Short Stories Answer Key PDF

## Section II: Short Stories ### 1. With the Photographer #### Section A: Multiple-Choice Questions 1. (d) 2. (a) 3. (b) 4. (a) 5. (c) 6. (a) 7. (b) 8. (d) 9. (a) 10. () 11. (c) 12. (b) 13. (d) #### Section B: Context Questions **I.** * (i) The narrator waited for the photographer to come and...

## Section II: Short Stories ### 1. With the Photographer #### Section A: Multiple-Choice Questions 1. (d) 2. (a) 3. (b) 4. (a) 5. (c) 6. (a) 7. (b) 8. (d) 9. (a) 10. () 11. (c) 12. (b) 13. (d) #### Section B: Context Questions **I.** * (i) The narrator waited for the photographer to come and click a photograph of the narrator. This suggests that the photographer had no respect for his client's time. * (ii) The narrator read old editions of fashion magazines kept in the waiting room. This suggests that the photographer had preconceived notions of beauty. * (iii) The narrator had intruded on the privacy of the scientist, the photographer, by asking him to click a photograph of himself and he was aware that his face did not conform to the standards of the photographer. * (iv) The narrator was aware that his face did not come up to the beauty standard of the photographer. This shows self awareness of his faults and acceptance of the same. * (v) The photographer uses processes such as 'Delphite' and 'Sulphite' to alter the face of his subject so as to confirm to the photographer's beauty standards. He carries out the same to alter the narrators photograph. **II.** * (i) The photographer clicks a photograph of the subject with the machine. The narrator has come to his studio to get his photo clicked as a 'momento mori'. * (ii) The photographer remained inside, for just a second, to look at the narrator from inside the camera. This suggests that like an artist he had preconceived notions of beauty; he did not like what he saw so he stepped out to rectify it. * (iii) He must have been thinking about how to go about taking a photograph. He was taking such a long time that the narrator thought he was praying. * (iv) The photographer must have been thinking how to get a good photograph as the face of the narrator was quite wrong. He told the narrator this after this extract. The narrator replied that he was aware of it. * (v) Natural scientist enters his camera, tears out to go in again for a long time. He was probably thinking of how to get a photograph according to his ideals and notions of beauty. He came out looking grave his puzzle. **III.** * (i) To the photographer who was forcing him to do facial acrobatics to rectify his (narrator's face). The narrator is indignant at being made to do ridiculous things like open his mouth, shut it, droop his ears, etc. * (ii) The narrator says he knows his face and accepts its imperfections as he had been living with this face for forty years. * (iii) The narrator was offended at the ridiculous things the photographer made him do. He got all worked up and asked the photographer to stop. This outburst of his overwhelmed him and he felt a break in his voice. Despite it he continued his tirade and started getting up from his seat to leave. * (iv) The narrator accepted his face with all its imperfections. This suggests self awareness and acceptance of himself. * (v) The photographer said that the narrator's face was too wide so the latter felt that the face could probably not be photographed as the machine was too narrow to accommodate his face. No, the photographer's face did not conform to the photographers beauty standards. **IV.** * (i) The narrator interrupts the photographer because the latter has changed all the narrator's features in the proof of the photograph and was bragging about it. * (ii) The photographer had totally changed the narrator's features so the latter spoke "with a withering scorn". This shows the anger and indigence of the narrator. * (iii) The narrator wanted a photograph that looked like him with all his imperfections. The photograph did not look like the narrator at all. * (iv) Though imperfect, the face was a gift from God to the narrator-This suggests self awareness and total acceptance of oneself. * (v) Refer to The Narrator' under Charactetisation.' ### 2. The Elevator #### Section A: Multiple-Choice Questions 1. (c) 2. (b) 3. (d) 4. (b) 5. (a) 6. (c) 7. (a) 8. (b) 9. (b) 10. (a) 11. (b) 12. (a) #### Section B: Context Questions **I.** * (i) Martin used to feel nervous while using elevators. He had the fear that the elevators would fall and he would be hurt. * (ii) Because it had poor lighting, dirty walls and a defective door which could not remain open for long and used to slam shut with a loud noise. Besides, it was too small and could carry only three people at a time. * (iii) The other option for Martin was to use the stairs for going up and down his apartment on the 17th floor. No, it was not better than the elevator because * the stairs neither had any windows nor any working lights. * they were not better than the elevator and were Martin's equally bad and scary. * Martin's footsteps echoed behind him on the cement, as though there was another person following him. * Martin had to use the stairs to reach the 17th floor and therefore, felt exhausted and gasping for breath. * (iv) The size of the elevator in Martin's building was too small to carry more than three persons. * (v) This extract acts as a 'foreshadow' in the story by * giving an inkling of something bad is likely to happen with Martin, later in the story. * telling that Martin was always scared of the elevators. For he was afraid that it would fall and could be fatal for him. * informing the readers about the defective door of the lift that never stayed open for long and closed with a loud noise. **II.