The Last Lesson by Alphonse Daudet - Chapter Summary

  The narrator (Franz) started for school very late that morning. He feared his class teacher, would question him on participles. The narrator didn't know anything about it which may please his teacher. Hence, he expected a scolding from him. He thought of running away and spending the day out of doors as the weather was very warm and bright. On his second thought, he decided otherwise and hurried off to school. As Franz walked past the town-hall, he saw a big crowd in front of the bulletin board which displayed all the bad news for two years. The people usually got the news of lost battles and other important information only from there. Usually, there was a lot of hustle and bustle when the school began. The opening and closing of desks and lessons orally repeated loudly in unison created a lot of commotion. But now it was all so still. He could depend on the commotion to get to his desk without being noticed. But now he went in before everybody. He blushed and was quite frightened. But fortunately for him, nothing happened. No punishment. M. Hamel saw and asked him very kindly to take his seat. M. Hamel was in formal clothes that he wore only on inspection and prize days. The whole school seemed quite strange and silent. The most surprising thing was the presence of the village elders. They were sitting quietly on the back benches. M. Hamel mounted his chair and spoke in a grave and gentle tone. "My children, this is the last lesson I shall give you." He told them that an order had come from Berlin. Only German would be taught in the  schools of Alsace. The new master would join the next day. It was their last lesson in French. He wanted them to be very attentive. The narrator felt sorry for not learning his lessons. He never liked his books. He didn't have any interest in grammar and history. But now he developed a fascination for them. Even he started liking M. Hamel. The idea that he would not teach them anymore made Franz forget all about his ruler and the cranky attitude he had towards his students. When it was his turn to recite the participles, Franz got mixed up and confused. But surprisingly M. Hamel didn't scold him. M. Hamel showed his concern that people of Alsace generally gave no importance to French. They ignored learning their own native language. Franz was not the only exception as many others were also guilty on this reason. He declared that the French language was the most beautiful language in the world. It was the clearest and most logical. They must guard it among themselves and never forget it. It appeared that M. Hamel wanted to give them all he knew before going away. All at once the church-clock struck twelve. The trumpets of the Prussian soldiers sounded under their windows. M. Hamel stood up, very pale, in his chair. He tried to speak but some-thing choked him and he was unable to speak it out. Then he turned to the blackboard. He took a piece of chalk and wrote as large as he could: "Vive La France !" (Long Live France !") and made a gesture to them with his hand that  "School is dismissed— you may go."

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About this Article - The chapter summary of Class 12 CBSE English Flamingo Chapter "The Last Lesson" by Alphonse Daudet. Sent to CBSEOnlineStudy by an anonymous reader. 

The Last Lesson by Alphonse Daudet - Chapter in a Nutshell

"The Last Lesson", written by Alphonse Daudet narrates about the Franco-Prussian war of 1870 where the Prussian army under Bismark attacked and captured the French districts of Alsace and Lorraine. The new Prussian rulers discontinued the teaching of French in the schools of these two districts and imposed their German language in its place and the French teachers were asked to leave. The last day of one such French teacher, Mr. M.Hamel. He was transferred and could no longer remain in his old school which was his home for decades. Still with utmost devotion and sincerity as ever, he gave last lesson to his students. The story depicts the pathos of the whole on about how people feel in not learning their native language and losing an asset in M.Hamel. One of his student Franz came to the school that day thinking that he would be punished as he hasn't learned his lesson on French participles. But he found Mr. Hamel dressed in his Sunday clothes and all the old people of the village sitting at the back of his class. He later realized that it was due to the order from Berlin which was on the bulletin board. 

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About This Article - This is a very brief summary of CBSE Class 12 English Flamingo chapter "The Last Lesson" for quick revision.

Optics (Ray Optics and Wave Optics) - Important Derivations - Class XII

Here are the list of important derivations for Class XII Physics Chapters Ray Optics and Wave Optics. These two chapters constitute about 14 marks and a good amount of that goes to derivations. I used these derivations for my board exam revision and it was quite effective!
This Post deals about these derivations -

1. Derive the mirror formula for concave mirror
2. Show that Refractive Index = Real Depth / Apparent Depth
3. Derive a relation between critical angle and refractive index of a medium
4. Obtain the lens formula for a thin convex lens when the image is real
5. Two thin convex lenses of focal lengths f1 and f2 are kept in contact with each other coaxially. Deduce and expression for the effective focal length of the combination
6. Deduce and expression for the dispersive power of a prism.

