Question

Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow.

“I think, too, that I had never listened so carefully, and that he had never explained everything with so much patience.”

1. Who are ‘I’ and ‘he’ in the above extract? What kind of a teacher was ‘he’? (Recall and Evaluate)
2. Why was the lesson called ‘The Last Lesson’? (Recall)
3. What did ‘I’ notice that was unusual about the school that day? (Recall)
4. What is the mood in the classroom among the adults and the children in the story ‘The Last Lesson’? Give an alternative title to the story. (Analysis, Evaluate and Create)
5. What does this statement reveal about ‘I’? What kind of a pupil was the young boy earlier? What was the most important lesson he had learnt? (Analysis and Evaluate) 

Answer 1

1. ‘I’ refers to Franz, the narrator, and ‘he’ refers to M. Hamel, his French teacher. M. Hamel was a strict but dedicated and caring teacher who taught French with great patience and devotion.
2. It was called the Last Lesson because an order had come from Berlin that only German would be taught in the schools of Alsace and Lorraine. Therefore, M. Hamel was teaching French for the last time.
3. Franz noticed that the school was unusually quiet and solemn. The villagers, including the former mayor, former postmaster and old Hauser, were sitting on the back benches to attend the last French lesson.
4. The mood was sad, serious and emotional. Everyone felt regret at losing the freedom to learn their mother tongue. An alternative title could be “The Last French Lesson.”
5. It shows that Franz had become more attentive and appreciative because he realised the value of French. Earlier, he was an indifferent and careless pupil who often avoided studying. He learnt the important lesson that one should value and respect one’s language and education before it is taken away.