Worksheet- Class-XII The Last Lesson Malobika Banerjee

1) What was the narrator’s great dread when he started for school & why? How did he plan to
escape the scolding?
Ans) Dread was of a scolding from M. Hamel who would be asking questions on participles
that day & the narrator hadn’t learnt them. He felt that he would run away & spend the day
out of doors as it was warm & bright outside.
2) What was much more tempting than the rules for participles? What does he resist & how?
What does this show about him?
Ans) The chirping of the birds in the woods & the Prussian soldiers drilling in the open field
was much more tempting to see & enjoy than the rules for participles. But he said that he had
the strength to resist all this & hurried off to school. It shows that he had self-restrain.
3) What is the significance of the terms ‘the Prussian soldiers were drilling’, ‘draft’, ‘lost
battles’?
Ans) They all remind of the Prussian invasion of France & the soldiers were getting military
exercises in & around the town to highlight the loss of political freedom & force their
presence on the people of Alsace.
‘Draft’ is a scheme or a written version of a speech or document enforcing compulsory
military service for the people of Alsace by joining the Prussian army.
‘Lost battles’ are the wars they have lost against the Prussian army. All these terms highlight
the serious atmosphere of the war.
4)What did he see while passing the town hall & what was his reaction? Comment on the
significance of the bulletin board in their lives.
Ans) He saw a crowd gathered in front of the bulletin board & wondered the reason behind it,
thinking of another bad news in store for them. The bulletin board had been full of bad news
for them for the last 2 years talking of the lost battles, the draft or the orders of the
Commanding Officer.
5) The school child’s plight (pain) is similar to the condition of the soldiers drilling. How?
Ans) The child’s wanting to run away is a symbol of his love for freedom like other children
but like the soldiers he too is bound to the system. He like the soldiers can’t break free
whether he likes his school or not.
6)Who was wachter? What is the significance of his comment “You’ll get to your school in
plenty of time”?
Ans) He was a blacksmith who stood with other people & his apprentice reading the bulletin
board & commented thus in response to the order he had read which barred the teaching of
French in schools. Franz did not understand the significance of his words & thought that he
was making fun of him as he was hurrying to school for being late so that he could escape a
scolding from M. Hamel.
7) Usually when school began, there was a great bustle. Explain. ‘Now it was all so still!’
Explain. Why was it like a Sunday morning? ‘The whole school seemed strange & solemn.’
Why?
Ans) When school began, the bustle could be heard in the street. The sound of the opening &
closing of desks, lessons repeated in unison loudly & the teacher’s ruler rapping on the table
could be heard daily. But today all was still. It was like a quiet Sunday morning as through
the window he saw his classmates sitting in their places, M.Hamel walking up & down with
his ruler under his arm & the atmosphere was tense & grim.
8) How was the commotion significant for Franz and why had he counted on it? The
narrator’s plan to enter school unnoticed was foiled (wasted). How?
Ans) The narrator was late to school & wanted to enter the class during the bustle to escape
being noticed so that he would not be scolded by M.Hamel. But when he entered, the school
atmosphere was so still & silent that he felt frightened & blushed to enter the class by
opening the door in front of everybody.
9) ‘But nothing happened’. What had Franz expected to happen? How did M.Hamel behave
& appear differently from other days?
Ans) The statement is ironical as Franz had expected to be scolded or beaten up by M.Hamel
for being late to school but he talked to him very kindly & asked him to take his seat quickly
as they were beginning with their lesson. After he got over his fright he saw that his teacher
was dressed differently as he did on inspection or prize days. He wore his beautiful green
coat, frilled shirt & little black embroidered silk cap. He was surprised as it was not a special
day & yet there were so many changes in the school & teacher’s behaviour & appearance.
10) What surprised Franz most in the class? Why did everybody look sad?
Ans) On the back benches that were always empty, he found villagers like old Hauser, the
former mayor, the former postmaster & many others sitting. They had brought old primers &
held them open ready before them to read. They all looked sad because it was the last French
class & lesson they were attending according to orders from Berlin & they all realized their
mistake of postponing the learning of French till now & the lack of political freedom &
identity they would face from the next day.
11)What did M.Hamel announce mounting his chair? Which words were a thunderclap for
the narrator & why?
Ans) The announcement of M.Hamel was a thunderclap when he said that an order had come
from Berlin to teach German in the schools of Alsace & Lorraine & the new master would
arrive the next day. He requested everyone to be attentive as it was their last French lesson.
12)Explain the significance of Franz’s comment “My last French lesson.” What was his
reaction on hearing M. Hamel’s announcement? How is Franz’s reaction ironical? ‘Absence
or parting from something can make us realize its worth’. Explain. ‘Dire situations turn out to
be lessons in life’. Explain.
