The Last Lesson: ICSE Class 10 English workbook solutions

PASSAGE-1

For a moment I thought of running away and spending the day out of
doors. It was so warm, so bright ! The birds were chirping at the edge of
the woods, and in the open field, back of the saw-mill the Prussian soldiers
were drilling.

(i) What does ‘running away’ signify in the context of the story ? What
does this expression convey about the narrator Franz? (Understanding and
Analysis)

Answer: In the context of the story, ‘running away’ signifies the narrator
Franz’s thought of skipping school for the day. This expression conveys
that Franz was not eager to go to school that morning, partly because he
was late and especially because he was in great dread of a scolding from
M. Hamel, who was to question the students on participles, about which
Franz knew nothing. The temptation to spend the day outdoors was
strong.

(ii) What did Franz crave for? (Understanding)

Answer: Franz craved for spending the day out of doors. He found the
warm and bright weather, the chirping of birds at the edge of the woods,
and the sight of Prussian soldiers drilling in the open field behind the saw-
mill to be much more tempting than the rule for participles.

(iii) Comment on the line ‘It was so warm, so bright’. (Analysis)

Answer: The line ‘It was so warm, so bright’ emphasizes the attractiveness
of the outside world to Franz, especially in contrast to the impending
lesson on participles he was unprepared for. It highlights the strong
temptation he felt to avoid school and enjoy the pleasantness of the day.
(iv) What is the significance of the reference to the drills by the alien
soldiers in France ? (Analysis)

Answer: The reference to the drills by the Prussian soldiers, who were
alien occupiers in France, is significant as it sets the historical context of
the Franco-Prussian War and the subsequent occupation of Alsace. It
subtly introduces the theme of lost freedom and the presence of the
conquering force, which is the reason for the “bad news” that usually
came from the bulletin-board and the central conflict of the story – the
imposition of German language.

(v) What temptations did the narrator overcome ? Where was he going?
(Understanding)

Answer: The narrator, Franz, overcame the temptation of running away

and spending the day out of doors, which included enjoying the warm,
bright weather, listening to the birds chirping, and watching the Prussian
soldiers drilling. Despite these temptations being much more appealing
than the rule for participles, he had the strength to resist and hurried off
to school.

PASSAGE-2

Through the window I saw my classmates, already in this places, and M.

Hamel walking up and down with his terrible iron ruler under his arm. I
had to open the door and go in before everybody. You can imagine how I
blushed and how frightened I was.

(i) What kind of teacher was M. Hamel ? What did he teach?

(Understanding)

Answer: M. Hamel was a teacher who was generally perceived as strict by

Franz, as indicated by the mention of his “terrible iron ruler” and Franz’s
fear of a scolding. However, on this particular day, he acted very kindly.
He taught French. The summary also describes him as a dedicated
teacher and a strict disciplinarian.

(ii) What was M. Hamel doing when Franz looked through the window? Was
it a pleasant sight? (Understanding)

Answer: When Franz looked through the window, M. Hamel was walking up
and down in the classroom with his terrible iron ruler under his arm. For
Franz, who was late and unprepared for the lesson on participles, this was
not a pleasant sight as he was already frightened and anticipating a
scolding.

(iii) Why was Franz frightened ? (Analysis)

Answer: Franz was frightened because he was very late for school and,
more importantly, because M. Hamel had said he would question the
students on participles, and Franz did not know the first word about them.
He was also frightened at the thought of having to open the door and
enter the quiet classroom before everybody, imagining how he would
blush.

(iv) Did the teacher punish Franz ? What happened when Franz entered
the classroom? (Analysis)

Answer: No, the teacher, M. Hamel, did not punish Franz. When Franz
entered the classroom, M. Hamel saw him and, instead of scolding, spoke
very kindly, saying, “Go to your place quickly, little Franz. We were
beginning without you.”

(v) Which kind of dress was M. Hamel wearing? Why? (Understanding and
Analysis)

Answer: M. Hamel was wearing his beautiful green coat, his frilled shirt,
and the little black silk cap, all embroidered. He wore this special attire
because it was his last French lesson; he never wore these clothes except
on inspection and prize days, and this day was significant as it was in
honor of the last lesson.

