Here, you will find a summary, textual solutions, questions, answers, notes. pdf, extras to the chapter “The Last Lesson” by Alphonse Daudet which is a part of Class 12 Alternative English syllabus for students studying under the Nagaland Board of School Education (NBSE) and English syllabus for students studying under Assam Board (SEBA / AHSEC).
NOTE: This page contains solutions to the chapter according to the textbooks of different boards. Please select your board and proceed accordingly. The summary and extras can be the same for all boards.
Summary: Alphonse Daudet is the author of “The Last Lesson.” The author recounts events in the year 1870, when France was seized by Bismarck-led Prussian soldiers and French teaching was discontinued in several places. This story shows how people feel when they are unable to learn their mother tongue. The story is narrated by a French boy, Franz. He is lazy but sensitive and likes to play. He dislikes studying French and hates his teacher M. Hamel.
After conquering its French districts of Alsace and Lorraine, Berlin has ordered that German be taught in schools instead of French. It is the last day of M. Hamel’s forty-year career as their French teacher. He is overcome with grief, nostalgia, and patriotism. The village men also attend his ‘final lesson’ to show their appreciation for his hard work. They are disappointed since they did not learn their mother tongue, French, as children.
Franz is surprised to learn that this is his final lesson because he does not speak French. Now, all of a sudden, he is interested in learning it and understands everything that was taught that day! He instantly likes and appreciates his teacher, M. Hamel, for his sincerity and hard effort. He is saddened by his departure and embarrassed by his inability to recite the participles instruction.
M. Hamel reminds them that they are all to blame for not being willing to learn and putting it off until the next day. He blames himself for failing to teach them sincerely. His patriotism is shown in his appreciation for the French language as the world’s most beautiful and logical language. He warns the students to defend their language because knowing one’s language is the key to escaping the prison of enslavement. It will aid them in their escape from the Germans.
They recognise the significance of studying their mother tongue and the fact that they were vanquished by the Germans due to their illiteracy. Franz believes that it is impossible to take away a person’s language because it is natural to each being, whether it is “coo” to pigeons or “French” to Frenchmen.
The Last Lesson: NBSE (Nagaland Board) Class 12 Alternative English questions and answers
Answer the following questions briefly.
1. Why was Franz surprised on reaching the Classroom?
Answer: When Franz entered the classroom, he was surprised to see that the backbenches, which were usually unoccupied, were occupied by village people dressed as students. Among those present were Old Hauser, the former major, the former postmaster, and several more. It was also unusually silent that morning.
2. Why had the elders attended the class that day?
Answer: The elders attended the class that day since it was the last day before the order from Berlin that all schools in Alsace and Lorraine should begin teaching in German would be implemented. They came to pay their respects to M. Hamel, who had been teaching them for over forty years.
3. Why was M Hamel leaving?
Answer: M. Hamel was leaving because Berlin had given them the order to only teach German in the schools of Alsace and Lorraine. Because new teachers would be arriving the following day, there would be no need for French teachers.
4. What did M Hamel say to Franz instead of scolding him when he forgot the participles?
Answer: Instead of scolding Franz for forgetting the participles, M. Hamel advised him to feel sorry for himself. He emphasised their delay in studying, stating that they had always assumed there was plenty of time and would study the next day. With sadness, he stated that their time had come to an end. He also voiced sadness that they could not be called or claim to be Frenchmen because they did not know how to talk or write in their native language. However, he tells Franz that he is not the only one who should be ashamed of himself, but that everyone should be ashamed of themselves.
Explain the following lines with reference to the context.
1. Ah, how well I remember it, that Last Lesson!
Answer: The given sentence is taken from the story “The Last Lesson” by Alphonse Daudet. The writer here is talking about Franz’s feelings that he would remember that last day when he apologised for not being interested in studying the lessons and always procrastinating about getting serious about his lessons. He was surprised to find that it was his final French session, and he was disappointed. He immediately expressed his gratitude to M. Hamel for his sincerity and 40 years of hard work. When it was his turn, he was embarrassed because he couldn’t even recite the lesson on participles. In the last class, they grasped the necessity of learning their mother tongue and embraced the French language, believing that only language is the path to escaping the prison of slavery.
2. When people are enslaved, as long as they hold fast to their language, it is as if they had the key to their prison.
Answer: When people are enslaved, as long as they protect their language, it would be as if they had the key to their jail. The foundation of one’s identity and self-esteem is love and allegiance to one’s motherland and mother tongue. Anyone who cannot love his or her country and language cannot love anything or anyone in this world. Our country and language provide us with the most in our lives; if we can’t love them, we are really ungrateful beings.