Ans) After the announcement, he realizes & regrets the fact that he hadn’t given any
importance to the learning of his mother tongue & now had to part with it forever. He hardly
knew how to write. He didn’t learn his lessons wasting his time seeking birds’ eggs or going
sliding on the saar. His books that seemed a nuisance & heavy load (like books on grammar,
history of saints) now seemed to be old friends whom he couldn’t give up. Mr. Hamel who
seemed to be cranky with his ruler, was now someone important for Franz. He had hated
things till now but parting from them changed his feelings, which is ironical.
13) Why had Mr. Hamel put on his fine Sunday clothes & why were the old villagers sitting
in the classroom?
Ans) In honour of the last lesson he had put on the clothes. The people were present as they
were sorry for not having attended school like Franz. It was their way of thanking the teacher
for his 40 years of faithful service. They were also showing respect for the country France
which was theirs no more as their territories had been captured by the Prussian army & were
to be Germanized soon.
14) How did Franz’s dread for participles come true? What was his reaction? How did
M.Hamel react? What is ‘the great trouble with Alsace’ according to M.Hamel and what is
its outcome? Who else is to be blamed for it?- He dreaded the scolding of M. Hamel if he
wouldn’t be able to answer questions on participles. His fear came true when he was asked to
recite the rules, and he got mixed up in the first words & stood holding on to his desk not
daring to look up. His teacher didn’t scold him saying that they all were responsible for his
failure to learn the rules because it was the greatest trouble with the people of Alsace (and a
part of universal human nature) that they postponed learning always & now they would get
no chance to learn it due to the order from Berlin. Inspite of being Frenchmen they wouldn’t
know how to speak or write their own language. Even parents aren’t anxious to see their
children learning things at school as they preferred to put them to work on a farm or at the
mills to earn some money. M. Hamel also sent the students to water flowers in his garden
instead of forcing them to learn lessons and declared a holiday when he wanted to go
fishing. So instead of Franz other people are to be reproached for his failure more than he
himself.
15) What were M. Hamel’s views about French language? What is the key to a prison for
enslaved people & how?
Ans) According to M.Hamel, French is the most beautiful language in the world, the clearest
& the most logical. It must be guarded & never forgotten. When people are enslaved, as long
as they hold on to their language, it is like the key to their prison after they are enslaved by
another country. It will provide them freedom to read and understand their mother tongue &
motherland inspite of facing linguistic chauvinism & lack of political freedom. It binds
people together and urges them to fight for the liberation of their motherland.
16) What was Franz amazed about when M. Hamel began to read the lesson? How is this
ironical?
Ans) Franz was amazed to see how well he understood whatever was taught. It all seemed so
easy which was till now so dull and boring. His ability to understand & take interest in the
subjects taught on that day is ironical as that was the last day & last lesson in French & he
won’t get a chance to learn it again. He feels that he had never listened so carefully & the
teacher also had never explained everything with so much patience. It was as if the teacher
wanted to give every bit of knowledge he had at one stroke to the people & students in the
class that day.
17) How was the approach of M.Hamel & the students different when the class began? How
was the atmosphere extremely quiet?
Ans) Hamel’s dress, not scolding Franz for being late or getting the rules for participles
wrong , getting new copies for pupils in class with ‘France, Alsace, France, Alsace’ written on
them with a beautiful handwriting. Everyone was set to work with great attentiveness & the
class atmosphere was so quiet that even the sound of the scratching of pens over the paper
could be heard. No one paid attention to the beetles that flew in & created chaos on earlier
occasions. Even the cooing of pigeons on the roof top could be heard clearly.
18) What looked like flags & what is the significance of the term ‘flag’ & the words written
on the new copies?
Ans) ’The new copies which M.Hamel had brought for the students for a lesson in writing
with ‘France, Alsace, France, Alsace,’ written on them looked like little flags floating
everywhere in the school- room. These words & the term ‘flags’ highlight the sense of
nationality & patriotism & the sadness at being deprived of political freedom & identity.
19) Explain the significance of ‘Will they make the pigeons also sing in German?’.
Ans) This is to show the plight of the people who were free as pigeons (which are a symbol
of freedom) but are now forced under Prussian dictatorship. It is a criticism of the linguistic
chauvinism by Prussians under which they are forced to suffer and German instead of French
would be compulsory for them.
20) What was Hamel’s reaction when students were writing and why?
Ans) M. Hamel kept sitting motionless in his chair , gazing at different things as if he wanted
to fix in his mind how everything looked in that classroom before he left it forever.
21) What does Franz want us to fancy and why? What similarities and changes had he
witnessed? Ans) Franz wants us to fancy how for the last 40 years M. Hamel had been there
in the same place with the same garden outside the window & the same classroom. Only the
desks & benches had worn smooth, the walnut trees & hopvine had grown taller. He tells us
to imagine how heart-broken the teacher was to leave all this as the German teacher would
take his place the next day