A few words about the novelist
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| Alphonse Daudet (photo-google) |
Alphonse Daudet was born on May 13, 1840, in Nimes France He was the son of a poor factory worker and went to Paris in 1857 where he published his first volume of poetry " Les Amouresuses" His father was a silk manufacturer who incurred a lot of loses in his business. The miseries in the family made a great impact on Alphonse’s Childhood, leading him to be depression. He is considered to be one of the most iconic names of French Literature. Unlike many famous writers in world history, Alphonse hasn’t very well educated and wrote his first novel at the age of fourteen. Many of Alphonse’s works drew inspiration from instances of his life. Though he passed away in the final decade of the 19th century, his name still continues to be popular amongst the citizens of Frace. A lot of educational institutions in France have been named after this famous writer. However, he was also criticized by many for being anti-Jewish and a monarchist. His book ‘Le Nabab’, revolved around a Jewish politician, and spoke about Alphonse’s strong dislike towards the community. However, Alphonse, to date, is considered by many literature lovers to be one of the handful writers who portray human emotions in a very realistic manner.
His Career:-
In 1857, Alphonse moved out of Lyon to the south of France, where he started working as a school teacher. During this period, Alphonse stayed with his elder brother Ernest Daudet who was trying to establish his identity as a journalist. Later, he began to write poems, and his collection was published in the form of a book called ‘Les Amoureuses’ in 1858. He did a job at ‘Le Figaro, the leading French newspaper daily at that time.
The most noted one amongst his works in the 1880’s is ‘Sapho’, which was based on his painful relationship with model Marie Rieu. The other books written by Alphonse in this period were ‘Numa Roumestan’, ‘L’immortal’, ‘Trente and de Paris’, and Souvenirs d’un home de lettres’.
Introduction of ‘The Last Lesson’
It is set in the days of the Franco-Prussian war in which France was defeated by Prussia led by Bismark. The French districts of Alsace and Lorraine passed into Prussian hands. The two protagonists of the story, M. Hamel and Franz, are from Alsace. M. Hamel is a French teacher and Franz is one of his students. The story revolves around how the war plays a pivotal role in their lives.
Based on your study here are short questions and their answer that have been asked in the last years.
Short Answer Type Questions
1. What was Franz Expected to be prepared with for school that day?
Ans. That day Franz was expected to be prepared with participles because M. Hamel, his French teacher, had said that he would question the class on participles. But poor Franz didn’t know even the first word about them.
2. What had been put up on the bulletin board?
Ans. The bulletin board notified the general public about an order from Berlin. The order was that from the next day only German would be taught in the schools of Alsace and Lorraine. The new teacher would join the school from the following day.
3. What did Franz notice that was unusual about the school that day?
Ans. usually, when the school began, there would be a lot of commotion, which was missing that day. His teacher, M. Hamel had on his ceremonial clothes. But the most unusual thing was that the village people were sitting quietly on the back benches, which were usually empty.
4. What was unusual about M. Hamel’s dress on his last day in the school?
Ans. M. Hamel’s dress on his last day in the school consisted of his beautiful green coat, frilled shirt, and a little black silk cap, all embroidered that he never wore except on inspections and prize days.
5. Who occupied the back benches in the classroom on the day of the last lesson? Why? Or who were sitting on the back benches during M. Hamel’s last lesson? Why?
Ans. The old men of the village were sitting on the back benches during M. Hamel’s last lesson because they were sorry that they had not attended school more often. They also wanted to thank their teacher for his forty years of faithful service and to show their respect for the country that was theirs no longer.
6. What was the order from Berlin and what changes did it cause in the school?
Ans. The order from Berlin stated that only German will be taught in the schools of Alsace and Lorraine. This meant that French would no longer be taught in the school.
M. Hamel had put on his best dress- his beautiful green coat, his frilled shirt and the little black silk cap, all embroidered. On the backbenches that were always empty, the elderly village people were sitting quietly like the kids.
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