The Last Lesson An Introduction The Last Lesson

The Last Lesson: An Introduction The Last Lesson, a short story, is set in the backdrop of Franco-Prussian War. The story is narrated by a little boy, named Franz. The story deals with the defeat of the French by the Prussians led by Bismarck in the year 1870 and the occupation of Alsace and Lorraine by the Prussians till world war I. The story provides us a brief yet memorable account of how one’s language is rooted to one’s identity and what happens when there is an attempt to severe the tie between a people and its language by a powerful enemy. It also highlights how language plays the key role in moments of crisis when one’s identity is threatened. The Last Lesson is a great reminder of how we should not take our language for granted and how important it is to love and learn one’s language in order to safeguard one’s individual and collective identity.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR • Born in Nimes (ni-mj). • Attended school in Lyon. • Began writing at 14. • Forced to earn at 17. • Worked as Secretary to the Duke. • Married Julia Allard in 1867. ALPHONSE DAUDET He joined army to fight in the Franco-Prussian war. France’s defeat had a profound impact on him which is immensely reflected in his stories. Contes du Lundi (Monday Tales), a collection of stories published in 1873 in London, reflects the changes in France’s fortune through the eyes of a young boy.

THE LAST LESSON By Alphonse Daudet The Summary of Page-2 Franz started late to school. Reasons of his being late: • Had not prepared the homework given. • The outside weather was very tempting. • Drilling of the Prussian soldiers. Putting aside all these he had his way to school. Saw a large crowd in front of the bulletin-board. The bulletin-board used to give information on lost battles, order of the commander. Franz proceeded to school thinking about the matter displayed in the bulletin-board.

SUMMARY OF PAGE THREE AND FOUR • Bulletin-Board Notice: Last French Lesson. • Strange Ambience of the School and Classroom: • No Noise in the Class. • Hamel in the best of his Outfit. • Presence of the Villagers in the Class. • Hamel Informed the Class about the Last Lesson. • A Great Thunderclap for Franz. • Realization of Franz for his Negligence. • All his Books Which were Nuisance Became his Old Friends. • Franz Forgot the Cranky Character of Hamel. • Franz could Understand the Reason Hamel Wearing Best Outfit and Presence of the Villagers.

SUMMARY OF PAGE FIVE • Villagers Presence in the Classroom to Show Gratitude • Franz Recitation of Participles and Mixing up Every Thing. • Hamel did not React. • Hamel Blames Himself and the Parents for the Students not Learning French. • Hamel Used to Engage the Students in Personal Works. • Parents Sent the Children to Earn Money.

SUMMARY OF PAGES SEVEN & EIGHT • Hamel Glorifying French Language. • Franz Easily Understands Lesson. • Hamel Wants to Give Everything he can on the Last Lesson. • Everyone Deeply Engrossed in Studies. • Franz Openly Challenges to the Germans. • Hamel Stores Every Tit Bit of the School. • Realisation Dawns upon Franz about the Teacher.

WORD MEANING • • • • Chirp- A short sharp sound made by small birds Draft- Conscription; ordering people by law to serve in the army Dread- Awe, fear Apprentice- A novice ; a trainee Bustle- Excited activity, a tumult Unison- Saying, singing or doing the something at the same time Rapping- Striking sharply Frilled- Having ornamental edging Thunderclap- Loud crash made by thunder, here the sudden and unexpected announcement by the French teacher about the Last Lesson Commotion- Confusion, tumult Solemn- Serious Thumbed- To handle in an awkward manner Mounted- Climbed, stood

QUESTION ANSWER Think as you read (Part-I) 1) What was Franz expected to be prepared with for school that day? Ans: i)Participles ii)As Mr. Hamel would question them on participles 2) What did Franz notice bout the school that day? Ans: i)School was all quite like Sunday morning instead of commotion ii)No opening and closing of desks, no melody of unison iii)Mr. Hamel in his best attire iv)Last benches that usually remain vacant occupied by villagers 3) What had been put up on the bulletin-board? Ans: Order from Berlin to teach only German in the schools f Alsace and Lorraine

QUESTION ANSWER Think as you read(Part-II) 1)What changes did the order from Berlin cause in school that day? Ans: i) The entire school seemed strange and solemn without any commotion ii)Back benches occupied by villagers to express gratitude to Mr. Hamel forty years of faithful service iii)M. Hamel in his best dress iv)Order from Berlin brought repentance for those who neglected study of French language 2) How did Franz’s feelings about M. Hamel and school change? Ans: i)Earlier – Franz had no liking for M. Hamel because of his ruler and cranky nature; now- Those feelings were changed ii)Announcement about the last lesson by Hamel came as a thunderclap for little Franz iii)Franz felt sorry for not learning the French language iv)Books, earlier a burden now appeared to be old friends

UNNDERSTANDING 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? Ans: i)M. Hamel’s announcement about is last lesson ii)The negligence of learning the language made by everyone-blames people for sending children to work in fields to earn money, blames himself for employing students for watering plants in his garden and giving them an off from school when he goes on fishing and students like Franz who were not serious about learning the mother tongue iii)Praises French to be the most beautiful, the clearest and most logical language in the world iv)For the enslaved people, their language was the key to their prison v)People realised how precious their language was and pride in one’s language reflects pride in the motherland

UNDERSTNDING THE TEXT 2) Franz thinks, “Will they make them sing in German, even the pigeons? ’’ what could this mean? Ans: i)Comment made by Franz as a reaction to the imposition of the German by the new rulers ii)Bond between a people and their mother tongue is natural, hence, cannot be severed iii)Depriving the learning of it would mean cutting of all bonds with the motherland iv)Making the pigeons sing in German indicates how far the new ruler would go in their attempts of linguistic chauvinism

SHORT ANSWER TYPE QUESTIONS FOR PRACTICE Answer the following questions in 30 -40 words each: 1) What did Franz find ‘much more tempting’? How did he finally react to it? 2) What is a bulletin-board? Why was there a crowd in front of the bulletinboard? 3) What changes in school surprised Franz most that day? 4) Why had the villagers occupy the last benches in the class? How was the atmosphere in class that day? 5) Why did the words of Mr. Hamel appear to be a thunderclap to little Franz? 6) What change was found in Franz after the announcement of the last lesson? 7) How does M. Hamel impress upon the class the importance of their mother tongue? 8) What was Franz’s opinion about teaching and learning on the day of the last lesson? 9) How did Franz and other boys enjoy their lesson in writing? 10)How did M. Hamel behave as the last lesson came to an end?

LONG ANSWER TYPE QUESTIONS Answer the following questions in 120 -150 words: 1) What do you think is theme of the story ‘The Last Lesson’? 2) Is it possible to carry pride in one’s language too far? Discuss how linguistic chauvinism plays the unifying factor for the people in slavery. 3) What impression do you form of M. Hamel after reading the story ‘The Last Lesson’? 4) Sketch the character of little Franz. 5) Justify the appropriateness of the title ‘The Last Lesson’.