5.1 About the story
| Point | Detail |
|---|---|
| author | Alphonse Daudet, French writer |
| published | 1873, in Monday Tales (Contes du lundi) |
| setting | a village school in Alsace, 1871, after the Franco-Prussian War |
| narrator | Franz, a schoolboy |
| the teacher | M. Hamel, teacher of French for forty years |
| the order | only German to be taught in the schools of Alsace and Lorraine |
| from where | Berlin |
| the topic Franz had not learnt | participles |
| where the bad news was posted | the bulletin board at the town hall |
| the blacksmith | Wachter |
| M. Hamel's clothes | green coat, frilled shirt, embroidered black silk cap |
| on the back benches | old Hauser, the former mayor, the former postmaster and others |
| the writing copies | "France, Alsace, France, Alsace" |
| the last words on the board | "Vive La France!" |
5.2 Key events in order
- Franz, late for school, fears a scolding about participles.
- He is tempted to spend the day outdoors but hurries to school.
- He passes the crowd at the town-hall bulletin board; Wachter calls after him.
- He finds the school silent; everyone seated; he enters, blushing.
- M. Hamel kindly tells him to take his seat.
- Franz notices M. Hamel's best clothes and the villagers on the back benches.
- M. Hamel announces the last French lesson.
- Franz regrets his wasted time; he fails to recite the participles; M. Hamel shares the blame.
- M. Hamel praises French: "the key to their prison"; the grammar lesson.
- The writing lesson: "France, Alsace"; the pigeons.
- History; the babies' ba, be, bi, bo, bu; old Hauser spells with them.
- The clock strikes twelve; the Angelus; the Prussian trumpets.
- M. Hamel writes "Vive La France!" and dismisses the school with a gesture.
5.3 Who said it?
| Line | Speaker | To whom |
|---|---|---|
| "Don't go so fast … you'll get to your school in plenty of time!" | Wachter the blacksmith | Franz |
| "Go to your place quickly, little Franz." | M. Hamel | Franz |
| "My children, this is the last lesson I shall give you." | M. Hamel | the class |
| "What a thunder-clap these words were to me!" | Franz (narrating) | the reader |
| "I won't scold you, little Franz; you must feel bad enough." | M. Hamel | Franz |
| "… as if they had the key to their prison." | M. Hamel | the class and villagers |
| "Will they make them sing in German, even the pigeons?" | Franz (thinking) | himself |
| "My friends, I — I —" | M. Hamel | everyone |
| "Vive La France!" | M. Hamel (written) | everyone |