PASSAGE-3

“I think, too, that I had never listened so carefully, and that he had never
explained everything with so much patience.” (Board’s Practice Question)

(i) Who are ‘I’ and ‘he’ in the above extract ? What kind of a teacher was
‘he’? (Recall & Evaluate)

Answer: In the above extract, ‘I’ refers to Franz, the narrator of the story
and a student in M. Hamel’s class. ‘He’ refers to M. Hamel, the French
teacher. On this particular day, ‘he’ was a teacher who explained
everything with so much patience that it seemed he wanted to give his
students all he knew before going away, and to put it all into their heads
at one stroke. Franz felt he had never listened so carefully before,
indicating the teacher’s effectiveness on this occasion.

(ii) Why was the lesson called “The Last Lesson’? (Recall)

Answer: The lesson was called “The Last Lesson” because M. Hamel
announced to his students that an order had come from Berlin to teach
only German in the schools of Alsace and Lorraine. He stated that the new
master would come the next day, and therefore, this was their last French
lesson.

(iii) What did ‘I’ notice that was unusual about the school that day ?
(Recall)

Answer: ‘I’, Franz, noticed several unusual things about the school that
day. Firstly, the usual great bustle was missing, and everything was as still
and quiet as a Sunday morning. Secondly, M. Hamel was wearing his fine
Sunday clothes – his beautiful green coat, frilled shirt, and embroidered
black silk cap – which he only wore on inspection and prize days. Thirdly,
and most surprisingly, the back benches of the classroom, which were
always empty, were occupied by village people like old Hauser, the former
mayor, the former postmaster, and several others, all sitting quietly and
looking sad. The whole school seemed so strange and solemn.

(iv) What is the mood in the classroom among the adults and the children
in the story The Last Lesson’ ? Give an alternative title to the story.
(Analysis, Evaluate & Create)

Answer: The mood in the classroom among the adults and children was
one of solemnity, sadness, and regret. Everybody looked sad. Franz felt
sorry for not learning his lessons, and the village elders were there to
show their respect for M. Hamel’s forty years of faithful service and for the
country that was theirs no more. There was an atmosphere of
hopelessness. An alternative title for the story could be “The Stolen
Mother Tongue.”

(v) What does this statement reveal about ‘I’? What kind of a pupil was
the young boy earlier ? What was the most important lesson he had learnt
? (Analysis and Evaluate)

Answer: This statement reveals that ‘I’, Franz, had undergone a change in
his attitude towards learning. He was now listening with rapt attention and
understanding the lesson well, which was a new experience for him.
Earlier, the young boy Franz was a carefree and easily distracted pupil
who did not attach much importance to learning his lessons, especially
French. He would often think of running away from school to seek birds’
eggs or go sliding on the Saar. He was a victim of procrastination. The
most important lesson he had learned on this day was the value and
importance of his mother tongue, and the regret that comes from
neglecting opportunities until it is too late.

PASSAGE-4

Ah, that’s the great trouble with Alsace; she puts off learning tomorrow.
Now those fellows out there will have the right to say to you, ‘How is it :
you pretend to be Frenchmen and yet you neither speak nor write your
own language ?’ But you are not the worst, poor little Franz. We’ve all a
great deal to reproach ourselves with.”

(i) What do you learn about the narrator? (Analysis)

Answer: From this passage, spoken by M. Hamel but reflecting on Franz’s

situation, I learn that the narrator, Franz, is representative of a general
tendency in Alsace to postpone learning. While he is being told he is not
the worst, it implies he too has been neglectful. He is now in a position
where his lack of proficiency in his own language can be used against him
and his people.

(ii) What is the regret in his mind? (Understanding)

Answer: The regret in Franz’s mind, as understood from the broader

context of the story, is for not having learned his French lessons more
diligently when he had the chance. He regretted seeking birds’ eggs or
going sliding on the Saar instead of focusing on his studies, and now, with
the impending loss of French instruction, this regret is acute.

(iii) Who are ‘those fellows’? How would they mock at the villagers ?
(Understanding)

Answer: ‘Those fellows’ refers to the Prussians, the occupying forces who
have issued the order to teach only German. They would mock the
villagers of Alsace by pointing out their inability to speak or write their
own French language, despite claiming to be Frenchmen. They would
question their identity by saying, “How is it; you pretend to be Frenchmen,
and yet you can neither speak nor write your own language?”

