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The Last Lesson

Question
CBSEENEN12019396

Before leaving, M. Hamel writes a page in his diary as to how he conducted on the last day in school. Write a page of entry by giving a suitable title to it.

Solution

A Heartful Departure

Alsace : 10th October, 1872, 5.00 pm

Due to Franco-Prussian war, France was defeated by Prussia and consequently an order was issued from Berlin banning the teaching of French in schools of Alsace and Lorraine districts. At that time I was teaching French in one of the schools. This order added a salt on my wounds since I had to leave that place after completing the commendable services of forty years. I had much got inclination to its soil, garden, buildings, area, students and parents’ community. So the departure was all the more sad, tearful, tense and troublesome.

Addressing the students : ‘My children! this is my last lesson in French, I told them the importance of one’s language. Then I taught them grammar in such a dignified way that all forgot about the bell. Even the villagers had thronged to pay me their last respect. They were laden with gifts and other items. I was viewing everything so as to set everything in my mind. When I rose to say something, my voice choked, and I wrote on a blackboard ‘Long Live France’. With a gesture I pointed out about the school closing. I will never forget this tearful, sympathetic, revered and sincere farewell till there are breaths in my body.

M. Hamel

Some More Questions From The Last Lesson Chapter

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?

English is a language that contains words from muny 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      barbecue     zero
tulip         veranda      ski
logo          robot         trek
bandicoot


Notice the underlined words in these sentences and tick the option that best explains their meaning:

“What a thunder clap these words were to me !”

The words were:

“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.”

It is as if they have the key to the prison as long as they

Don’t go so fast, you will get to your school in plenty of time. “You will get to your school.”

I never say him look so tall. M. Hamel

M. Hamel had said that he would question us on Participles. In the sentence above, the verb form “had said” in the first part is used to indicate an “earlier past.” The whole story is narrated in the Past. M. Ilamel’s “saying” happened earlier than the events in this story. This form of the verb is called the Past Perfect.

Pick out five sentences from the story with this form of the verb and say why this form has been used.