Chapter
- 9
The Last Lesson Alphonse
Daudet
Short Answer Type Questions
Q. 1. Why was the narrator scared of going to school that
morning?
Answer. The narrator was scared of going to school that
morning because M. Hamel had said that he would question them on Participles
and he didn’t know even the first word about them.
Q. 2. What did Franz see as he passed the town hall?
Answer. When Franz passed by the Town Hall, he saw a huge
crowd there. Franz noticed that the crowd was looking carefully at the Bulletin
board.
Q. 3. Who were the village people? How did they look?
Answer. There were Hauser, former mayor, postmaster and many
others in the village. The old Hauser had three cornered hat. He came with primer.
Everyone looked sad.
Q. 4. Why did Mr. Hamel say that it was the last lesson?
Answer. Mr. Hamel said so because he was a French teacher
there and an order had come from Berlin to teach only German in the schools of
Alsace and Lorrain.
Q. 5. How did Franz’s attitude towards his books and Mr.
Hamel change?
Answer. When Franz heard that it was the last lesson of the
French language. He was in shock. His books suddenly became his old friends. He
forgot about M. Hamel’s cranky nature and his ruler.
Q. 6. Why had Franz not been able to learn much at school?
Answer. Franz was unable to learn much in school because he
used to waste his time in finding birds’ eggs and sliding on the Saar. He did
not like his books at all. They were a nuisance to him; heavy to carry.
Q. 7. What did Mr. Hamel say about the French language?
Answer. Mr. Hamel said that the French language is the world’s
most beautiful language; it is the clearest and most logical language; that
they should protect it; it is the key to their prison.
Q. 8. How did Mr. Hamel bid farewell to his school?
Answer. When the church is twelve in the clock then Mr.
Hamel stood up. He tries to say something but he becomes emotionally disturbed.
He wrote “Vive La French” on the blackboard. And by the hand gesture, he
dismissed the school.
Long Answer Type Questions:
Q. 9. It was the day of surprises for Franz. What surprises
did he notice at school that day?
Answer. For Franz, the last day was the day of surprises.
The first surprise was the silence in the class where usually it would be
bustling with the different activities of children and teacher which could be heard
out in the street. The teacher, M. Hamel too was very nice to him on that day
which was quite unusual. Moreover, M. Hamel was wearing his beautiful green
coat frilled shirt and black silk hat all embroidered over which he would wear
only on inspection and prize days. The atmosphere was quite serene and the most
surprising thing was, the back benches which were generally empty had been
occupied by the village elders. Another big surpise was the announcement made
by M. Hamel about German going to be taught in the schools of Alsace and
Lorraine.
Q. 10. ‘Franz hated the school at first but he suddenly
began to like it.’ Comment.
Answer: Franz was negligent towards his studies. He didn’t
learn his lessons properly and instead of that he would go to seek birds’ eggs;
would while away his time by sliding on the Saar. His books were a nuisance to
him, heavy to carry. He didn’t like M. Hamel’s cranky nature and his using the
ruler. Even his parents were not concerned about his studies and kept him away
from learning by engaging him in earning. But when M. Hamel broke the news of
German going to be taught in the school of Alsace and Lorraine and that it was
going to be his last lesson, he realized the importance of his language and
felt sorry for his cold attitude towards his own language, and at once
developed a liking for the language, the school and the teacher.
Q. 11. What ideas of
Mr. Hamel’s character do you form after reading “The last lesson”?
Answer: M. Hamel was a French teacher. He was very strict so
the students were scared of him. He would use ruler to frighten the students. He
was respected by the villagers and though he was sincere and devoted to his
duties yet at times, he neglected his duties as a teacher. He would send his
students to water the plants in the garden. When he wanted to go fishing, he
would give them a holiday. But he was a true nationalist and a good teacher at
heart. His feelings for his country and language welled up when he received the
order to leave his country. In the last class, he told the students that French
is the most beautiful, the clearest and most logical language in the world. He
told them to hold fast to it if they wanted to be free.
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