** * (i) "He' refers to Martin's father. Martin's father asked him why he had not taken the elevator and used the stairs instead. He asked so when he saw Martin gasping for breath after taking the stairs to reach his home on the 17th floor. * (ii) Three adjectives used by Martin's father for him are: * skinny and weak * bad at sports * coward Martin's father used these adjectives as he was annoyed with Martin for not using the elevator and getting as he was annoyed with Martin for not using the elevator and getting used to it and instead wasting his energy and time by using stairs to reach his house on the 17th floor. * (iii) Martin promised himself that he would always take the elevator and get used to it and thereby, overcame the fear he had of riding the elevator. No, Martin did not succeed in overcoming his fear of the elevators. He got used to being bullied at school. * (iv) Martin's fear about the elevator was that it would stop suddenly and he would be trapped inside it for hours by himself. Yes, it happened at the end of the story, though the elevator did not stop suddenly by itself. A fat lady, as imagined by Martin, entered the lift and there was no space left for Martin to escape from the lift. So, he got trapped inside the lift with that fat lady. Since Martin felt that he was being laughed at by the fat lady, perhaps Martin would have taken that as an insult and overcome his fear and with that would have vanished the scary fat old lady. * (v) The characteristic traits of Martin based on this extract are: * Timid: Martin always dreaded using elevators. So when he used stairs instead of the elevator and entered home gasping for breath, he was rebuked by his father. Seeing the expression on his father's face Martin felt that he was chiding him and saying he was weak and skinny, bad at sports and a coward. To avoid his father's annoyance he promised himself that he would get used to elevator. However, Martin was unable to overcome his fear of the elevator. Besides, he could not stand up against his bullies at school. Thus, it shows Martin was indeed timid. * Absence of Paternal Support: It seems that Martin and his father did not have a strong bond. That is why Martin could not understand his father's frowning at him and interpreted it in his own way. Besides, he wanted to get over his fear of the elevator just to avoid his father's annoyance. **III.** * (i) Martin kept on thinking about the old lady, whom he met in the elevator, because it was his fear of riding the elevator that made him create on imaginary fat lady, which grew into a bigger fear than the elevator. He could not get that image out of his mind and kept on thinking about it all day. * (ii) Martin was nervous when he got back to his building after school because the imagined old lady, which he seemed to have met in the elevator could not get off his mind. It further enhanced his fear of riding an elevator. * (iii) Martin felt ashamed of himself for being afraid on an old lady. It reveals that Martin wanted to overcome his fears but did not have the courage and conviction to do so. * (iv) Martin hoped that the elevator would not stop in the hope that he would not meet the old lady at any floor who would enter the elevator from any floor. When the elevator stopped at the third floor, the same old lady whom he had seen in the morning, entered the elevator. * (v) Martin definitely found the old lady scarier than the elevator because after seeing the old lady for the first time, his only fear was being trapped inside the elevator with her. The old lady was so fat that she would occupy the entire space in the elevator making it difficult for Martin to escape from the lift. **IV.** * (i) Martin felt that he was probably making a mistake by telling his father about the old lady, whom he had seen in the elevator. He thought so because he knew that he would not get any positive support from his father; his father would rather chide him as being too thin and skinny, timid and perhaps a coward. * (ii) Martin felt the need to tell somebody about the woman because he was scared of her and had being meeting her quite often in the elevator. He decided to tell his father about the old lady because he had nobody else to confide his fears to. * (iii) The one thing that the Martin found strange about the lady was her act of getting into the elevator and getting down from it from different floors. * (iv) Martin was worried for being trapped in the elevator with that fat old lady. Earlier he was afraid of riding the elevators. Martin made out from his father's expressions that he wanted to call him skinny and weak, bad at sports and a coward. * (v) Refer to 'Characterisation' in the Workbook. **V.