CLASS XII : THE LAST LESSON SHORT/LONG QUESTIONS WITH ANSWERS

THE LAST LESSON

SHORT QUESTIONS

1.WHAT WAS FRANZ EXPECTED TO BE PREPARED WITH FOR SCHOOL THAT DAY?

ANS- THAT DAY FRANZ  EXPECTED TO BE PREPARED WITH PARTICIPLES BECAUSE M.HAMEL HAD SAID THAT HE WOULD QUESTION THEM ON PARTICIPLES. FRANZ DID NOT KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT PARTICIPLES.

2. WHAT DID FRANZ NOTICED THAT WAS UNUSUAL ABOUT THE SCHOOL THAT DAY?

ANS- USUALLY ,WHEN SCHOOL BEGAN,THERE WAS A GREAT BUSTLE WHICH COULD BE HEARD OUT IN THE STREET.BUT IT WAS ALL VERY STILL THAT DAY.EVERY THING WAS AS QUIET AS A SUNDAY MORNING.THERE WAS NO OPENING OR CLOSING OF DESKS.HIS CLASSMATES WERE ALREADY IN THEIR PALACES.THE TEACHERS GREAT RULER INSTEAD OF RAPPING ON THE TABLE,WAS UNDER M.HAMEL’S ARM.

3. WHAT HAD BEEN PUT UP ON THE BULLETIN BOARD?

ANS- FOR THE LAST 2 YEARS ALL THE BAD NEWS CAME FROM THE BULLETIN BOARD.AN ORDER HAD COME FROM BERLIN TO TEACH ONLY GERMAN IN THE SCHOOL’S OF ALSACE AND LORRAINE.THE GERMANS HAD PUT UP THIS NOTICE ON THE BULLETIN BOARD.

4. WHAT CHANGE DID THE ORDER FROM BERLIN CAUSE IN SCHOOL THAT DAY?

ANS-MR. M.HAMEL HAD PUT ON HIS BEST DRESS-HIS BEAUTIFUL GREEN COAT,HIS FRILLED SHIRT AND THE LITTLE BLACK SILK CAP,ALL EMBROIDERED.THE WHOLE SCHOOL SEEMED SO STRANGE AND SOLEMN.ON BACK BENCHES THAT WERE ALWAYS EMPTY,THE ELDERLY VILLAGE PEOPLE WERE SITTING QUIETLY LIKE THE KIDS.

5. HOW DID FRANZ’S FELLINGS ABOUT M.HAMEL AND THE SCHOOL CHANGE?

ANS- FRANZ CAME TO KNOW THAT IT WAS THE LAST LESSON IN FRENCH THAT M.HAMEL WOULD GIVE THEM.FROM THE NEXT DAY THEY WILL BE TAUGHT ONLY GERMAN.THEN HE FELT SORRY FOR NOT LEARNING HIS LESSONS PROPERLY.HIS BOOKS WHICH SEEM A NUISANCE AND A BURDEN EARLIER WERE NOW OLD FRIENDS.HIS FEELINGS ABOUT M.HAMEL ALSO CHANGED. HE FORGOT ALL ABOUT HIS RULER AND HOW CRANKY HE WAS.

 

LONG QUESTIONS

1. “When a people are enslaved, as long as they hold fast to their language it is as if they have the keys to their prison.” What could this mean?

Ans. Language is an important aspect of the culture of any nation. Native language unites the people of a particular area or nation. During colonization colonizers enforce political domination by exerting their rules and regulation over the people of colonized nation and enforce cultural domination by imposing their own language on them. In some cases, colonizers prohibit the teaching of the native language and try to deprive the people of their identity.

In such cases ,when people are attached to their native language, their identity would be kept intact. Their language is the key to their prison as their language keeps them united against the invaders and urge them to fight against the enslavement.

  Patriotism-An Unmatched Spirit

Patriotism is defined as one’s love for one’s customs, culture, mother tongue, motherland and everything what is associated with one’s motherland. One should be proud of what one’s country has given to him. In Indian context, people have started adopting western culture. They are in the race of being ‘Mod’. This is really surprising as well as pathetic. As an Indian, we own a rich and diversified culture which has attracted foreigners too. Many patriots have sacrificed their lives in the name of their country which has attracted foreigners too. Many Patriots have a feeling that cannot be filled in the hearts of Indians but it should be arisen and inculcated among the future generation of the country. The students or the youth of the country need to be indianised. Adaption of different cultures is not bad. But forgetting our own culture for sake of other ones is not done. The need of the hour is to inculcate the moral values, virtues, love for humanity and motherland among the Indian youth. Patriotism is an undying and unmatched spirit that cannot be sacrificed for anything.