Many countries around the world secured independence from imperialistic countries by sticking to their mother tongue. Our country, India, was similarly subjected to the imposition of foreign languages by oppressors, but our freedom fighters clung to their languages.
Both the German and the French exhibit language chauvinism in Alphonso Daudet’s chapter Last Lesson. The Germans imposed their language on the French, while the French were concerned and saddened by the loss of their mother tongue. They devised elaborate strategies to safeguard their native tongue.
Answer the following questions in detail.
1. Why did the lesson appear easy to Franz on the last day?
Answer: Franz found M. Hamel’s French class so effortless on that day because he had previously neglected French, but because he knew it was his last French class, he was paying attention and discovered that French wasn’t a difficult subject. Also, it appeared as if M. Hamel intended to offer it to the students and elders before leaving. tried to cram everything into their heads all at once. As a result, on the final day of class, the lesson was easily understood.
2. Provide a character sketch of M Hamel on the basis of the reading of your story.
Answer: M. Hamel was a real Frenchman. After forty years of teaching in Alsace, he had become a part of its people. He was a trustworthy educator. He did not blame poor learning on his students alone. He also held himself accountable for the same. He was quite patriotic in his call to his countrymen to stick to their mother tongue in order to be free of the Prussians. According to him, the French language was the most beautiful, clear, and rational language in the world. He asked his countrymen to protect it and never forget it. He was tremendously committed to the school and all of his kids. He was, nonetheless, a courageous and strong man. He felt deeply sorry for not making earnest efforts to teach his people French. In the end, he grew so emotional that he couldn’t talk.
3. Describe how M. Hamel conducted the last lesson.
Answer: M. Hamel was particularly calm that morning, and the entire class was abnormally quiet compared to other regular days. He was not furious with Franz when he arrived late for class and simply told him to sit down. He began his French language lesson by instructing Franz to repeat the participles, which he failed. He was not disappointed in Franz or any of his students, but rather in the fact that they had not properly learned the French language. He reminded them that language was the only way out of the prison of slavery, and he pushed them to protect their mother tongue. He went on to speak on the French language, claiming that it was the most beautiful language in the world, as well as the clearest and most logical. Everyone sat patiently and carefully listened to every word M. Hamel said, filled with grief and shame that they had always put off learning their language properly, but that it was the last lesson. The entire surroundings were imbued with a melancholy aura, and the class ended as the clock struck twelve. M. Hamel stood up, pale, and attempted to say something, but something choked him and he couldn’t continue. Turning to the blackboard, he took a piece of chalk and scribbled “Vive la France,” which translates as “Long Live France.” He came to a halt, leaned against the wall, and motioned with his hand that class was finished.
4. What does M Hamel say to his class about the importance of the French language?
Answer: During the last class, M. Hamel proclaims “French” to be the most beautiful language in the world. He continues by claiming that it is the best-constructed language, with the most rational and unambiguous phrases. He asks everyone to protect the language because one can never be enslaved as long as one has his/her language. He also believes that everyone should love and respect their mother tongue in order to preserve their heritage and the spirit of their true selves. This demonstrates people’s attachment to their own culture, customs, and country. Pride in one’s mother tongue expresses pride in one’s motherland.
Think and discuss.
1. Explain the concept of linguistic chauvinism on the basis of your reading of the story ‘The Last Lesson.’
Answer: Linguistic Chauvinism refers to the irrational belief that your own country and language are the finest and most significant. The story ‘The Last Lesson’ is about language chauvinism and how man finds himself in its confines. But Hamel’s and the village elders’ love of French does not equate to this. They are, rather, victims of it. Alsace’s French-speaking population is being forced to learn German. The Alsatians’ acquisition of power made the Prussians so powerful that they imposed even their language on the others. They desired to have control over their subjects’ brains and hearts, and they wanted them to think in their language, forcing them to lose their own identity. Thus, the story emphasises linguistic chauvinism, which is becoming a major cause of war and political upheaval around the world.
The Last Lesson: AHSEC (Assam board) Class 12 English questions and answers
Think as you read I
1. What was Franz expected to be prepared with for school that day?
Answer: Franz was supposed to be ready for school the next day with participles.
2. What did Franz notice that was unusual about the school that day?
Answer: The silence in the school that day was unusual. The village elders’ presence was only noticed on that particular day.
3. What had been put up on the bulletin board?
Answer: The order for German language imposition was posted on the bulletin board.
