THE LAST LESSON 
      Short Answer Type Questions : 3 Marks (30-40 Words) 
      Question 1 : Why were some elderly persons occupying the back benches that 
      day? 
      Answer : The elderly villagers occupied the back benches in the classroom on the 
      day of the last lesson. They did this to show their affection for the French language 
      and pay respect to the teacher, M Hamel. 
      Question 2 : Why did Franz not want to go to school that day? 
      Answer : Franz did not want to go to school that day as he had not prepared his 
      lesson on participles. His French teacher would certainly scold him for this. So, 
      Franz wanted to avoid going to school. 
      Question 3 : What did Franz wonder about when he entered the class that day? 
      Answer : When Franz entered class that day, he was expecting a scolding from M 
      Hamel he spoke very kindly and asked him to sit. Franz also wondered at the 
      presence of senior villagers occupying back benches of the class. 
      Question 4 : Why did M Hamel write ‘Vive La France!‘ on the backboard? 
      Answer : M Hamel wrote ‘Vive La France!‘ on the backboard to show his love for 
      his country as well as for the French language. In addition, he was displaying his 
      resistance to the German occupation of France. 
      Question 5 : “We have all got a great deal to reproach ourselves with,” said M 
      Hamel. Comment. 
      Answer : M Hamel said this as most of the people of Alsace could neither speak 
      not write French. The parents of students preferred to put them to work to earn 
      money and M Hamel himself did not give much importance to learning as it 
      demanded. 
      Question 6 : How did M Hamel display his love for the French language? 
      Answer : M Hamel showed his love for the French language by telling the 
      students that the French language was the most beautiful language in the world – 
      the clearest and the most logical. 
      Question 7 : What was the bulletin board news that caused a change in the school? 
      Answer : A news had been put on the bulletin board stating that only German 
      should be taught in the schools of Alsace and Lorraine from the next day. 
      Question 8 : Whom did M Hamel blame for Franz’s inability to answer his 
      question? 
      Answer : M Hamel blamed the habit of people of Alsace of putting off learning for 
      tomorrow and not sending their children to school regularly. He also blamed 
      himself for neglect of learning of boys like Franz. 
      Question 9 : What was unusual about M Hamel’s dress on his last day in school? 
      Answer : M Hamel had put on his ceremonial clothes on his last day in the school. 
      He was wearing a beautiful green coat, a frilled shirt, and a little black 
      embroidered silk cap. 
      Question 10 :  What tempted Franz to stay away from school? 
      Answer : Franz feared a scolding at school as he had not prepared his lesson on 
      participles. Besides, the warm, bright weather, the chirping of birds and the sight of 
      the marching Prussian soldiers also tempted him to stay away from school. 
      Question 11 : “What a thunderclap these words were to me!” (Franz). What were 
      those words and what was their effect on Franz? 
      Answer : M Hamel told his  students that it was their last French lesson as an order 
      had come from Berlin that henceforth only German was to be taught in the schools 
      of Alsace and Lorraine. This announcement seemed to be thunderclap to Franz as 
      he was surprised and shocked on hearing them. 
      Question 12 : Who were sitting on the back benches during M Hamel’s last 
      lesson? Why? 
      Answer : Some of the elderly people from the village were sitting on the back 
      benches during M Hamel’s last lesson. The villagers had come there to attend his 
      last lesson as it was their way of paying respect to the master ,who had given forty 
      years of faithful service to the school. 
      Question 13 : Why does M Hamel reproach himself for his students’ 
      unsatisfactory progress in studies? 
      Answer : M Hamel had been rather irregular as a teacher. Besides, he had often 
      sent the students to water his plants, and whenever he wanted to go fishing, he just 
      gave them a holiday. So, he reproached himself for his students’ unsatisfactory 
      progress in studies. 
      Question 14 : What words did M Hamel write on the blackboard before dismissing 
      the last class. Why did they mean? 
      Answer : Before dismissing the last class, M Hamel turned to the blackboard and 
      wrote the phrase, ‘Vive La France!‘ as large as he could. These words meant ‘Long 
      Live France’, and spoke of M Hamel’s great love for his country and his deep 
      sense of patriotism. 