1.  Read the following question and answer the question that follows: 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!” Abraham Lincoln, a former president of America said’ “I like to see a man proud of the place in which he lives. I like to see a man live so that his place will be proud of him.” After reading  the lesson and the above quote of Abraham Lincoln you being to reflect on the lost spirit of patriotism amongst the youth in India due to which there is no respect for once countrymen and no determination amongst the youth to lead the country to be a better future. Write an article in about 100 words for a national magazine on the need for revival of patriotic spirit amongst the youth of India.

ANS: The Need for Revival of Patriotic Spirit amongst the Youth in India”

India has been the land of proud martyrs who embraced the gallows for their ideals, where every drop in freedom fighter’s blood fought not for itself but for nation. Today, the same India stands famished and starved of the true patriotic spirit. Our youth appears to be driven more by a crazy love for a superficial self-advancement than anything else for our young boys and girls, country holds on better value than just a geographical identity. Undoubtedly, ‘patriotism’ needs to be redefined and revived in India. We probably find our patriotic spirit stirred up when there is an Indo-pak cricket match or when terrorists bomb our trains. But we definitely forget it when we cast our vote in the elections, when a hungry beggar asks for a rupee, when we shamelessly throw garbage on the roads and so on…. Patriotic emotions cannot be engendered in a windfall. They will have to be engraved on tender hearts that will remain placid. Our education policies thus needed to be revalued and reformed. More national awareness and respect should be embedded into the scholastic curriculum. This could be nothing more than a sincere devotion for making a peaceful-loving, uncorrupt, crime-free, unpolluted and patriotic India. Small actions persuaded with a notion of doing good to other countrymen is true patriotism. Today, our country wants awakened citizens to move forward and it is in this sphere where we have to exercise our true patriotic spirit.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Class XII : Assignment 2: My Mother At Sixty Six

Class XII

Assignment 2: My Mother At Sixty Six

                                                                      Kamala Das

 

Read The Following Extracts And Answer The Questions That Follow Each:

1 .  Driving From My Parents

Home To Cochin Last Friday

Morning,I Saw My Mother

Beside Me,

Doze,Open Mouthed,Her Face

Ashen Like That

Of A Corpse And Realised With Pain

That She Was As Old As She Looked But Soon

Put That Thought Away………….

 

Questions

A)Where Was The Poet Coming From And Who Was Sitting Beside Her?

B)What Did The Poet Notice About Her Mother?

C)With What Does The Poet Compare Her Mother’s Face And Why?

D)Name The Figure Of Speech Used In The Given Lines.

 

2…………………And Looked Out At Young

Trees Sprinting,The Merry Children Spilling

Out Of There Homes,But After The Airports

Security Check ,Standing A Few Yards Away…………………..

Questions

A)Where Is The Speaker In These Lines?

B)Why Did The Poet Look Outside The Window?

C)Why Do The  Trees Appear To Be Sprinting?Name The Figure Of Speech Used.

D)Why Does The Poet Use The Image Of”Merry Children………….Homes”? Name The Figure Of Speech Used.

 

3. I Looked  Again At Her,Wan,Pale

As A Late Winters Moon And Felt That Old

Familiar Ache,My Childhood’s Fear,

But All I Said Was,See You Soon ,Amma,

All  I Did Was Smile And Smile And Smile………………….

 

Questions

A)Why Does The Poet Compare Her Mother To “A Late Winter’s Moon”?Name The Figure Of Speech Used.

B)What  Childhood Fear Did The Speaker Have?

C)What Do The Parting Words Suggest?

D)Explain:” All  I Did Was Smile And Smile And Smile………………….” And Name The Figure Of Speech Used.

 

The Last Lesson

Short Questions

1.What Was Franz Expected To Be Prepared With For School That Day?

Ans- That Day Franz  Expected To Be Prepared With Participles Because M.Hamel Had Said That He Would Question Them On Participles. Franz Did Not Know Anything About Participles.

2. What Did Franz Noticed That Was Unusual About The School That Day?

Ans- Usually ,When School Began,There Was A Great Bustle Which Could Be Heard Out In The Street.But It Was All Very Still That Day.Every Thing Was As Quiet As A Sunday Morning.There Was No Opening Or Closing Of Desks.His Classmates Were Already In Their Palaces.The Teachers Great Ruler Instead Of Rapping On The Table,Was Under M.Hamel’s Arm.

