The Last Lesson — Class 12 English

Written by Alphonse Daudet, this story is set in the French districts of Alsace and Lorraine during the Franco-Prussian War, after an order from Berlin decreed that only German would be taught in the schools there. The narrator, a young boy named Franz, dreads going to school because he has not learnt his lesson on participles. On the way he notices an unusual stillness and a crowd before the town-hall bulletin-board, where all the bad news has been posted. In class he finds the village elders seated quietly on the back benches and his teacher, M. Hamel, dressed in his fine Sunday clothes. M. Hamel announces that this is their last French lesson, as a new master will teach German from the next day. Franz is filled with sudden regret for having neglected his lessons and his language. M. Hamel gently blames everyone — parents, himself, and the people of Alsace — for putting off learning, and praises French as the most beautiful, clearest and most logical language, saying that a people who hold fast to their language hold the key to their prison. When the church clock strikes twelve and the Prussian trumpets sound, the overcome teacher writes 'Vive La France!' on the board and dismisses the class with a gesture. The story explores patriotism and the value of one's mother tongue.