The summary of " The Last Lesson" By Alphonse Daudet. The lesson " The Last Lesson" is written by French novelist and sh...
The summary of " The Last Lesson" By Alphonse Daudet.
The lesson " The Last Lesson" is written by French novelist and short story writer Alphonse Daudet, and he tried to throw light on the bad effects on school life as a result of the defeat of France by Prussia. The narrator of the lesson is Franz, who is not at all interested in school life, the French language, and his teacher, M. Hamel; rather, he likes to play and enjoys physical activities happening around him. Meanwhile, M. Hamel is a great admirer of the French language.
On that particular day, Franz was late to school, moreover, he was worried about the punishment because he had not done the homework on the Rules of Participles given by M. Hamel. But the situation was completely different, as there was unexpected silence instead of the common noise that can be heard from the street. When he took his seat in the classroom, he observed that M. Hamel was in a Sunday dress and, surprisingly, the villagers were also sitting quietly on the backbenches.
Soon he realized that this was the last lesson of M.Hamel in the school, as because the order came from Berlin that the two french districts, Alsace and Lorraine were under Prussian rule and no more french language will be taught, instead, the German language would be taught.M.Hamel was very kind and gentle, as he did not scold him. M. Hamel also explained that the French language is the most beautiful and logical language in the world, and regretted that they were not able to speak and write the language, and for that he himself was responsible, and a mother tongue or a native language is the key to unlocking any prison in the world.
Suddenly, respect was aroused in Franz towards the language and M. Hamel. The old villagers too became emotional and felt that they could have learned the language in their childhood, and they had come to attain the class in honour of M. Hamel, as he had been serving in the school for 40 years.
Finally, M. Hamel became very emotional, including the whole class, and said, "Vive La France," meaning Long Live France, and the school is dismissed, you may go.
Glossary:
- sawmill - a factory for cutting wood
- Drilling - a kind of exercise
- tempting - to attract
- resist - to keep away
- Bulletin - school notice board for news and updates
- apprentice - trainee
- in unison- at the same time, simultaneously
- rapping - striking
- counted on - depended on
- commotion - noise and confusion
- blushed - become red-faced because of shame
- solemn - serious
- primer - a basic reader of any language
- thumbed - torn and damaged
- wretches - an unfortunate happening
- saar - a river in France
- nuisance - burden, problem
- cranky - strange
- Sunday clothes - the best dress
- beetle - an insect
- cooed - the sound made by pigeons
- Vive La France - Long Live France
Think as you read
1. What was Franz expected to be prepared with for school that day?
Ans - Franz was supposed to be prepared for the rules of participles on that day, but as he was not interested in the language, he had not done the homework on participles, which was given by his French teacher M. Hamel
2. What did Franz notice that was unusual about the school that day?
Ans - Franz noticed an unusual silence on the school premises. He missed the sound of opening and closing the desks, the loud noise of unison while reciting the lesson, and the sound of the teacher's ruler rapping on the table, which is normally heard from the street.
3. What had been put up on the bulletin board?
Ans - For the last two years, all the bad news had come from the bulletin board. ( Notice board of the school) like lost battles, the draft, and different orders of the commanding officer. It was an order from Berlin that in the two French districts, Alsace and Lorraine, only the German language would be taught in place of the French language.
4. What changes did the order from Berlin cause in the school that day?
Ans - Because of the order from Berlin, the changes caused in the school were very serious. The whole atmosphere of the school changed very drastically. There was no usual noise, unexpected silence was there, M. Hamel was wearing his best dress, that is Sunday dress, he was very kind and emotional to the class, and seemed like he was at his best, villagers were sitting on bank benches like sincere students.
5. How did Franz's feelings about M. Hamel and school change?
Ans - Franz was a lazy boy and always disliked the French language and his teacher, M. Hamel. But on that day, he realized that this was the last lesson of M. Hamel in the school, moreover, M. Hamel was very kind toward him and the whole class, and when he concentrated, he realized that he could understand the language. All these collectively affected him. He felt sorry that he could not learn the language. And suddenly respect arose in him towards the French language and teacher M. Hamel.
UNDERSTANDING THE TEXT
1. The people in the story suddenly realized how precious their language was to them. What shows you this? Why does this happen?
Ans -Including Franz, other students, and villagers came to know that they would no longer be able to learn French, instead, the German language would be taught in those two French districts, as per the order from Berlin. M. Hamel realized that, being their mother tongue, they are not able to speak or write the language. He also said that it is the most beautiful and logical language in the world, and it can be key to opening the door of any prison. Suddenly, they felt the importance of I,t, and great respect arose in them towards the language and teacher M. Hamel. Moral can be drawn from the lesson that, when one is on the edge of losing, then only one realizes its importance, need, and respect.
2. Franz thinks," Will they make them sing in German, even the pigeons?"
Ans - Franz said this in the consequence that, as they were forced to learn German in place of French, will the Berlin order be able to force the pigeons to sing in German? Meaning, are they going to enslave other creatures of nature as they did with human beings? This is a sort of irony that shows the possibility of anything that could happen in slavery.
WORKING WITH WORDS
1. English is a language that contains words from many other languages. This inclusiveness is one of the reasons it is now a world language. For example-
petite - French, kindergarten - German, capital- Latin, democracy - Greek, bazaar - Hindi
Find out the origins of the following words -
tycoon - Japanese, barbeque - Spanish, zero - Arabic, tulip - Turkey, veranda - Indian, ski - Norwegian, logo - Greek, robot - Czech, trek - Dutch, bandicoot - Indian ( Telugu)
2. Notice the underlined words in these sentences and tick the option that best explains their meaning
a)" What a thunderclap these words to me"
1) loud and clear
2) startling and unexpected
3) pleasant and welcome
Ans - startling and unexpected
b) When people are enslaved, as long as they hold to their language, it is as if they have the key to their prison
1) Do not lose their language
2) are attached to their language
3) quickly learn to conqueror's language
Ans - do not lose their language
c) Don't go so fast, you will get to your school in plenty of time
1) very late
2) too early
3) early enough
Ans - early enough
d) I never saw him look so tall M. Hamel
1) had grown physically taller
2) seemed very confident
3) stood on the chair
Ans - seemed very confident
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