlin and that it was their last French lesson. He forgot about his teacher's ruler and crankiness. He developed a fondness for M. Hamel at the troubling idea of being separated from him forever. He understood the pain and agony his teacher was undergoing. And, he became more sympathetic towards his teacher His school too, now, carried a different meaning. His books and lessons seemed old friends whom he couldn't give up. He realised with pain how much French meant to him and regretted not being attentive in his classes earlier. Suddenly, he felt that the 'difficult concepts' had never actually been difficult.

 Q1 : The people in this story suddenly realize how precious their language is to them. What shows you this? Why does this happen?

Answer : The crowd surrounding the bulletin-board, the presence of the villagers in the class, the silence in place of the routine hustle and bustle of the school, the emotions that gripped M. Hamel and Franz, representing that of the teacher and the student community respectively, were all indicators of the realisation of the importance of their language to them. In the story, M. Hamel says that people realise the importance of somebody or something in their lives very often when it is lost to them. Similarly, it was the order from Berlin that made people realise the importance of their language for them.

Q2 : "When a people are enslaved, as long as they hold fast to their language it is as if they had the key to their prison." Can you think of examples in history where a conquered people had their language taken away from them or had a language imposed on them?

 Answer : Some examples of the native language taken away from its people and/or imposition of the language of the conqueror are:

(a) Portuguese becoming the lingua franca of Angola.

(b) English imposed on the various Celtic peoples.

 (c) Spanish imposed on the Basques and the Catalans.

 (d) Turkish imposed on the Kurds.

Q3 : English is a language that contains words from many other languages. This inclusiveness is one of the reasons it is now a world language, for example: petite - French kindergarten - German capital - Latin democracy - Greek bazaar - Hindi Find out the origin of the following words. Tycoon, tulip, logo, bandicoot, barbecue, veranda, robot, zero, ski, trek

 Answer : tycoon - Japanese tulip - French logo - Greek bandicoot - Telugu barbecue - Spanish veranda - Hindi robot - Czech zero - Italian ski - Norwegian trek - Dutch

Q4 : Franz thinks, "Will they make them sing in German, even the pigeons?" What could this mean?

Answer : Language is inherent to culture and identity. The authority of human beings is restricted only to false boundaries that can be controlled. Nature and other things cannot be governed by some superficial laws of the wilful people. By taking the reference of making the pigeons learn German, the author is pointing to this very constraint. (or) This sentence could possibly mean that however hard the authorities try to embed German language in the culture of Alsace and Lorraine, the natural status of French, for them, will remain unchanged. French flows in the air and the entire place is imbued with its effect. Even though they train students in German, the basic mode of communication would remain unchanged like the cooing of the pigeons.

Q5 : What happens to a linguistic minority in a state? How do you think they can keep their language alive? For example: Punjabis in Bangalore Tamilians in Mumbai Kannadigas in Delhi Gujaratis in Kolkata

 Answer : A linguistic minority in a state does not have as much liberty to exercise linguistic skills as the natives of the state. They initially try to learn the jargons in order to cope with the day-to-day life activities and finally begin to understand the native language with regular interaction. At the workplace and educational organisations, English or the link language helps a lot to cope up with the work and learning process. But, when it comes to understanding the basic norms of the society, in order to socialize, one does face a sort of linguistic barrier during communication. To keep their language alive, the linguistic minorities can form small communities where they can celebrate their festivals as per their traditions. Moreover, they can continue to speak their native language at their homes in order to make their children learn the language. People must, even, try to visit their native places at regular intervals in order to stay close to their roots.

Q6 : Is it possible to carry pride in one's language too far? Do you know what 'linguistic chauvinism' means?

 Answer : Yes, it is possible to carry pride in one's language too far if one is fond of one's own language at the cost of others. Indifference towards other languages is not healthy for any democracy like India. When the sense of belonging to one's own language crosses the thin line between 'pride' and 'proud', it becomes linguistic chauvinism. If people feel good about their languages and traditions, they must have tolerance for other languages too. Everybody has the right to follow the religion as well as speak the language as per his/her desire. In fact, it is disparaging to distort the names of communities, for example, Bongs for Bengalis, Gujju for Gujratis, etc.

