Chapter – 1

The Last Lesson

In this post, we have given the Important Questions of the chapter 1 “The Last Lesson”. It is the 1st chapter of the prose of Class 12th English.

Board	CBSE Board, UP Board, JAC Board, HBSE Board, UBSE Board, PSEB Board, RBSE Board
Textbook	NCERT
Class	Class 12
Subject	English Flamingo
Chapter no.	Chapter 1
Chapter Name	The Last Lesson
Category	Class 12 English Important Questions
Medium	English

Ch 1 The Last Lesson

(Short Answer Questions: 2 marks each)

Qes 1 Why was Little Franz scared to go school that morning?

Ans: That morning, Little Franz was scared to go to school because he was late for school. Moreover, his teacher M. Hamel had told them that he would question them on participles and Little Franz did not know the first word about them.

Qes 2 What were the things that tempted/attracted Little Franz on the way to school?

Ans. On the way to school, Little Franz was attracted by the following things:

i) the bright and sunny weather, a perfect one to be spent out of doors

ii) the birds were chirping at the edge of the woods

iii) the Prussian soldiers were drilling in the open field at the back of the saw mill.

Qes 3 Why did the school look like a Sunday morning?

Ans: The school looked different that day. There was no sound of children or desk and benches nor of M. Hamel’s terrible ruler. Everything was calm and quiet like a Sunday morning because of the order that had come from Berlin.

Qes 4 What were the usual sounds heard out at the street when school began?

Ans: Usually when school began, there used to be a lot of noise. Opening and closing of desks, lessons repeated in unison and the teachers great ruler rapping on the table to make the children silent are some of them heard out in the street.

Qes 5 What was unusual that Franz notice about the school that day?

Ans: Franz noticed that everything was calm and quiet like a Sunday morning. The children were already seated in their desks and M. Hamel was walking up and down in the class with his iron ruler under his arm. He was wearing his best dress which he never wore except on inspection or prize distribution days.

Qes 6 How was the teacher/M. Hamel dressed?

Ans: M. Hamel was wearing his best dress that day. He was wearing his green coat, frilled shirt and a little black silk cap, all embroidered which he never wore except on inspection or prize distribution days.

Qes 7 Why were the villagers sitting at the back benches of the school/classroom?

Ans: The villagers were very sad after they came to know about the order that had come from Berlin. So, in order to show their love and respect towards their mother tongue and also to show gratitude to M. Hamel, they were sitting at the back benches of the school.

Qes 8 What was like a thunderclap to Little Franz?

Ans: M. Hamel announced that he was going to give them the last French lesson. He also said that an order had come from Berlin to teach only German in the schools of Alsace and Lorraine and the new French teacher would arrive the next day. He asked everyone to be very attentive. These words were like a thunderclap to Little Franz.

Qes 9 What was M. Hamel’s view/opinion on the French language?

Ans: According to M. Hamel, French was the most beautiful language in the world. It was the clearest and the most logical language. He asked everyone to guard it 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.

Qes 10 Whom did the teacher/M. Hamel blame for Little Franz not learning his mother tongue?

Ans: M. Hamel blamed the parents, the children and also himself for Little Franz not learning French. He pointed out that the parents preferred to put their children to work in a farm or in the mills to earn a little extra money. Even the teacher also used to give them a holiday whenever he wanted to go for fishing. The children put learning for tomorrow.

Qes 11 How did the teacher/M. Hamel address or behave Little Franz even if he was late?

Ans: To his surprise, Little Franz noticed that M. Hamel did not scold him for being late. When he saw Little Franz, he told him very kindly to go to his place quickly and also said that they were beginning without him. This was just opposite to the normal cranky behaviour of the teacher M. Hamel.

Qes 12 What bad news did the bulletin board give for the last two years?

Ans: The bulletin board brought all the bad news for last two years. Some of them were like the lost battle, the draft and the order of the commanding officer etc. All these news were related to the Franco Prussian war going on at that time.

Qes 13 Why did the crowd gather in front of the bulletin board that day?

Ans: That day, Franz noticed a crowd gathered in front of the bulletin board. For the last two years, all the bad news had come through the bulletin board. He wondered what might be the reason that day. Later, he came to know that it was the order from Berlin which was put in the bulletin board.

Qes 14 How did Little Franz react to the announcement made by M. Hamel?

Ans: The announcement made by M. Hamel was like a thunderclap to Little Franz. He understood that this order had been put up in the town hall. His heart felt with regret and remorse for not learning his language. He also thought about the teacher who would leave them forever very soon.

Qes 15 How did he feel about the last grammar lesson taught by M. Hamel?

Ans: To his utter surprise, Little Franz found the grammar lesson to be very easy. He was amazed to see how well he understood it. He also thought that he had never listened so carefully, and that M. Hamel, their teacher had never explained everything with so much patience. It looked that as if the old man wanted to give them everything he knew before going away.