3. What Had Been Put Up On The Bulletin Board?

Ans- For The Last 2 Years All The Bad News Came From The Bulletin Board.An Order Had Come From Berlin To Teach Only German In The School’s Of Alsace And Lorraine.The Germans Had Put Up This Notice On The Bulletin Board.

4. What Change Did The Order From Berlin Cause In School That Day?

Ans-Mr. M.Hamel Had Put On His Best Dress-His Beautiful Green Coat,His Frilled Shirt And The Little Black Silk Cap,All Embroidered.The Whole School Seemed So Strange And Solemn.On Back Benches That Were Always Empty,The Elderly Village People Were Sitting Quietly Like The Kids.

5. How Did Franz’s Fellings About M.Hamel And The School Change?

Ans- Franz Came To Know That It Was The Last Lesson In French That M.Hamel Would Give Them.From The Next Day They Will Be Taught Only German.Then He Felt Sorry For Not Learning His Lessons Properly.His Books Which Seem A Nuisance And A Burden Earlier Were Now Old Friends.His Feelings About M.Hamel Also Changed. He Forgot All About His Ruler And How Cranky He Was.

 

Long Questions

1. “When A People Are Enslaved, As Long As They Hold Fast To Their Language It Is As If They Have The Keys To Their Prison.” What Could This Mean?

Ans. Language Is An Important Aspect Of The Culture Of Any Nation. Native Language Unites The People Of A Particular Area Or Nation. During Colonization Colonizers Enforce Political Domination By Exerting Their Rules And Regulation Over The People Of Colonized Nation And Enforce Cultural Domination By Imposing Their Own Language On Them. In Some Cases, Colonizers Prohibit The Teaching Of The Native Language And Try To Deprive The People Of Their Identity.

In Such Cases ,When People Are Attached To Their Native Language, Their Identity Would Be Kept Intact. Their Language Is The Key To Their Prison As Their Language Keeps Them United Against The Invaders And Urge Them To Fight Against The Enslavement.

  Patriotism-An Unmatched Spirit

Patriotism Is Defined As One’s Love For One’s Customs, Culture, Mother Tongue, Motherland And Everything What Is Associated With One’s Motherland. One Should Be Proud Of What One’s Country Has Given To Him. In Indian Context, People Have Started Adopting Western Culture. They Are In The Race Of Being ‘Mod’. This Is Really Surprising As Well As Pathetic. As An Indian, We Own A Rich And Diversified Culture Which Has Attracted Foreigners Too. Many Patriots Have Sacrificed Their Lives In The Name Of Their Country Which Has Attracted Foreigners Too. Many Patriots Have A Feeling That Cannot Be Filled In The Hearts Of Indians But It Should Be Arisen And Inculcated Among The Future Generation Of The Country. The Students Or The Youth Of The Country Need To Be Indianised. Adaption Of Different Cultures Is Not Bad. But Forgetting Our Own Culture For Sake Of Other Ones Is Not Done. The Need Of The Hour Is To Inculcate The Moral Values, Virtues, Love For Humanity And Motherland Among The Indian Youth. Patriotism Is An Undying And Unmatched Spirit That Cannot Be Sacrificed For Anything.

1.  Read The Following Question And Answer The Question That Follows: 

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!” Abraham Lincoln, A Former President Of America Said’ “I Like To See A Man Proud Of The Place In Which He Lives. I Like To See A Man Live So That His Place Will Be Proud Of Him.” After Reading  The Lesson And The Above Quote Of Abraham Lincoln You Being To Reflect On The Lost Spirit Of Patriotism Amongst The Youth In India Due To Which There Is No Respect For Once Countrymen And No Determination Amongst The Youth To Lead The Country To Be A Better Future. Write An Article In About 100 Words For A National Magazine On The Need For Revival Of Patriotic Spirit Amongst The Youth Of India.