Solid State - Chapter Notes - Class XII

TOP CONCEPTS 

Solid: Solid is a state of matter in which the constituting particles are arranged very closely. The constituent particles can be atoms, molecules or ions.

Properties of solids: 

1. They have definite mass, volume and shape. 
2. Intermolecular distances are short and hence the intermolecular forces are strong. 
3. Their constituent particles have fixed positions and can only oscillate about their mean positions. 
4. They are incompressible and rigid.

Classification of on the basis of the arrangement of constituent particles: 

• Crystalline solids: The arrangement of constituent particles is a regular orderly arrangement. Example: iron, copper, diamond, graphite 
• Amorphous solids: The arrangement of constituent particles is an irregular arrangement. Example: Glass, plastics, rubber

Properties of crystalline solids: 

Some Basic Concepts of Chemistry - Chapter Summary

Chemistry deals with the composition, structure and properties of matter.
Anything that has mass and occupies space is called matter.
Matter mainly exists in three forms - solid, liquid and gaseous forms. These forms are inter convertible by changing the temperature and pressure.

SOLID <----> LIQUID <----> GAS

• Solids have a definite volume and definite shape. The particles are closely attached and there is not much freedom of movement.
• Liquids does not have a definite shape but have a definite volume. The particles are not so close and there is a freedom of movement.
• Gases neither have definite shape nor have a definite volume. The particles are situated as far as they can and are able to move freely. 

Shirley Toulson - A Bio Sketch

Shirley Toulson was born on 20th May 1924 in Henley-on-Thames, England as the daughter of Douglas Horsfall Dixon and Marjorie Brown. She had a huge passion on writing and was greatly influenced y her father who was a writer too. She secured a B.A on Literature from Brockenhurst College in London in the year 1953. Shortly, she took writing as career but also served as the editor for many magazines in meantime. She married Alan Brownjohn on 6th February 1960. They had three children - Janet Sayers, Ian Toulson and Steven brownjohn. ut after nine years they divorced on March 1969. Celtic Christianity influenced her greatly that most of her major works like "Celtic Alternative" in 1987 and "Celtic Year" in 1993 were on that topic. But these works indeed made her more famous. 

The Photograph by Shirley Toulson - Extra Questions

1) How does the poet contracts the girls terrible transience with the scene?

Ans: All the girls standing at the each have a terribly transient existence. They are mortal and suffer physical change with the passage of time. THe mother's sweet face and her smile has already disappeared for the last twenty or thirty years. But the vast sea remains unchanged or seemed to have less changed in their comparison.

2) "Both thrive with the laboured ease of loss" Describe the ironical situation.

Ans: Both the mother and the daughter suffer a sense of loss. The mother has lost her care free childhood. She can't have these moments of enjoyment again that she once experienced at the beach. She can't be a sweet smiling girl of twelve again. This is considered as the poet's loss too. She can't see the smiling face and experience the laughter again in life. The irony of the situation is that both of them struggle to ear the loss with tolerable ease.

3) Explain the line " the sea holiday as a past, mine is her laughter , Time spares none" .

Ans: Gone are the childhood days of mother and the sea holiday has become her past, the photograph flashes back to the scene that was captured about 30 years ago. Gone is a carefree laughter of the mother which was love at one time. But now, the laughter of her mother has eventually become a thing of past for the poet. She has silently resigned herself to the fate.

Questions to work out 

Short answer type questions

1. What is the significance of the ‘cardboard’ frame?
2. What tone has the poetess adopted in the poem?
3. What comparison between the sea and human beings has been drawn in the second stanza?
4. What emotions do you associate with the mother looking at the photograph?
5. What emotions would you associate with Shirley as she looks at the photograph?
6. Why does the poetess seem to have nothing to say about the ‘circumstance’?
7. What is silenced and how has it silenced the poetess?

Long answer type questions