      Question 15 : What made M Hamel cry towards the end of his last lesson? 
      Answer : M Hamel had taught French at the school for the last forty years. He was 
      emotionally attached to the school and was really heartbroken to leave. All this 
      made him cry towards the end of his last lesson. 
      Question 16 : What did M Hamel tell them about the French language? What did 
      he ask them to do and why? 
      Answer : M Hamel told his students that the French language was the most 
      clearest, most logical and most beautiful language in the world. 
      He asked them to safeguard the French language and never forget it because when 
      people are enslaved the only to unlock the key to their prison is by means of their 
      language. 
      Question 17 : What did Franz see when he passed the town hall? 
      Answer : When Franz passed the town hall he saw a crowd in front of the bulletin 
      board. He thought to himself what the matter was and what bad news awaited 
      them. 
      Question 18 : “But the thing that surprised me the most was to see….” What 
      surprised Franz most in the class? 
      Answer : The thing that surprised Franz most was to see the elderly villagers 
      seated on the back benches of the class. It surprised him as they hardly used to 
      come to attend the class earlier. 
      Question 19 : How did Franz react to the declaration that it was their last French 
      lesson? 
      Answer : The French teacher M Hamel announced that he would be teaching his 
      last French lesson that day because the orders had come from Berlin to teach only 
      German in schools of Alsace and Lorraine. On hearing this, all the students as well 
      as Franz felt very sorry that they would not be learning their mother tongue in 
      future. Franz regretted not having learnt his lesson. 
      Question 20 : What was the order from Berlin and what changes did it cause in the 
      school? 
      Answer : The order from Berlin stated that only German will be taught in the 
      schools of Alsace and Lorraine. Due to this an unusual silence prevailed in the 
      school. M Hamel became soft in speaking to the students, while students realised 
      the importance of their language. 
      Question 21 : When Franz reached his school, what unusual situation did he 
      observe? 
      Answer : Usually, there used to be a great hustle and bustle when the school 
      began. The noise of opening and closing of the desks, lessons being repeated in 
      unison and the hitting of the teacher’s ruler on the table, could be heard out in the 
      street. But that day, it was all quiet and still as on a Sunday morning. 
      Question 22 : What were Franz’s regrets after M Hamel’s announcement of his 
      last lesson? 
      Answer : When M Hamel announced that it was their last French lesson, Franz 
      realised he had so much more to learn. He felt sorry for whiling away his time and 
      skipping his lessons. 
      Question 23 : How did M Hamel say farewell to his students and the people of the 
      town? 
      Answer : At the end of his ‘Last Lesson’, M Hamel stood up to say farewell to his 
      students and the people of the town but overwhelming emotion chocked his voice. 
      He then wrote  ‘Vive La France!‘ as large as he could on the blackboard; and 
      dismissed the class with a gesture of his hand. 
      Question 24 : Why did M Hamel ont scold Franz when the latter fumbled with the 
      rule for the participle? 
      Answer : Since it was M Hamel’s last class, he did not scold Franz when the latter 
      fumbled with the rule of the participle. He told Franz that he would not scold him 
      as he knew that Franz was already feeling bad about it. 
      Question 25 : What was Franz expected to be prepared with for the school that 
      day? 
      Answer : Franz was expected to be prepared with participles that day. His teacher 
      M Hamel, was to question him on the topic. 
      Question 26 : Franz thinks, “Will they make them sing in German, even the 
      pigeons?” What does this tell us about the attitude of the Frenchmen? 
      Answer : This shows that the Frenchmen were full of hatred against the Germans. 
      Besides, they feared German atrocities. They thought that they would be forced to 
      read German and no one will be spared. 
      Question 27 : What had the narrator counted on to enter the school unnoticed? 
      Answer : The sounds that were heard daily like the banging of the desks, repetition 
      of the lessons and rapping of the ruler, were so loud that the narrator thought he 
      could enter the classroom without being noticed. 
      Question 28 : Mention two things about M Hamel that surprised Franz on his last 
      day at school.