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The Last Lesson
What was the parting message of M. Hamel to his students and the village old people? (Expected)
Or
What announcement was made by M. Hamel in his class on the day of his last French lesson?
The Church bell struck twelve. Mr. Hamel stood up from his chair. His face looked pale and troubled. His voice choked when he tried to utter ‘My friends’. On his failure to speak he wrote with a piece of chalk ‘Viva La France’-‘Long Live France’. Then he leaned against the wall and made his last announcement by making a gesture ‘School is dismissed–you may go’.
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What was Franz expected to be prepared with for school that day?
What did Franz notice that was unusual about the school that day?
What had been put on the bulletin board?
What changes did the order from Berlin cause in school that day?
How did Franz’s feelings about M. Hamel and school change?
The people in this story suddenly realise how precious their language is to them. What shows you this? Why does this happen?
Franz thinks : “Will they make them sing in German, even the pigeons ?” What could this mean ? (There could be more than one answer).
‘When a people are enslaved, as long as they hold fast to their language it is as if they had the key to their prison.” Can you think of examples in history where a conquered people had their language taken away from them or had a language imposed on them?
What happens to a linguistic minority in a state ? How do you think they can keep their language alive?
For example:
Punjabis in Bangalore
Tamilians in Mumbai
Kannadigas in Delhi
Gujaratis in Kolkata
Is it possible to carry pride in one’s language too far? Do you know what linguistic chauvinism means?
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