Homework:

Q1 : Write a notice for your school bulletin board. Your notice could be an announcement of a forthcoming event, or a requirement to be fulfilled, or a rule to be followed.

The Last Lesson Chapter Wise Important Questions Class 12 English

Short Answer Type Questions (3 Marks, 30-40 words)

Question.1. What tempted Franz to stay away from school? (Delhi 2014; Medtffot)
Answer. Franz feared a scolding at school as he had not prepared hte lesson on participles, on which his French teacher M Hamel was to question the class that day. Besides* the warm and bright weather, the chirping of birds and the watching the drill of Prussian soldiers also tempted Franz to stay away from school.

Question.2. What was unusual about M Hamel’s dress on his last day in the school?
(Compartment 2014)
Answer. M Hamel had put on his ceremonial clothes on his last day in the school. He was wearing a beautiful green coat, a frilled shirt, and a little black embroidered silk cap. This was a special ceremonial attire which he usually wore on days of inspection and prize distribution.

Question.3. Why is the order from Berlin called a thunderclap by Franz? (Compartment 2014)
or
“What a thunderclap these words were to me!” What were the words that shocked
and surprised the narrator? : (Delhi 2013)
Answer. M Hamel told his students that it was their last French lesson, as an order had come from Berlin that henceforth only German was to be taught in the schools of Alsace and Lorraine. This announcement seemed to be a thunderclap to Franz. He was left in surprise and shock to learn that a new master was going to arrive the next day and they would learn German instead of their mother tongue

Question.4. Who were sitting on the back benches during M Hamel’s last lesson? Why? (Compartment 2014)
or
Why had the villagers come to school on the day of the last lesson? (Foreign 2008)
or
Why were the elders of the village sitting in the classroom? (Allindia 2014)
Answer. Some of the elderly people from the village were sitting on .the back benches during M Hamel’s last lesson. The villagers had come there to attend his last lesson as it was their way of paying respect to the master, who had given forty years of faithful service to the school.

Question.5. Why does M Hamel reproach himself for his students, unsatisfactory progress in
Studies? (Compartment 2014)
Answer. M Hamel had been rather irregular as a teacher. He took leave whenever he wanted to. Besides, he had often sent the students to water his plants, and whenever he wanted to go fishing, he just gave them a holiday. So, he reproaches himself for his students’ unsatisfactory progress in studies.

Question.6. What shows M Hamel’s love for the French language? (Foreign 2014)
or
What did M Hamel tell them about the French language? What did he ask them to
do and why? (Delhi 2013)
Answer. In his last lesson, M Hamel told the students that the French language was the most beautiful language in the world—the clearest and the most logical. He asked them to guard it amongst themselves and never forget it, because when a people were enslaved, as long as they held fast to their language, it was as if they had the key to their prison.

Question.7. What words did M Hamel write on the blackboard before dismissing the last class?
What did they mean? (Compartment 2014)
Answer. Before dismissing the last class, M Hamel turned to the blackboard, and wrote the phrase, ‘Vive La France!’ as large as he could. These words meant ‘Long live France’, and spoke of M Hamel’s great love for his country and his deep sense of patriotism.

Question.8. What made M Hamel cry towards the end of his last lesson? (Compartment 2014)
Answer. M Hamel had taught French at the school for the last forty years. He was emotionally attached to the school and everything in and about it. He was really heartbroken to leave it all. Besides, his own predicament reminded him that his country would soon lose its independence. All this made him cry towards the end of his last lesson.

Question.9. How did Franz react to the declaration that it was their last French lesson? (Delhi 2013)
or
What announcement did M Hamel make? What was the impact of this on Franz?
(All India 2011)
or
‘‘This is your last French lesson.” How did Franz react to this declaration of M Hamel? (Delhi 2010) 
or
What changes came over little Franz after he heard M Hamel’s announcement?
(All India 2010)
or
What did the French teacher tell his students in his last French lesson? What impact did it have on them? (All India 2009)
Answer. The French teacher M Hamel announced that he would be teaching his last French lesson that day because the orders had come from Berlin to teach only German in the schools of Alsace and Lorraine. On hearing this, all the students as well as Franz felt very sorry that they would not be learning their mother tongue in future. Franz regretted not having learnt his lessons. Earlier his books seemed a nuisance to him, but at that moment they became very dear to him.

