Answer any one of the following questions in 120 – 150 words:

(a) The order from Berlin banning teaching of French stunned everyone. Comment.

(b) Why did no one in Pratibandapuram experience any sorrow and anguish at the death of the Tiger King?

(c) It is good to dream big, but one must have concrete plans and determination to turn dreams into reality. Comment. (Going Places)

(a) In the story, ‘The Last Lesson’ by Alphonse Daudet, the entire school seemed sad and solemn after coming to know of the ban on the teaching of French. They were all deeply fond of their French teacher, M. Hamel, and his love for the language itself.

The order from Berlin for banning the teaching of French also aroused a particular sense of zeal and patriotism in the hearts of the residents of Alsace and Lorraine. They were pretty stunned to hear of this news and became really serious on being deprived of their own mother tongue. M. Hamel described to them how it was the most beautiful and logical language in the world, and how they ought to be protective about their mother tongue. He was leaving after teaching for about forty years and it was a matter of shock for everyone that things were taking such a turn.

(b) No one in Pratibandapuram experienced or displayed any sorrow and anguish at the death of the Tiger King because they werent very happy under his rule. The king was quite unpopular among his subjects, because he cared for nothing other than his quest for killing tigers and reversing the prophecy about him.

He came across to his subjects as a really self-centred and irresponsible ruler who annoyed his own people by doubling taxes to be paid by them and sacking multiple men. The reason behind all his atrocities was his stupid quest of killing a hundred tigers. He hardly did anything for the welfare of his people and this is the reason nobody experienced any remorse at his death.

(c) ‘Going Places’ is itself symbolic of being successful at one’s work. This can happen only by combining dreams with a concrete action plan. Only setting the biggest goals and doing nothing to achieve them is of no use if one wishes to ‘go places.’

In the lesson, a lower middle-class girl named Sophie is a dreamer, who has built several castles in the air. She doesn’t have any means to accomplish them, however, and often she dreams well beyond possibilities. In contrast to her character is her friend Jansie, who is much more practical when it comes to facing reality. Through the story the author has tried to depict that one needs to couple up their dreams with plans and actions. If not, then reality strikes very hard in the guise of failure. It is then that it becomes difficult to live in such harsh times. The difference between fantasy and reality can be bridged only through solid work.