Ans: The Need For Revival Of Patriotic Spirit Amongst The Youth In India”

India Has Been The Land Of Proud Martyrs Who Embraced The Gallows For Their Ideals, Where Every Drop In Freedom Fighter’s Blood Fought Not For Itself But For Nation. Today, The Same India Stands Famished And Starved Of The True Patriotic Spirit. Our Youth Appears To Be Driven More By A Crazy Love For A Superficial Self-Advancement Than Anything Else For Our Young Boys And Girls, Country Holds On Better Value Than Just A Geographical Identity. Undoubtedly, ‘Patriotism’ Needs To Be Redefined And Revived In India. We Probably Find Our Patriotic Spirit Stirred Up When There Is An Indo-Pak Cricket Match Or When Terrorists Bomb Our Trains. But We Definitely Forget It When We Cast Our Vote In The Elections, When A Hungry Beggar Asks For A Rupee, When We Shamelessly Throw Garbage On The Roads And So On…. Patriotic Emotions Cannot Be Engendered In A Windfall. They Will Have To Be Engraved On Tender Hearts That Will Remain Placid. Our Education Policies Thus Needed To Be Revalued And Reformed. More National Awareness And Respect Should Be Embedded Into The Scholastic Curriculum. This Could Be Nothing More Than A Sincere Devotion For Making A Peaceful-Loving, Uncorrupt, Crime-Free, Unpolluted And Patriotic India. Small Actions Persuaded With A Notion Of Doing Good To Other Countrymen Is True Patriotism. Today, Our Country Wants Awakened Citizens To Move Forward And It Is In This Sphere Where We Have To Exercise Our True Patriotic Spirit.

Class XII : English Assignment on "An Elementary School Class Room In a Slum"

An Elementary School Class Room In a Slum

Theme: The poem focuses on themes of social injustice and class in equalities. Stephen Spender conveys a message that the world of the rich and the world of the slum dwellers are two contrasting and incompatible worlds. For achieving my significant progress and development, the gap between the 2 worlds must be bridged. This can be achieved my by breaking the barrier that bind the slum children in dark narrow cramped holes and lanes. The light of education and freedom can end class inequalities. The poet visualizes an equalitarian society.

STANZAS FOR COMPREHENSION

Read the stanzas given below and answer the questions that follow:

I.          Far far from gusty waves these children's faces.

Like rootless weeds, the hair tom round their pallor:

The tall girl with her weighed-down head. The paper-

seeming boy, with rat's eyes. The stunted, unlucky heir

Of twisted bones, reciting a father's gnarled disease,

His lesson, from his desk. At back of the dim class

One unnoted, sweet and young. His eyes live in a dream,

Of squirrel's game, in tree room, other than this.

 

Word-Meanings:

Far far-very far, Gusty-blowing strongly; Rootless weeds-uprooted unwanted plants; Pallor-pale unhealthy appearance; The hair torn around their pallor-hair scattered around their pale faces; Weighed down-ill-exhausted (burdened with poverty), depressed; Paper-seeming-looking lean and thin;  Stunted-not fully grown;  Twisted bones -bent, distorted bones; recited-living with the disease inherited from parents,  Unlucky heir-unfortunate successor; Gnarled-knotty (disease causing knots in finger joints); Dim-not bright; Tree room-a room made in the tree; Other than This- other than the classroom

2.         How do the faces of the children of the classroom in a slum look like?

3.         What does 'girl with her weighed down head’ mean?

4.         Why is the boy referred to as 'paper-seeming boy with rat’s eyes'?

5.         Why is the child stunted?

6.         Who is at the back of the dim class?

7.         What is he dreaming of?

8.         Find words from the stanza which mean

            (a) blowing strongly    (b) pallor

II.        On sour cream walls, donations Shakespear's head,

Cloudless at dawn, civilized dome riding all cities.

Belled, flowery, Tyrolese valley. Open-handed map

Awarding the world its world. And yet, for these

Children, these windows, not this map, their world,

Where all their future's painted with a fog,

A narrow street sealed in with a lead sky

Far for from rivers, capes and stars of words.

 

 

Word-Meanings:

Sour cream-dirty, unpleasant, dirty yellowish, dirty white; Donation -things given as gifts; Shakespear's head-statue of Shakespeare's head, (bust); Civilized dome-any building of the civilized world; Belled=with bells; Tyrolese valley=Valley in Tyrol in Austria; Its world-world divided into countries by its conquerors (depicting the world of the rich) ; Not this map-not the map of the rich but the map of the poor; Fog—bleak, dreary future; Sealed in-enclosed in; Lead sky- grey sky, dismal and depressing( also suggesting polluted cityscape) rivers, capes – Beautiful world of green, Stars of words – words of inspiration (literacy which is far away from the slums).