** * (i) Martin started running down the stairs on seeing the old lady in the elevator. Since the stairs were dark, Martin could not see and fell. * (ii) Martin's father was totally disappointed and angry with the narrator for being a coward and a fool. Earlier, when Martin had taken to a stairs to reach his house on the 17th floor he was quite annoyed with him and frowned at him. * (iii) Martin would not be able to use the stairs because he fell down, broke his leg and had to walk on crutches. Martin would have been seriously affected by this situation because he had no choice but to use the elevator which he dreaded. * (iv) Martin believed that the fat lady had smiled, thus laughing at his helplessness for not being able to escape from her. Martin's internal fear made him think that the lady knew beforehand that something bad was going to happen with him and perhaps, she was the creator of his ill-luck. ### 3. The Girl Who Can #### Section A: Multiple-Choice Questions 1. (a) 2. (b) 3. (c) 4. (b) 5. (d) 6. (b) 7. (b) 8. (a) 9. (c) 10. (a) 11. (c) 12. (a) 13. (b) 14. (a) #### Section B: Context Questions **I.** * (i) I' refers to the narrator of the story, Adjoa, a seven-year-old girl. According to Adjoa her grandmother's problem was Adjoa's thin and long legs, which she considered as not suitable for supporting strong hips required for childbearing. * (ii) Adjoa's problem at the age of seven was that she was not able to express in words the things that were in her mind as she did not know the proper language to speak them out with. It was a serious problem because her grandmother forbade her from saying certain things and at times, asked her to repeat what she had said for the purpose of adult's entertainment. Thus, she was confused when the keep quiet or to repeat them and get laughed at. * (iii) When Adjoa would say something, her grandmother would at first stare at her for a very long time, then would ask her to repeat what she had said. After Adjoa would repeat what she had said, her grandmother would immediately tell her never to repeat that or would burst out laughing. * (iv) Nana would involve other people by repeating what Adjoa had said a while ago and then laugh with, first one person, then two and finally up to three, four or even more people. All of them would laugh together and scream with tears running down their faces. * (v) The seven-year-old Adjoa, the protagonist of the story is the narrator as well. * This helps to present a unique view of the world around her using simple vocabulary and child-like innocence. * It shows the inner feelings and doubts of a girl-child while she struggles to evaluate the appropriateness of her grandmother's dictates which at times forbade her from speaking out her mind and at other times laugh at her for saying certain things. * The voice of a girl-child makes the narrative appear more realistic and reliable. **II.** * (i) The narrator, Adjoa wanted to tell her grandmother and mother not to worry about her spindly legs. It suggests that the narrator does not find anything wrong with her legs as all her friends have got legs that look like legs and nothing different from hers. * (ii) The narrator's two favourite people are his mother Kaya and her maternal grandmother, who is referred to as Nana. The narrator's grandmother was always worried about Adoja's spindly legs. However, her mother, Kaya tried to resist the notion that her daughter was worthless for having spindly legs, in the little courage that she could muster in her mother's presence. * (iii) They' refer to people who were her grandmother's acquaintances and used to visit Adjoa's house and laugh at her child-like remarks until their eyes would become watery. They would do so to either imitate Adjoa's grandmother's act of laughing or would find Adjoa's statements childish and worth laughing at. * (iv) The narrator feels that her grandmother and mother would have been discussing her legs ever since she was born because she had been hearing them discussing this issue from the time she could comprehend their conversation. The two women belonged to an orthodox society and held the conservative view that a girl needs to have strong legs to support the hips for childbearing. Although Adjoa's mother did not like her mother's act of constant cribbing about Adjoa's spindly legs, she could not muster enough strength to raise her voice against her mother. * (v) Juxtaposition, i.e., the close placement of ideas to highlight the contrast between them. In the last two lines of the extract, the narrator has compared her mother's womb to the outside world. Her mother's womb is described as a land of sweet, soft silence whereas the outside world is described a that of 'noise and comprehension'. **III.