(iv) Who, according to the speaker, were to be blamed for the present
situation ? (Understanding and Analysis)

Answer: According to the speaker, M. Hamel, everyone in Alsace had a

great deal to reproach themselves with for the present situation where
they were deficient in their own language. He specifically mentioned that
parents were not anxious enough to have their children learn, preferring
to put them to work on a farm or at the mills for more money. He also
blamed himself, the teacher, for sometimes sending students to water his
flowers instead of learning their lessons, or giving them a holiday when he
wanted to go fishing. And, by implication, students like Franz were also to
blame for putting off learning.

(v) Later, what does the speaker say about the French language ? (Recall)

Answer: Later, the speaker, M. Hamel, goes on to talk about the French
language, saying that it was the most beautiful language in the world—the
clearest, the most logical. He emphasized that they must guard it among
them and never forget it, because 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.

PASSAGE-5

“Your parents were not anxious enough to have you learn. They preferred
to put you to work on a farm or at the mills, so as to have a little more
money. And I ? I’ve been to blame also. Have I not often sent you to water
my flowers instead of learning your lessons? And when I wanted to go
fishing, did I not just give you a holiday?”

(i) Who is addressing and whom, and on what occasion? (Understanding)

Answer: M. Hamel is addressing little Franz, and by extension, all the

students and the villagers present in the classroom. This is happening on
the occasion of his last French lesson, as an order has come from Berlin
that only German will be taught in the schools of Alsace and Lorraine from
the next day.

(ii) Who were put to earn more money for the parents ? What does it show
about them? (Understanding and Analysis)
Answer: The children, the students like Franz, were put to work on a farm
or at the mills by their parents so as to have a little more money. This
shows that their parents were not anxious enough to have their children
learn; they prioritized immediate, though small, financial gains over their
children’s education and the learning of their mother tongue.

(iii) What made the speaker blame himself? (Understanding)

Answer: The speaker, M. Hamel, blamed himself because he

acknowledged that he had not always prioritized his students’ learning. He
admitted that he had often sent them to water his flowers instead of them
learning their lessons, and when he wanted to go fishing, he had simply
given them a holiday.

(iv) What do you think of the speaker ? (Analysis)

Answer: I think the speaker, M. Hamel, is an honest and self-aware

individual. He is not afraid to admit his own faults and share the
responsibility for the neglect of the French language. This makes his
subsequent passionate plea for the language even more impactful. He is
also shown to be a devoted teacher, deeply regretting the circumstances
and his past actions, and filled with patriotic fervor.

(v) Why does the speaker focus on the importance of learning mother
tongue later in the context? (Analysis)

Answer: The speaker focuses on the importance of learning the mother

tongue later in the context because the opportunity to learn French is
being forcibly taken away from the people of Alsace and Lorraine. It is only
when they are faced with this loss that the true value of their language, as
a cornerstone of their identity and a “key to their prison,” becomes
critically apparent. He emphasizes its importance now to instill a lasting
sense of duty to preserve it.

PASSAGE-6
… it was the most beautiful language in the world – the clearest, the most
logical; that we must guard it among us and never forget it, because 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.

(i) Which language is being referred to here ? What is the occasion of this
observation? (Understanding)

Answer: The French language is being referred to here. The occasion of

this observation is M. Hamel’s last lesson in French, delivered to his
students and the assembled villagers in a school in Alsace, after an order
from Berlin mandated that only German be taught henceforth.

(ii) What does the speaker think of the language being referred to ?
(Analysis)

Answer: The speaker, M. Hamel, thinks that the French language is the
most beautiful language in the world. He also describes it as the clearest
and the most logical.

(iii) What is his advice to the listeners ? (Understanding)

Answer: His advice to the listeners is that they must guard the French
language among themselves and never forget it.

(iv) Why should the enslaved people not forget their language? (Evaluate)

Answer: According to the speaker, enslaved people should not forget their
language because as long as they hold fast to their language, it is as if
they had the key to their prison. This implies that their language is a vital
tool for maintaining their identity, culture, unity, and ultimately, for their
liberation.
(v) What, according to the speaker, had been the attitude of the people
towards their own language ? Why should they need to change it ?
(Understanding and Analysis)

Answer: According to the speaker, M. Hamel, the attitude of the people of

Alsace towards their own French language had been one of neglect and
procrastination; they, including students, parents, and even he himself,
had not given its learning the priority it deserved. They needed to change
this attitude urgently because their right to learn and use French was
being taken away by the Prussian conquerors. Holding fast to their
language was now crucial for preserving their identity and was
metaphorically their key to freedom from enslavement.