Question.10.What was the order from Berlin and what changes did it cause in the school?
(AU India 2013)
or
What changes did the order from Berlin cause in the school? (Delhi 2012)
or
What was the mood in the classroom when M Hamel gave his last French lesson?
(Delhi 2009)
Answer. The order from Berlin stated that only German will be taught in the schools of Alsace and Lorraine. The order effected many changes, as an unusual silence prevailed in the school, compared to the hustle and bustle earlier. M Hamel became soft in speaking to the students, while the people realised the importance of their language. The villagers even attended the school to show respect to M Hamel.

Question.11. How did M Hamel say farewell to his students and the people of the town?
(All India 2012)
Answer. At the end of his ‘Last Lesson’,. M Hamel stood up to say farewell to his students and the people of the town. He tried to speak, but overwhelming emotion choked his voice. He then wrote as large as he could on the blackboard ‘Vive La France’; then he dismissed the class with a gesture with his hand.

Question.12. What was Franz expected to be prepared with for the school that day? (Delhi 2011)
Answer. Franz was expected to be prepared with participles that day. His teacher M Hamel, was to question him on the topic. Franz had not learnt his lessons and feared to be scolded by him.

Question.13. What had been put up on the bulletin-board? (Delhi 2011)
Answer. Since the last two years the bulletin-board had news of lost battles, the draft and the orders of the commanding officer. On that day a notice had been put up stating that orders from Berlin were to teach only German in the schools of Alsace and Lorraine.

Question.14. Who did M Hamel blame for the neqlect of leaminq on the part of boys like Franz?
(Delhi 2011)
Answer. M Hamel blamed himself for the neglect of learning on the part of boys like Franz. He himself was not quite regular and took leave whenever he needed it, which reflected on the behaviour and studies of the students. He also blamed their parents for not taking mterest in their education.

Question.15. Franz thinks, “Will they make them sing in German, even the pigeons?” What does
this tell us about the attitude of the Frenchmen? (All India 2011)
Answer. This shows that the Frenchmen were full of hatred and desperation against the Germans. Besides, they feared German atrocities. They thought that they would be forced to read German and no one will be spared.

Question.16. Mention two thingsLabout M Hamel that surprised Franz on his last day at school.
(Foreign 2009)
Answer. M Hamel didn’t scold Franz for being late; instead he told him very kindly to go to his place. Also, that day he was dressed in his best clothes; he was in his beautiful green coat, frilled shirt and little black silk cap with embroidery, which he wore only on inspection or prize days.

Question.17. How was the scene in the school in the morning of the last lesson different from that
on other days? (Delhi 2008)
Answer. Usually, there used to be great hustle and bustle when the school began. The din of opening and closing of the desks, lessons being repeated in unison and the rapping of the teacher’s ruler on the table, could be heard out in the street. But that day, it was all very quiet and still as on a Sunday morning.

Long Answer Type Question (6 Marks, 120-150 words)

Question.1. What changes did the narrator find in the school when the order from Berlin came?
(Ail India 2008)
Answer. The order from Berlin prohibited teaching of French in the schools of Alsace and Lorraine. Instead, German was to be taught in the schools. Franz was late for school that day. He noticed that the hustle and bustle was missing. There was no opening and closing of desks, no repetition of lessons or rapping of the teacher’s ruler on the table could be heard. It was all very quiet and still.
Franz was further surprised because, instead of meeting an angry teacher, he was welcomed by a kind and polite teacher, who was dressed in his best clothes, a beautiful green coat, frilled shirt and an embroidered silk cap, which he wore only on inspection and prize days. The back benches were occupied by the village people who never came to school, as they were more concerned about their livelihood. He was further astounded to know that , M Hamel was going to teach his last lesson that day