Question

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

Once some beetles flew in; but nobody paid any attention to them, not even the littlest ones, who worked right on tracing their fish-hooks, as if that was French, too. On the roof the pigeons cooed very low and I thought to myself, “Will they make them sing in German, even the pigeons?”

1. Where did the beetles fly in? How did the students react? (Understanding)
2. What was being done, and by whom? Where was it being done? (Understanding)
3. What made even the children do their work with full concentration? (Analysis)
4. They ‘worked right on tracing their fish-hooks, as if that was French too’. Comment. (Analysis)
5. What is the tone in, “Will they make them ....... even the pigeons?” What does the statement signify. (Analysis and Evaluation)

Answer 1

1. The beetles flew into the classroom. The students did not pay any attention to them and continued doing their work quietly and seriously.
2. The youngest students were tracing their fish-hooks in their copies. They were doing this inside the classroom during M. Hamel’s last French lesson.
3. The seriousness and sadness of the last French lesson made everyone attentive. They realised that they were losing the freedom to learn and use their own language.
4. The phrase shows that the children were unusually serious and focused. Even a simple writing exercise seemed important to them because it was connected with their final opportunity to learn French.
5. The tone is ironic and sarcastic. Franz wonders whether the Germans can control even the pigeons and force them to “speak” German. It highlights the absurdity and extent of foreign control over Alsace.