PASSAGE-7

Once some beetles flew in; but nobody paid any attention to them, not
even the littlest ones, who worked right on tracing their fish-hooks, as if
that was French, too. On the roof the pigeons cooed very low, and I
thought to myself, “Will they make them sing in German, even the
pigeons?”

(i) Where did the beetles fly in ? How did the students react?
(Understanding)

Answer: The beetles flew into the school-room. The students, including
even the littlest ones, paid no attention to them; they were completely
engrossed in their work.

(ii) What was being done, and by whom? Where was it being done ?
(Understanding)

Answer: A writing lesson was being done by the students in the school-
room. M. Hamel had given them new copies with “France, Alsace, France,
Alsace” written in a beautiful round hand. The littlest ones were working
on tracing their fish-hooks.
(iii) What made even the children do their work with full concentration ?
(Analysis)

Answer: The solemn and charged atmosphere of the last French lesson,
the realization of what they were losing, and M. Hamel’s earnest
demeanor likely made even the children do their work with full
concentration. The unusual quietness of the school and the presence of
the sad village elders also contributed to this focused environment, where
the only sound was the scratching of pens.

(iv) They ‘worked right on tracing their fish-hooks, as if that was French
too’, Comment. (Analysis)

Answer: This comment, made by Franz, reflects his innocent yet profound
understanding of the situation. It suggests that on this day, everything felt
connected to their French identity. The act of tracing fish-hooks, a simple
task for the youngest students, became imbued with the significance of
their language and culture, as if even that activity was an expression of
being French, which was now under threat.

(v) What is the tone in, “Will they make them sing in German, even the
pigeons?” What does the statement signify. (Analysis and Evaluation)

Answer: The tone in Franz’s thought, “Will they make them sing in
German, even the pigeons?” is one of poignant irony, bitterness, and a
childlike questioning of the oppressors’ reach. The statement signifies the
perceived absurdity and overreach of the Prussian order to impose their
language. It highlights the deep sense of loss and the feeling that their
entire way of life, even the sounds of nature, is being threatened. It
questions the limits of the conquerors’ power to change fundamental
aspects of their world and identity.

PASSAGE-8

“My friends,” said he, “I – I –” But something choked him. He could not go
on.
Then he turned to the blackboard, took a piece of chalk, and, bearing on
with all his might, he wrote as large as he could — “Vive La France !”

(i) Who is ‘he’? Why was he so sentimental? (Understanding and Analysis)

Answer: ‘He’ is M. Hamel, the French teacher. He was so sentimental

because this was his last day at the school after forty years of faithful
service, and it was the very last French lesson he would give due to the
order from Berlin. He was overcome with emotion at leaving his school, his
students, his garden, and at the suppression of his mother tongue and the
loss of his country’s identity in Alsace and Lorraine.

(ii) What could he not do ? Why? (Understanding)

Answer: He could not go on speaking to his friends, the students and

villagers. He could not do so because something choked him; he was
overwhelmed by strong emotion.

(iii) What did he write on the blackboard, and why? (Understanding and
Analysis)

Answer: He wrote “Vive La France !” on the blackboard, as large as he

could. He wrote this as a final, powerful expression of his deep love for his
country, France, and his unwavering patriotism. It was a defiant assertion
of French identity and a message of hope and resilience in the face of
occupation and the suppression of their language.

(iv) What do you think of this person ? (Analysis)

Answer: I think this person, M. Hamel, is a deeply patriotic, devoted, and

courageous man. Despite his earlier strictness, his actions on this last day
reveal his profound love for his country, his language, and his people. His
emotional struggle and the final act of writing “Vive La France!” with all
his might show his strong spirit and his desire to leave an indelible mark
of national pride and hope. He proves to be an ideal teacher, imparting a
life lesson.

(v) ‘Vive La France’. What does it mean and symbolise ? What does it
show about the speaker ? (Analysis and Evaluation)

Answer: ‘Vive La France’ means “Long live France!” It symbolises an

undying love for one’s country, patriotism, a spirit of resistance against
oppression, and hope for the nation’s enduring existence and glory. In this
context, it particularly symbolizes the resilience of the French spirit and
identity in Alsace and Lorraine despite the Prussian occupation. It shows
that the speaker, M. Hamel, is a fervent patriot, deeply committed to his
nation. His act reveals his courage, his profound sorrow at the current
state of affairs, and his ultimate hope for France.