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Class 12 English Flamingo Book (Chapter Explanation)
Chapter – 1, The Last Lesson
THE LAST LESSON
- Alphonse Daudet
The story “Last Lesson” is written by French writer, Alphonse Daudet
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The lead character, Franz describes a memorable final lesson given by his
language teacher, M
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The story is set in a village, Alsace-Lorraine district of France, that has been occupied by the
Prussians
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The story tells how M
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There is an atmosphere of hopelessness and regret in the
classroom
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Chapter in Detail
The narrator of the story, Frenz started for his school quite late as he was scared of the idea of
participle quiz in M
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He thought of running away and spend the rest of day
outdoors instead of attending the class, but he stopped himself and hurried to the school
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No good news
had come from the bulletin board for last two years
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Watcher, the
blacksmith who was also reading the news asked him to slow down as he had plenty of time to
get to school
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Franz Notices Unusual Things in his Class
Franz reached the school garden and noticed the unusual silence which supposed to be on
Sundays in school
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Hamel walking in the class with a ruler under his arm
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But unexpectedly M
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Franz noticed several unusual things about the class
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He felt the environment of the school very serious and grim
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Then M
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Hence, a new German teacher was expected to arrive the next day
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Franz Regretted
The news filled Frenz with the feeling of regression
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He had always wasted his time in doing fun
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He always hated M
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But the news that M
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He figured out that
the villagers had come to pay their respect and thank M
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M
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Hamel called his name to recite the rules of participles,
but he could not as he did not know the lesson
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Hamel did not scold Franz but he
commented that all the people of Alsace were to be blamed as no one ever was serious in
learning their own language
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He also told that the enemies would laugh at them as they could neither speak nor
write their own language
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Hamel says that Frenz’s parents wanted him to work in fields and
as a teacher he was also not interested in teaching him
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Hamel Expressed the Importance of French Language
M
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He said that language was the only key to free oneself from the
prison of slavery
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M
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Hamel stood up and tried to speak but was overwhelmed by
emotions and so instead of speaking, he wrote “Vive La France!” on the black board, which
meant “Long Live France”
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Important Question and Answers
1
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What shows you this?
Why does this happen?
Ans -When the Prussian rulers ordered that French will no longer be taught in the schools of
Alsace and Lorraine, the villagers of Alsace realized the importance of mother tongue
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They regretted putting off learning French to next
day
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2
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His district was occupied by the Prussians and now German will be taught to
them
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According to him
pigeons used to make ‘coo’ sound which is natural to them and the Prussians can’t make them
sing in German
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Through this example Frenz had expressed his feeling that
language is a natural mode of communication and it cannot be imposed
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If this had been M
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Hamel’s first lesson the school experience of the
students might have been different
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Hamel
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Hamel may have inspired the students to learn their mother tongue
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4
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Hamel writing “Vive La France”, on the blackboard, is considered
symbolic?
Ans - At the end of the class M
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His action of writing those words on the blackboard carried a deeper
meaning
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5
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Support the statement using
M
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Ans – France was defeated by Prussians in the France – Prussian war and the districts of France
were passed into Prussian’s hand
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The news of losing their mother tongue brought out M
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He was known for being a very short- tempered and strict teacher, but
that day he taught the students in very understanding manner
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He tried to give as much knowledge as he could in the last French class
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“You realize the true value of a thing only on losing it” Comment on this statement in the
light of the story “The Last Lesson”
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They had always thought that they had got lot of time
for this so they never paid attention towards their mother tongue
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This fear of losing their own language made the people realize the
importance of their own language, they realized the value of their mother tongue
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Though tempted by the bright day, Franz stated that he had “the strength to resist, and
hurried off to school”
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Hamel and
the villagers would perhaps need “the strength to resist” much larger forces
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Provide relevant textual details to support
your argument
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The first is courage
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But he still hurried
towards his school thinking that he had the strength to resist
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The next strategy is kindness
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Hamel was kind to Franz even though he was late for class
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The third strategy is language
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They could run
underground classes and communicate among themselves in French
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The villagers would have to be united in order to face the different
type of difficulties, their unity would only help them in coming out of tough conditions
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What does it mean when M
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Hamel was saying that the adults of the village had not taken the education of children
seriously
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He said that Franz alone was not responsible for not
knowing the rules of participle but his parents were responsible too as they wanted him to work
in fields and were not interested in educating him
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Hamel included himself with the
villagers, he believed that he was equally responsible as he used to send Franz to water the
flowers during class times
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9
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Hamel decides to leave a little note for each of hs students
for them to find the next day at their desks
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I too love nature, you may remember those
days when I postponed the class only because I wanted to go fishing
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I hope you remember yesterday’s
lesson
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It is only the matter of being curious and interested
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With love
M
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Our language is part of our culture and we are proud of it
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Hamel
and the village elders are for having neglected their native language, French
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Suddenly, they all regretted for they had never been serious to learn how to read and write
their mother tongue
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That day

was the last day of French language in the schools
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They were
ashamed of themselves when the teacher, M
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They realized that their own language is key to escape
from the prison of slavery

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