** * (i) The narrator could feel her mother's silent tears from her voice. Besides, Ajoa was aware of the fact that her mother did not like her grandmother's disparaging remarks about her (Adjoa's) thin legs but could not muster enough strength to assert her opinion and therefore, used to weep silently. Her grandmother could not hear her daughter's weeping inside because she was an authoritative woman and a representative of patriarchy, who did not allow women to express their views or raise the voice. * (ii) Because she was an authoritative woman who had conventional view that recognised women in the roles of wives and mothers. She viewed her own daughter as a failure as a wife and mother and therefore, never understood her silent tears. * (iii) Her grandmother was an authoritative woman and a representative of patriarchy who had orthodox view. Adjoa's mother was a remorseful woman, who could never raise her voice against conventional wisdom. * (iv) The narrator says so because she liked her grandmother, who was a matriarch but kept her daughter and granddaughter with her and used to look after them. It suggests that the narrator was an understanding and affectionate child. * (v) The grandmother would be discussing the worthlessness of Adjoa's long thin legs. She admitted the fact that her only daughter Koya's husband was not as big a problem as Adjoa's long and thin legs. * (a) An understanding and receptive child who could understand her mother's silent tears. * (b) Inquistive and confused child who wanted to know everything but used to get confused about her grandmother's constant cribbing about her long and thin legs. * (c) An affectionate child who liked her maternal grandmother despite her constantly cribbing about her legs. It seems that despite her conventional orthodox views, she was an affectionate mother who provided for her daughter and granddaughter when her son-in-law had left her daughter and child. **IV.** * (i) The grandmother would thank God that her biggest problem was not her son-in-law. Because she considered daughter at fault for marrying such a man and then giving birth to a child (Adjoa) who had too long and too thin legs to be of any use. It shows that she was an orthodox lady who had conventional views about the role of women in society and acted as a representative of patriarchy. * (ii) Because the narrator always found her grandmother complaining about her (narrator's) long and thin legs which would be an obstacle in bearing a child. Further, she could understand her own daughter, Kaya's pain and suffering and held her responsible for everything. * (iii) Adjoa's mother would feel quite bad after her own mother's putting all the blame on her for having failed as a wife and a mother. She would weep on the inside but her mother would not be able to understand her silent tears. Adjoa's mother and grandmother had a bittersweet relationship in which they were living together. Adjoa's grandmother used to blame her daughter for having failed as a wife and daughter but still supported them and perhaps and perhaps provided for their living. * (iv) The grandmother used to hush up things about Adjoa's father because she did not want Adjoa to hear and understand anything about her father. This shows that she cared for her granddaughter and did not want to hurt her feelings. * (v) Adjoa's grandmother serves as an agent of patriarchy in the following ways: * She did not allow her daughter Kaya to express her thoughts or raise her voice. * She never listened to Adjoa, who had to struggle to catch her attention. * She forbade Adjoa from repeating certain things. * She blamed her daughter Kaya for choosing a wrong husband and giving birth to a girl having spindly legs. * She castigated her daughter for having failed as a wife and a mother. * She did not want Adjoa to go to school and get education. **V.** * (i) The narrator described her friend's legs as being similar to her own legs. She was not sure whether unlike her own legs, her friend legs were strong enough to support hips required for childbearing. * (ii) This shows Adjoa, the narrator's child-like innocence, which prevents her from understanding the fact that if she could walk the distance of five kilometres from her village to school, without complaining, how could her legs be weak * (iii) They' refers to the older boys and girls in Adjoa's school, who used to complain about having to walk long distance to school and back. * (iv) It shows her child-like innocence and perhaps her conviction to go to school and get herself educated to remove the stigma attached to her for having useless legs. Adjoa does not feel uncomfortable while walking a distance of five kilometres to school and back, thereby, asserting that her legs were not weak. She proved it at the end of the story by winning the district level running competition and thereby, the best all-round junior athlete * (v) Two characteristic traits of the narrator * Child-like innocence. * Courage and resolve to prove himself. For details please refer to (ii) and (iii) above. * (vi) The narrator's grandmother always considered Adjoa's spindly legs to be worthless. She feared that Adjoa would not be able to perform the traditional role of a mother as she did not have strong legs required to support the hips for childbearing. However, her attitude underwent a little change when Adjoa got selected the represent her school at the district level race competition. It underwent a complete change when Adjoa won the race and thereby, proved the worth of her legs and herself. **VI.