Think as you read II
1. What changes did the order from Berlin cause in school that day?
Answer: The school was dark and gloomy, the children were quiet, village elders were present, and M. Hamel was dressed in his special attire.
2. How did Franz’s feelings about M. Hamel and school change?
Answer: Franz’s feelings toward the school and his teacher changed when he learned that it was the last day of French classes at school, as well as the last day for M. Hamel. He would probably never see his teacher again.
Understanding the text
1. The people in this story suddenly realise how precious their language is to them. What shows you this? Why does this happen?
Answer: The events of the last day of French class demonstrate how the people in the story suddenly realise the value of their language. The silence in the school was deafening. Village elders, who had never considered learning their language to be important, were in class, frantically trying to learn the basic alphabet. This happened because Prussia defeated France in the Franco-Prussian War (consisting of Germany, Poland,d and parts of Austria). Alsace (the location of the incident) and Lorraine, two French border districts, were the first to bear the brunt of the attack. Berlin had issued an order mandating German as the only medium of instruction in these districts. As a result, the Alsatian people lost their language.
2. Franz thinks, “Will they make them sing in German, even the pigeons?” What could this mean?
Answer: When Franz heard the pigeons on the roof cooing sweetly, he became concerned that the Germans might now have control over the birds as well.
Franz also believed that the birds of France sang in French. As a result, the imposition would also apply to them. Franz understood the gravity of the situation and pity for the birds, believing that the transition would be just as difficult for them as it would be for people.
Additional/extra questions and answers/solutions
1. What was Franz supposed to prepare on that particular day?
Answer: M. Hamel had stated that he would question them on participles that day, therefore Franz was expected to be prepared with them. Franz had no idea what participles were.
2. What did Franz notice about the school that day that was unusual?
Answer: When school started, there was always a lot of hustle and bustle that could be heard all the way down the street. But it was eerily quiet that day. Everything was as peaceful as it had been on Sunday morning. There were no desk openings or closings. His classmates had already taken their seats. Instead of banging on the table, the teacher’s huge ruler was under M. Hamel’s arm.
3. What was posted on the bulletin board?
Answer: The bulletin board had been the source of all bad news for the last two years. From Berlin, an order had been issued to teach solely German in the schools of Alsace and Lorraine. This notification had been posted on the bulletin board by the Germans.
4. How did Franz’s opinions about M. Hamel and the school change?
Answer: Franz learned that this was M. Hamel’s final French lesson for them. They will only be taught German starting the next day. He felt bad for not paying attention in class. His books, which had before appeared to be a nuisance and a burden, were now old companions. His sentiments for M. Hamel had also shifted. He’d forgotten about his ruler and how grumpy he was.
5. “Will they make them sing in German, even the pigeons?” Franz wonders. What does this imply?
Answer: Franz’s remark exemplifies a typical French reaction to the imposition of learning German, the conqueror’s language. Being denied the opportunity to learn one’s mother tongue would sever all ties to one’s motherland. Teaching the pigeons to sing in German demonstrates how far the Germans would go in their linguistic chauvinist ambitions.
24. What is ‘The Last Lesson”‘s underlying message?
Answer: The story exemplifies what happens when we are unconcerned about our country or our language. To protect one’s motherland, culture, and language, patriotism is a necessary quality in every citizen.
25. ‘What was Alsace’s fault, according to M. Hamel? Whom did he hold responsible?
Answer: According to M. Hamel, Alsace’s fault was the harmful habit of procrastination. The habit was more pronounced when it came to education. Everything else came first, including the studies. It was always postponed to a later date that never came.
M. Hamel blamed the Alsatian people collectively for this. Schooling was viewed as a waste of time by the parents. They would rather put their children to work and contribute to the family income. The children themselves were not looking forward to going to school. M. Hamel had also neglected his primary responsibility by delegating garden care to his children or declaring a holiday whenever he wanted to go fishing.
26. What does M. Hamel think about the French language?
Answer: As a Frenchman, M. Hamel held his mother tongue in high regard. He went on to praise the language and emphasise the importance of its preservation on the last day of class. He claimed that French is the most beautiful language in the world, that it is coherent and well-organized, and that its clarity and distinctness make it simple to understand. He urged everyone to take special care to preserve their native tongue because it is the only platform on which people can unite. This unity will provide them with the strength they require to defeat the powerful Germans and reclaim their independence. As a result, language will always be a unifying factor for their country’s citizens.
Get notes of other boards, classes, and subjects