The last lesson.

Read the questions given below and answer by choosing the correct option.

(i) The story ‘The Last Lesson’ is written by:

(a) G.B. Shaw(b) Alphonse Daudet
(c) William Faulkner (d) Ray Bradbury

(ii) What was Franz’s fear as he was going to school?

(a) fear of the bullies (b) scolding by M. Hamel (c) punishment for being late
(d) none of the above

(iii) What seemed tempting to Franz while going to school?

(a) playing with the village boys
(b) swimming in the river
(c) enjoying open nature and chirping of birds
(d) going to a friend’s house

(iv) The bulletin board showed ………….. news.

(a) cheerful (b) horrible (c) routine
(d) sad

(v) Who was Wachter?

(a) Franz’s classfellow(b) Franz’s father
(c) a blacksmith (d) school gardener

(vi) What dress was M. Hamel wearing?

(a) informal Sunday dress
(b) dress worn on inspection days and prize days
(c) casual dress
(d) funny dress

(vii) Who among these was not there on the back benches?
(a) former mayor (b) former postman
(c) the headmaster (d) old Hauser

(viii) What came as ‘a thunder clap’ to Franz?

(a) scolding by the teacher
(b) Berlin order against teaching French
(c) Franz’s failure in the exams
(d) defeat of the French forces

(ix) Which of these was difficult to learn for Franz?

(a) History lesson (b) German language
(c) Mathematical formulae
(d) Participles

(x) What was written in the new copies in the handwriting of M. Hamel?
(a) Country’s slogans (b) France
(c) Freedom
(d) France, Alsace, France, Alsace

(xi) The story ‘The Last Lesson’ highlights which human tendency?
(a) Male Chauvinism (b) Procrastination
(c) Courage (d) Cowardice

(xii) What does The Last Lesson symbolize?

(a) Loss (b) Loss of freedom
(c) Loss of language
(d) Loss of language and freedom

(xiii) From where did the orders come to teach only German in the districts of Alsace and
Lorraine?
(a) France (b) Lorraine
(c) Berlin (d) Germany

(xiv) What did Franz find on reaching the school?

(a) People were dancing
(b) school was closed
(c) Police patrolling
(d) strange quietness

(xv) Whom did M.Hamel blame for not sending students to school?
(a) Parentsn(b) friends (c) teachers
(d) watchman

(xvi) What did Hauser bring?

(a) sweets (b) children (c) friends
(d) old Primer

(xvii) For how many years did M. Hamel serve the school?
(a) 20 years
(b) 35 years
(c) 30 years
(d) 40 years

(xviii) Where did the parents send their children to work?

(a) school (b) coaching (c) farms and mills
(d) movies

(xix) Why did the villagers come to meet M. Hamel in the school?
(a) to complain
(b) to say goodbye
(c) to gossip
(d) to show gratitude

(xx) Why did Mr. M. Hamel call the French language the most beautiful?
(a) Because it was the clearest and logical
(b) Because it was his native language
(c) Because people were from France
(d) None of these

Read the extracts given below and answer the questions that follow –

For a moment I thought of running away and spending the day out of doors. It was so warm, so
bright ! The birds were chirping at the edge of the woods, and in the open field, back of the saw-
mill the Prussian soldiers were drilling.

(i) Why did Franz think of running away?

He thought of running away because he was scared of being scolded by the teacher. He had not
learnt the topic of Participles and dreaded a scolding from M Hamel.

(ii) What do you think about the narrator?

The narrator is a young boy who wants to enjoy life.

(iii) What was tempting to the narrator? What did he dread?

Franz was tempted by the birds chirping in the woods, going to open fields and spending the day
outdoors. He dreaded going to school and getting scolded by his teacher.

(iv) What do you think is the purpose of the drilling by the Prussian soldiers?
Prussia had occupied the districts of Alsace and Lorraine in France and so the soldiers had
occupied them and were performing their morning exercises. This is mentioned to make the
reader aware of the situation there.

(v) What temptations did the narrator overcome? Where was he going?
He overcame the temptation of remaining outdoors. He was going to school.

Passage 2.
Through the window I saw my classmates, already in this places, and M. Hamel walking up and
down with his terrible iron ruler under his arm. I had to open the door and go in before
everybody. You can imagine how I blushed and how frightened I was.

(i) What kind of teacher was M. Hamel? What did he teach?

M Hamel was a strict teacher. He taught French.

(ii) What was M. Hamel doing when Franz looked through the window? Was it a pleasant sight?
M Hamel was walking in the class with the ruler under his arm.

(iii) Why do you think was Franz frightened?

He was frightened because he was late for school.He feared that he would be punished.

(iv) Did the teacher punish Franz? What happened when Franz entered the classroom?
No, the teacher did not punish Franz. On the contrary, he was calm, spoke gently and asked
Franz to take his seat.