** * (i) Nana would laugh at the prospect of Adjoa using her spindly legs to at least go to school because she believed that Adjoa would be a misfit in school. She allowed Adjoa to go to school as there was nothing else she could do because of her spindly legs.. * (ii) Because she did not consider it worthwhile to tell anyone at home. This time it was different because she had been selected to represent her school at the district level running competition quite in contrast to running and winning against her classmates in school. * (iii) Adjoa's mother and grandmother could not believe that Adjoa could be selected for any such competition with her spindly legs. Her grandmother marched to her school to confirm the authenticity of the news. * (iv) When Adjoa's mother heard the news, she was surprised and wanted to tell Adjoa's grandmother that she knew that Adjoa could do something like that but it was a secret she could not share with anyone. So, she remained silent, she did not say anything. * (v) After getting the news of Adjoa's selection for district sports meet, her grandmother took up the task of washing and ironing her school uniform daily. * used to accompany her every afternoon for the district sports week. She did so because she accepted the worth of Adjoa's spindly legs and her new role as an athelete, quite in contrast to the orthodox role of being a wife and mother she had in mind for Adjoa. **VII.** * (i) The 'gleaming cup' refers to the trophy won by Adjoa for winning the district level race and thereby, being adjudged the best all-round junior athlete. Adjoa's grandmother carried the trophy won by her (Adjoa) on her back as a mark of accepting the worth of Adjoa's legs and feeling pride of her granddaughter's achievement. * (ii) The narrator has compared the gleaming cup with babies and other precious things. She has done so to show that for her grandmother, who used to say earlier that she did not care if such things were not done, now the cup seemed to be as important as a baby is for her mother or some very precious things. * (iii) Adjoa's grandmother wanted to show the cup to Adjoa's mother because she wanted the latter to rejoice at her daughter's achievement. Adjoa's mother became speechless on seeing the trophy but she must had felt a sense of pride and accomplishment for her daughter Adjoa. * (iv) Adjoa's grandmother cried softly because she must have realised the worth of Adjoa's legs, which she had been criticising ever since she was born. It seems that tears in her eyes were of joy at her granddaughter's achievement. It suggests that though she was a strict and orthodox woman, but she underwent a change of heart after Adjoa's selection for the district level sports meet and finally accepted her worth as an athlete. * (v) Adjoa's mother and grandmother felt a sense of pride and accomplishment after Adjoa won the district level race. Her grandmother proudly displayed her granddaughter's achievement by carrying the trophy on her back and thus accepting the view that a woman can achieve much more than their roles as mothers and wives. For Adjoa, her victory brought her closer to self-awareness about her worth, especially of her spindly legs that were constantly criticised by her grandmother. ### 4. The Pedestrian #### Section A: Multiple-Choice Questions 1. (b) 2. (a) 3. (c) 4. (c) 5. (d) 6. (c) 7. (b) 8. (b) 9. (c) 10. (b) 11. (a) 12. (c) 13. (a) 14. (a) 15. (d) #### Section B: Context Questions **I.** * *i)* There was complete silence on the city streets because all the citizens were inside their homes, watching different types of programmes on television. He was Leonard Mead, an adult male the only named character in the story. That was his routine, as he has been walking the city streets every might alone for the last ten years. * *ii)* Leonard Mead was a resident of an unnamed city and a writer by profession. Mead loved walking the city streets at night and taking in the sights, sounds and smells of the natural world. He had been undertaking this lonely walk at night for the last ten years. * *iii)* Because he used to walk along the road which did not have any traffic and he was all alone there. It suggests that Mead had become so used to living all alone and taking the lonely walk at night for the last ten years, it did not bother him whether there was anyone else or not. * *iv)* He is described as 'alone in this world of A.O. 2053 because the entire households used to remain indoors, glued to their television sets. * *v)* These phrases indicate that Mead had made his own decision and selected the path quite in contrast to the other citizens who do not come outside their houses and remain glued to the television sets. It shows that Mead was at ease with himself, alone and walking in the direction he felt like going. These phrases indicate that Mead was a non-conformist, decisive and individualistic. **II.