1. Describe the classroom in the elementary school?
2. Why does the classroom fail to attract the pupils?
3. What does open handed map mean?
4. 'Awarding the world its world', what does this line signify?
5. Why is map of the world meaningless?
6. What does painted with a fog mean?
7. What are the things that lend contrast to the slum children and their environment?
8. Why are the windows not opening the world for these children?
9. Where does the world of slum children lie?

 III.      Surely, Shakespeare is wicked, the map a bad example,

With ships and sun and love tempting them to steal-

For lives that slyly turn in their cramped holes.

From fog to endless night? On their slag heap, these children

Wear skins peeped through by bones and spectacles of steel

With mended glass, like bottle bits on stones.

All of their time and space are foggy slum.

So blot their maps with slums as big as doom.

Word-Meanings:

Surely---definitely, certainly; Wicked-not good; Tempting--enticing; Tempting them to steal-the goods,Thingsdonated arouse their temptation and make them steal and join the world of crime; Metaphorically it suggests falls hope and aspirations, yearning to snatch that does not belong to them; From fog to endless night-from one uncertainty to another, bleak dreary future without any end, without any hope; Slag-waste material; Heap-mound, pile (mounds of garbage on which they spend their life)  ; Metaphorically it also suggests weighed by the burden of poverty; peeped; The physical development of slum children (emaciated, weak and bonny) Bottle bits on stone-A graphic description of chipped, scratchy glasses of spectacles worn by children    Slums-dirty hutments, settlements; Blot-blemish; Their maps-maps with places for the rich; Doom-ruin, hell; Slyly-cunningly, deceitfully, secretly, Big as doom – more and more people get marginalized  

1. Why is “Shakespeare wicked” and map a bad example?

2.         What do ships, sun and love imply?

3.         Why do the slum children turn in their cramped hole?

4.         Why is the night endless for slum children?

5.         Which figure of speech is used in the above lines? Identify.

6.         Which line in the above stanza shows that the children are physically weak ?

7.         Mention the words that suggest their poverty?

8.         What blots 'their' map?

9.         Explain the last two lines of the given stanza.

IV.       Unless, governor, inspector, visitor,

This map becomes their window and these windows

That shut upon their lives like catacombs,

Break 0 break open till they break the town

And show the children green fields, and make their world

Run azure on gold sands, and let their tongues

Run naked into books the white and green leaves open

History theirs whose language is the sun.

Word-Meanings:

This map becomes their window-the map of the rich world becomes their map- but they fail to identify themselves with the map (the gap needs to be bridged); Shut upon their Lives-stop their progress; Catacombs- (simile) underground graves (perpetual haze of gloom and hopelessness symbolizing darkness and illiteracy) ; Azure-sky blue; Gold sands- golden sand on the coast; Tongue run naked-to be able to express freely, read freely; Into books the white and green leaves open---could be the books purchased with their own money (white and green leaves) and not the donated ones (freedom of choice according to their interest and ability); Whose language is the sun-sun symbolises, strength warmth, courage and the ability to drive away fog (here despair and insecurity) with the light of education. History is theirs (where progress and accomplishments is made.

1. What does the reference to the governor, inspector and visitor imply?
2. How does the map become their window?
3. What is the positive imagery used in the stanza?
4. How does the poet view the liberated children? How will it bring a change in their life?

5.         'till they break the town', explain it in your own words.

6.         What do 'catacombs' mean?

7.         Which line tells that they should be allowed to read freely the books of their choice?

8.          What does sun symbolise?

9.         Where does poet see hope and relief for slum children?

10.       The poem is a scathing/ bitter criticism of the state of education in schools in slums.  

            Comment

POETIC DEVICES:

 

IMAGES AND SYMBOLS

 

·         •	Gusty waves
·         •	Rootless weeds
·         •	Paper-seeming boy
·         •	Twisted bones
·         •	Sour-cream walls
·         •	Shakespeare's head
·         •	Tyrolese valley
·         •	Open-handed map
·         •	Ships and sun
·         •	Cramped holes
·         •	Bottle bits on stones
·         •	Gold sands

 

ALLITERATION

• Far far from gusty waves
• Surely Shakespeare
• Bottle bits
   
  SIMILES
• like rootless weeds
• like bottle bits on stones
• like catacombs
• slums as big as doom
   
  METAPHORS
• Rat's eyes
• Father's gnarled disease
• Squirrel's game
• Tree room
• Open-handed map
• Future's painted with a fog
• Lead sky
• Cramped holes
• Slag heap
• Wear skins peeped through by bones
• Spectacles of steel
• Let their tongues run naked into books
• White and green leaves open