(v) Which kind of dress was M. Hamel wearing? Why?

M Hamel was wearing his fine Sunday dress which he normally wore on special occasions like
annual days and inspection days.

Passage 3
While I was wondering about it all, M. Hamel mounted his chair, and, in the same grave and
gentle tone which he had used to me, said, “My children, this is the last lesson, I shall give you.
The order has come from Berlin to teach only German in the schools of Alsace and Lorraine. The
new master comes tomorrow. This is your last French lesson. I want you to be very attentive ….”

(i) Why was it his last lesson?

It was his last lesson because Berlin had ordered that French would no longer be taught in the
schools in Alsace and Lorraine districts of France.

(ii) What did he wish his students to do?

He wished his students to remain attached to their mother tongue.
(iii) In which mood was M. Hamel? Why?
M Hamel was sad and nostalgic.

Passage 4
Ah, that’s the great trouble with Alsace; she puts off learning tomorrow. Now those fellows out
there will have the right to say to you, ‘How is it : you pretend to be Frenchmen and yet you
neither speak nor write your own language ?’ But you are not the worst, poor little Franz. We’ve
all a great deal to reproach ourselves with.”

(i) What is the regret in his mind?

Ans. He regrets that the people of France procrastinate and they do not take studies seriously.

(ii) Who are ‘those fellows’? How would they mock at the villagers?
‘Those fellows’ refers to the enemy Prussians. They would mock at the Frenchmen for not
knowing their mother tongue French.

(iii) Who were to be blamed for the present situation, according to the speaker?
According to M Hamel, everyone was to be blamed – the students, their parents and the teacher.
No one had been serious about education.

(iv) Later, what does the speaker say about the French language?
He says that French is the most beautiful language in the world. It is the clearest and most logical
language and that they should guard it.

Passage 5
“Your parents were not anxious enough to have you learn. They preferred to put you to work on a
farm or at the mills, so as to have a little more money. And I ? I’ve been to blame also. Have I not
often sent you to water my flowers instead of learning your lessons?

(i) Who is addressing and whom, and on what occasion?

M Hamel is addressing his students on the occasion of his last class with them.

(ii) Who were put to earn more money for the parents? What does it show about them?
The children were sent to farms and mills to work and earn money. The parents wanted them to
earn money rather than get education.

(iii) What made the speaker to blame himself?

The speaker would send the students to his house to water the plants. He would give them a
holiday and go fishing. Thus, he blames himself for not being serious towards the education of
his students.

(iv) According to the speaker, what is the importance of learning our mother language?
The mother tongue is a key to freedom from slavery.

Passage 6
…it was the most beautiful language in the world – the clearest, the most logical; that we must
guard it among us and never forget it, because 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.

(i) Which language is being referred to here? What is the occasion?

The language referred to is French. It is the last lesson in French language.

(ii) What does the speaker think of the language being referred to?
He thinks that it is the most beautiful, clear and logical language.

(iii) What is his advice to the listeners?

He advices them to guard their language.

(iv) Why should the enslaved people not forget their language?
They should not forget their language because it is the key to freedom from slavery.

(v) What had been the attitude of the people earlier about their own language, according to the
speaker?
They have not been serious towards learning it.

Passage 7
Once some beetles flew in; but nobody paid any attention to them, not even the littlest ones, who
worked right on tracing their fish-hooks, as if that was French, too. On the roof the pigeons
cooed very low and I thought to myself, “Will they make them sing in German, even the pigeons?”

(i) Where did the beetles fly in? How did the students react?
The beetles flew into the class. The students were busy writing their task and no one noticed the
beetles.

(ii) What was being done, and by whom and where?

The pigeons were cooing on the roof of the building.

(iii) What made even the kids do their work with full concentration?
The news that it was their last lesson in French made them serious towards study and they
worked with full concentration.
(iv) Who is ‘I’ referred to here? What thought did he have?
“I” refers to Franz. He thought that whether the Prussians would make the pigeons coo also in
their language.

(v) What is the tone in, “Will they make them ……….. ?” What literary device is used here?
The tone is inquisitive and interrogative. Personification has been used.

Passage 8
“My friends,” said he, “I – I -” But something choked him. He could not go on.

Then he turned to the blackboard, took a piece of chalk, and, bearing on with all his might, he
wrote as large as he could – “Vive La France !”

(i) Who is ‘he’? Why was he so sentimental?

M Hamel. He is sentimental because he is leaving the school where he had been teaching for the
last forty years.

(ii) What could he not do? Why?

He could not speak. He was overwhelmed with emotions.

(iii) What did he write on the blackboard; and how?

He wrote “Vive la France” with chalk.

(iv) What do you think of him?

I think that he was a devoted teacher.He was also a nationalist

(v) ‘Vive La France’. What does it mean and symbolise? What does it show about the speaker?

Ans. It means Long live France. It symbolises patriotism of the French.