** * *i)* Mead did not produce any sound while walking by wearing sneakers because he knew that he was defying the norms of the society by being on the road when everybody else was indoors and so wanted to protect himself from being discovered on chased by dogs. * *ii)* Mead started wearing sneakers instead of hard heels to prevent himself from being discovered by the authorities and punished for being a non-conformist. * *iii)* It suggests that Mead was non-conformist, decisive and individualistic and he did not want to follow the rules which everybody else was following in society. **III.** * *i)* Mead is described as a 'lone figure' because he was the only person on the road at night when everybody else was in their homes watching television. An entire streets, i.e., all the households would get startled by his walk at night. This was because he was the lone figure on the road in the early November evening. * *ii)* The characteristic traits of Leonard Mead as reflected in this extract are Non-conformist, decisive, free and individualistic. For details refer to Characterisation in the Workbook. * *iii)* Mead heard a murmur of laughter and got curious to know if it was coming from within a house. This was because he considered them as 'grey phantoms', lacking emotions and being consumed by technology. It shows that he was cut off from the society and was not at all welcome in the society where he lived. * *iv)* He stumbled while walking because he stumbled over an uneven section of pavement whose 'Cement was vanishing' because of the plants and weeds that were growing through the concrete. It suggests that the sidewalks were no longer maintained because there were no walkers to keep them down and nature was trying to reclaim the city. * *v)* Because of the impact of modern technology, especially television, other citizens remained indoors watching television. It suggests that the other citizens were alienated and dehumanised because of their conformity to a dystopian status quo. The dormant potential of nature is revealed in this extract where Mead stumbled over an uneven section of the sidewalk. Here, the concrete had vanished and plants and weeds had emerged from underground. This suggests that nature which was dormant in winter would rejuvenate and also the dehumanised citizens would be free again. Nonconformity is revealed through the acts of the protagonist of the story, Leonard Mead. * He enjoyed his solitary walks at night unlike the other citizens who did not walk around for pleasure but inside their homes, watching television. * Mead was a writer by profession: an outdated profession in the age of technology controlled life. * Mead did not own a television, which was considered as his biggest nonconformity for not using modern technology. * Mead was unmarried, a defiance of the social system followed by everyone else. **IV.** * *i)* Mead was outside on the road for his usual night walk. The lone car' was a robotic police car that represented the unrelenting, authoritative State power used to enforce social conformity. * *ii)* (a) Alliteration: He was within a block of his destination when the lone car turned a corner quite suddenly and flashed a fierce white cone of light upon. (w and f sound) (b) Personification: flashed a fierce white cone of light upon him. * *iii)* He was filled with wonder on seeing a lone car at night because a police car was a rare sight. * *iv)* Mead was as helpless as a moth. Like a moth he was attracted to the light and could not move away from it. * *v)* The feeling of fear and foreboding is conveyed through the following: (a) It was a lone car that suddenly flashed a fierce white cone of light upon Mead. (b) Mead was quite startled and filled with wonder and fear. He felt as miserable as a night moth. **V.** * *i)* It was authoritative, harsh and inhuman as it ordered Mead to freeze and raise his hands as if he were a criminal. Because it was robotic police car driven by technology. * *ii)* Because the crime rate had reduced to such an extent that there was little need for a police car to enforce law and order. The people had become absolute conformists and docile, subject to strict State control. * *iii)* Mead was a writer by profession. It was referred to as 'no profession' because it was considered an outdated profession in the age of technology driven life. People no longer read books and magazines. * *iv)* The simile in this extract is: "The light held him fixed, like a museum specimen, needle thrust through胸." Society Viewed Mead as something extraordinary that is to be examined and studied as a museum specimen because he was quite different from other citizens. The 'needle thrust through chest' suggests that Mead is physically restrained by the police car. * *v)* Mead has not written anything for years because there was no work for him as magazines and books did not sell because people had stopped reading them. Mead described his profession as that of being a writer. It shows that although he had not written anything for a year he considered himself to be a writer. It shows that he was unwilling to give up his vocation and identity in order to become a conformist. ### 5. The Last Lesson #### Section A: Multiple-Choice Questions 1. (c) 2. (b) 3. (a) 4. (b) 5. (a) 6. (d) 7. (d) 8. (b) 9. (a) 10. (c) 11. (d) 12. (a) #### Section B: Context Questions **I.