Qes 16 What were the topics/subjects discussed or taught by M. Hamel on the day of the last lesson?

Ans: On the day of the last lesson, M. Hamel taught the following topics/subjects:

i) Oral questions on participles

ii) a Grammar lesson

iii) A lesson on writing

iv) History

v) Chanting of French alphabet for the babies.

Qes 17 How did the little children behave in the class that day?

Ans: That day, even the little children were doing their works quietly. Franz noticed that some beetles flying in during the writing lesson. But nobody paid any attention, even the littlest one. They were busy in tracing their fish hooks.

Qes 18 What did Little Franz think about the pigeons?

Ans:  After the announcement made by M. Hamel about their last French lesson, Little Franz was wondering on many things amidst the strangely quiet school room. Once some pigeons cooed from the roof. Little Franz wondered whether the Germans would make them sing in German too.

Qes 19 Why did M. Hamel tell the class to guard the French language and never forget it?

Ans : According to M. Hamel, when a people are enslaved, as long as they hold fast to their language, it is as if the key to their prison. So, he requested everyone to guard their mother tongue and never forget it.

Qes 20 How did M. Hamel end/conclude his class?

Ans: When the church clock struck twelve, M. Hamel stood up from his chair. He wanted to say something but something chocked him, he could not go on. Then he walked up to the black board and wrote on it “Vive La France” with a piece of chalk as large as he could. He leaned his head against the wall and without saying a word made a gesture with his hand that the school was dismissed, they might go.

(Long Answer type questions: 5 marks each)

Qes 1 How did the order from Berlin change the situation in the school?

Ans: The shocking order from Berlin after the defeat of France shocked the French people. It declared that all the schools in the two French districts of Alsace and Lorraine would now teach only German. This not only saddened but also hurt the pride of the people of France. On the day of the last lesson, even the village elders came to show their respect to M. Hamel for serving the community faithfully for forty years. The usual hustle and bustle too was missing from school and Franz found it unusually quiet as it used to be on a Sunday morning. M. Hamel was dressed in his formal suit. Even though Franz reached late M. Hamel did not scold him. He then went on to praising the French language at length by referring to it as the most beautiful language. He called upon the French people to safeguard their language among themselves and not to forget it ever.

Qes 2 Give a brief character-sketch of M. Hamel.

Ans: M. Hamel was a teacher of the French language in a village of Alsace district of France. He had been teaching French for the last forty years in that village. Everyone in the village had a great respect for him. His students thought he was cranky, but we didn’t find him cranky in any part of this story. He was very honest. When Franz failed to recite the rule for participles, he blamed himself for giving children unnecessary holidays whenever he wanted to go for fishing. He had great passion for his subject. He knew that it was now the last day of his school and he had to leave the district the next day for good. Even then he taught his students so well that they understood everything he had taught. He had great love for the French language. He called it the most beautiful, the clearest and the most logical language of the world. Indeed M. Hamel was a. great patriot.

Qes 3 Our native language is a part of culture and we are proud of it. How does the presence of village elders in the classroom and M. Hamel’s last lesson show their love for French?

Ans: According to a famous proverb, the person who does not take pride in his language, culture and nation is like an animal and he is like a dead person. Every community has a natural attachment to its culture and language. It is our native language that we naturally learn from the lap of our mother. We can communicate in our native language more effectively and proficiently than in some other foreign language.In this story, the Prussians invaded the French districts of Alsace and Lorraine. They banned the teaching and studying of the French language in these districts. All the teachers of the French language were asked to leave the districts of Alsace and Lorraine. M. Hamel was a teacher of the French language in a village in the district of Alsace. He had been teaching in a school the French language for the last forty years. The next day, he was leaving the village and school for good. The elderly persons sitting at the back benches were the old Hauser who was wearing his three cornered hat, the former mayor, the former postmaster, and several others. Everybody was looking sad. Hauser had brought an old primer and he held it open on his knees with his spectacles lying across the pages. All these elderly persons had come to the school to pay their tribute to the selfless service of M.Hamel for forty years.

Qes 4 Everybody during the last lesson is filled with regret. Comment.

Ans: In the year 1870-71, during the Franco-Prussian war the French districts of Alsace and Lorraine fell into the hands of Prussians. They harmed the teaching and learning of the French language in these districts. All the teachers of the French language were ordered to leave these districts. M. Hamel was one such teacher who taught French in one of the villages of Alsace district. He had to leave the village the next day for good. In the chapter, he was delivering his last lesson of the French language. Not only the students but also the village elders came to attend the last French class. Everybody in the class was full of regret. M. Hamel blamed himself for giving too much holidays to his students and in this way not teaching them properly. The students like Franz blamed themselves for not learning their language properly. The village elders were also full of regret. They had not learnt their language properly when they were young. Now they had come there to pay their tribute to M. Hamel, the French teacher, for forty years of selfless service towards the community and also to their love towards the mother tongue

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