Answer any three of the following in 30-40 words each:
What was the order from Berlin and what changes did it cause in the school?
The order from Berlin was that only German was to be taught to students in the schools of Alsace and Lorraine.
The order brought the routine hustle-bustle of the school to a stand-still. The teacher became more patient and the students more attentive.
Everybody during the last lesson is filled with regret. Comment.
According to the order from Berlin, only German was to be taught in the schools of Alsace and Lorraine. This order left Mr. Hamel, the village people and the Mr. Hamel's students in deep regret. The villagers regretted not having made utmost use of the French lessons that they had been given by Mr Hamel. They had engaged themselves in their profession to earn a living and had not taken their French lessons seriously. The children and the villagers sitting in the class had always thought that they had enough time to learn the language. But now, during the last French lesson, everybody realized their mistake. They realized how little they knew their native language. They all attended the last lesson to show their respect to their teacher and their country, which was no longer theirs.
Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow:
............... The stunted, unlucky heir
Of twisted bones, reciting a father's gnarled disease,
His lesson, from his desk. At the back of the dim class
On unnoted, sweet and young.
(i) Who is the unlucky heir?
(ii) What will he inherit?
(iii) Who is sitting at the back of the dim class?
(i) The unlucky heir is the boy with deformed body.
(ii) He will inherit a disability of twisted bones from his father.
(iii) A sweet-looking, yet unnoticeable boy is sitting at the back of the dim class.
Everybody during the last lesson is filled with regret. Comment. (The Last Lesson)
Everything was unusual about the day when an order was released from Berlin instructing that only German was supposed to be taught in all schools of Alsace and Lorraine. This news caused great disappointment to M. Hamel, his students and the villagers. That day, the villagers, as well as the students, realized the importance of their national language. For the first time, they felt sorry for taking Hamel’s classes leniently.
The villagers had ignored the classes because they had been engrossed in their professional lives and in making a living Before the declaration of the order, the children and the adults had not taken the French lessons seriously because they thought they had a lot of time to learn the language. However, today during the last French lesson they realised their mistake and regretted what they had done. They felt shameful realising that they were not well versed in their own native language. Accordingly, everybody attended the last lesson with full sincerity and earnestness to pay tribute to their own language which, unfortunately, was no longer theirs.
Why were the elders of the village sitting in the classroom?
The elders of the village were sitting in the classroom to attend the last French lesson by M. Hamel. They realised the worth of their native language when they came to know that they had lost it. They were there to pay their tribute to the language and respect to M. Hamel.
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