The Last Lesson — Class 12 MCQs with Answers

The Last Lesson — important questions & MCQs with answers (Class 12 English)

2 solved questions from this chapter's difficulty levels, each with its answer and explanation. Tap an option to check yourself.

0 of 2 answered

1. Q1 of 2Medium

   What order had come from Berlin?

   AThat M. Hamel was to be arrestedBThat all schools were to closeCThat only German was to be taught in the schools of Alsace and LorraineDThat French was to be taught only in the evenings
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   Answer: That only German was to be taught in the schools of Alsace and Lorraine

   Explanation: 'The order has come from Berlin to teach only German in the schools of Alsace and Lorraine. The new master comes tomorrow.'

2. Q2 of 2Medium

   When Franz could not recite the participle rule, what did M. Hamel do?

   AMade him repeat it ten timesBStruck him with the rulerCSent him out of the classDRefused to scold him and blamed the habit of putting off learning till tomorrow
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   Answer: Refused to scold him and blamed the habit of putting off learning till tomorrow

   Explanation: 'I won't scold you, little Franz; you must feel bad enough... that's the great trouble with Alsace; she puts off learning till tomorrow.'

The Last Lesson notes: key concepts (Class 12 English)

Alphonse Daudet's story of the day an order from Berlin ends the teaching of French in Alsace and Lorraine. Told by Franz, a boy who dreads a scolding and instead walks into his last French lesson, it shows a whole village discovering the value of its language on the day it is taken away.

Alphonse Daudet and the setting

Alphonse Daudet (1840-1897), a French novelist and short-story writer. The story is set during the Franco-Prussian War (1870-1871), in which France was defeated by Prussia under Bismarck, and the districts of Alsace and Lorraine passed into Prussian hands.

Franz that morning

Late for school and 'in great dread of a scolding', because M. Hamel had said he would question them on participles and Franz 'did not know the first word about them'.

The temptation

Warm and bright, birds chirping, and the Prussian soldiers drilling in the open field behind the sawmill — 'all much more tempting than the rule for participles'. He resists.

The bulletin-board

A crowd stands before it at the town hall. For two years all bad news had come from there — 'the lost battles, the draft, the orders of the commanding officer'. The blacksmith Wachter calls out that he will get there in plenty of time.

The unnatural quiet

Usually there was 'a great bustle' — desks opening, lessons repeated in unison, the teacher's great ruler rapping. That day it was 'as quiet as Sunday morning', and Franz had to enter before everybody.

M. Hamel's clothes

His beautiful green coat, frilled shirt and the embroidered little black silk cap 'that he never wore except on inspection and prize days'.

The villagers on the back benches

Old Hauser in his three-cornered hat, the former mayor, the former postmaster and others — benches 'that were always empty'. Hauser brings an old primer 'thumbed at the edges'.

The announcement

'The order has come from Berlin to teach only German in the schools of Alsace and Lorraine. The new master comes tomorrow.' To Franz the words are 'a thunderclap'.

Franz's regret

His books, 'that had seemed such a nuisance a while ago, so heavy to carry', are 'old friends now that I couldn't give up'; and he forgets all about M. Hamel's ruler and crankiness.

Blame shared three ways

M. Hamel blames Alsace for putting off learning till tomorrow, the parents for preferring the farm and the mills, and himself for sending pupils to water his flowers and giving holidays when he wanted to go fishing.

The key to the prison

French is 'the most beautiful language in the world — the clearest, the most logical'; '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.'

The ending

At the stroke of twelve, with the Prussian trumpets sounding under the windows, M. Hamel stands 'very pale' — 'I never saw him look so tall' — and, unable to speak, writes 'Vive La France!' on the blackboard.