** * *i)* 'T' refers to the narrator of the story, a school-going boy, named Franz. He was on his way to school. He thought of running away because of the prospect of being punished by his teacher as he had not studied participles, on which his teacher, M. Hamel, was supposed to question the class. * *ii)* He wanted to spend the day outdoors because he was not interested in his studies. Besides, he was more excited by the chirping of the birds at the edge of woods and the drills of the Prussian soldiers than his French lessons. He was a carefree young man, disinterested in his studies. * *iii)* The presence of Prussian soldiers was a reference that their homeland has been annexed by the Prussians. Their presence was a blow to them as they understand that they would have to give up not only their country but also their language and culture. * *iv)* He was tempted by the bright sunny day and the chirping of the birds at the edge of the forest to remain outdoors. No, he did not fall for the temptation. He hurried off to his school. * *v)* A carefree young boy - disinterested in studies will power. For details refer to Characterisation. frivolous boy having immature desires **II.** * *i)* M. Hamel, the French language teacher is addressing his students in the classroom. Grave and gentle tone. * *ii)* Because their country had been annexed by the Prussians and had ordered to teach only German in the schools of Alsace and Lorraine instead of French. He is talking about his last French lesson. * *iii)* To teach only German language instead of French in the schools of Alsace and Lorraine. Because the Prussians, whose language was German, had occupied the region of Alsace and Lorraine. * *iv)* The invading Prussian forces. They would ban the study of French language, and instead make them study German, the language of the invaders and thereby, subjugate their identity, freedom and culture. * *v)* The Last Lesson was literally the last lesson in French which M. Hamel gave to his students in his last class. This was because the Prussians had conquered their country and banned the study of French language. **III.** * *i)* Franz had not prepared the assignment on participles which his teacher M. Hamel had asked to do. When Franz was asked to say the rules, he faltered on first words and stood there speechless. It was his last French lesson and he did not want to punish Franz on the last day of his class. * *ii)* 'We' refers to the entire French community, including M. Hamel. It suggests that the entire French community and M. Hamel were responsible for neglecting the study of French language and culture. * *iii)* They said to themselves that they had plenty of time to study the French language. By doing so, they gave themselves an excuse put off the study the French language and consequently, did not know their own language. * *iv)* The fellows' are the Prussian forces who had conquered the French territories of Alsace and Lorraine. They would ask the French people that how they could be considered as French when they could neither speak nor write their own language, i.e., French. Yes, they were right in saying so because the French people of Alsace and Lorraine had neglected the study of their own language and could neither speak or write in French. * *v)* The theme indicated in this extract is the link between one's language and cultural identity. It was the procrastination of the study of their language that caused the invading Prussian forces to threaten their way of living, their identity and their culture. Without knowledge of their language, the French would not be able to hold on to their own identity or culture. **IV.** * *i)* According to M. Hamel, French language was the symbol of identity for the people of France. He told the students in his class that without knowing their language, they would not be able to hold on to their own identity or culture. * *ii)* When people do not learn their language, they are not able to hold on to their own identity and culture. By learning their own language, people get the power to challenge their subjugation even without using any arms and thus use language as a 'key' to their freedom. * *iii)* Franz felt that he was able to clearly understand the last lesson taught by M. Hamel because he listened to it quite attentively knowing well that it would be his last lesson in French. He could not understand it earlier because he never realised the importance of studying his own language. * *iv)* M. Hamel put extra effort to teach the students in his last class because he wanted to instil in them the love for their language and thereby importance of their identity and