The Last Lesson | CBSE Class 12 English Notes

This note covers Alphonse Daudet and the setting of The Last Lesson, the sequence of events, Franz and M. Hamel, the villagers, language and identity, regret and responsibility, narrative techniques, key quotations and difficult vocabulary.

Who wrote The Last Lesson, and what is its setting?

About the author and the text

Alphonse Daudet (1840-1897) was a French novelist and short-story writer. The Last Lesson presents the loss of French teaching through a schoolboy's experience of a single school day. A public order enters an ordinary classroom and changes the meaning of familiar lessons.

The story is set during the Franco-Prussian War (1870-1871), in which France was defeated by Prussia under Bismarck. Within the story, the French districts of Alsace and Lorraine have passed into Prussian control. An order from Berlin requires their schools to teach only German.

Whose experience shapes the account?

Franz, a schoolboy, tells the story. He is the first-person narrator, meaning a participant who relates events through his own observations, feelings and thoughts. His teacher, M. Hamel, announces that this is their last French lesson and that a new master will arrive the following day.

The action moves from Franz's journey to school into the classroom. The town-hall noticeboard and the soldiers connect school life with the political situation. The teacher's clothes, the visitors and the unusual quiet suggest that something serious has happened before Franz understands the announcement.

The title refers directly to the final French lesson under M. Hamel. It also invites a broader reading: Franz learns to value his language, his teacher and the opportunities he has neglected. This broader meaning is an interpretation of his changed response to the day.

Language and identity are closely connected here. Identity means a person's or community's sense of who they are. The loss of French teaching makes the villagers recognise an attachment that ordinary school routines had allowed them to take for granted.

What happens in the story, section by section?

Summary: Franz's journey to school

Franz starts late and fears punishment because he has not prepared participles, verb forms used in verb phrases or as adjectives. For a moment, the bright weather, birds and soldiers practising in the open field seem more attractive than his grammar lesson. He nevertheless continues to school.

A crowd has gathered at the town-hall bulletin-board, a board displaying public notices. For the previous two years it has brought news of military defeats, compulsory military recruitment and the commanding officer's orders. Franz wonders about the latest news but does not stop to read it.

Wachter, the blacksmith, is reading the notice with his apprentice, a person learning a trade under a skilled worker. He tells Franz that he will reach school in time. Franz thinks he is being mocked and runs on until he reaches M. Hamel's garden, breathless.

Summary: the unfamiliar classroom

Franz expects the usual school noise to hide his late arrival. Instead, the room is unusually quiet. The children are already seated, and M. Hamel walks about with his ruler. Franz must enter in everyone's view, but the teacher welcomes him kindly instead of scolding him.

After sitting down, Franz notices M. Hamel's special green coat, frilled shirt and embroidered black silk cap. Before this lesson, he had worn these only on inspection and prize days. The village elders occupy the back benches: old Hauser, the former mayor, the former postmaster and others.

Hauser has brought a primer, an elementary reading book, worn from handling. The visitors look sad. Their presence and the teacher's unusual clothing puzzle Franz because he still does not know the reason for this solemn gathering.

Summary: the announcement and regret

M. Hamel announces the order to teach only German in the schools of Alsace and Lorraine. A new teacher will arrive tomorrow. This is the final French lesson, and he asks the children to listen carefully. Franz now understands the noticeboard news.

Franz regrets neglecting his work for pleasures such as collecting birds' eggs and sliding on the Saar. His schoolbooks suddenly seem dear to him. The thought of losing M. Hamel makes him forget the teacher's ruler and irritability. His fear gives way to affection and sorrow.

He also understands why the villagers have come. They regret not attending school more, thank M. Hamel for forty years of service and honour the country they have lost. Their attendance gives the lesson a significance that reaches beyond the children normally taught there.

Summary: shared blame and renewed attention

Called on to recite, Franz confuses the opening words of the participle rule. M. Hamel does not scold him. He criticises the habit of postponing learning and acknowledges that the parents and he himself also share responsibility for the children's neglected education.

Parents preferred the extra money children could earn on farms or in mills. M. Hamel admits that he has often sent pupils to water his flowers and has given them holidays when he wanted to fish. His criticism therefore includes his own conduct.

M. Hamel praises French and urges the people to preserve it. During the grammar lesson, Franz is surprised by how well he understands. He thinks he has never listened so carefully and that his teacher has never explained with such patience. The change combines attention with teaching.

Summary: the final classroom activities

Writing follows grammar. M. Hamel has prepared handwriting models bearing the names France and Alsace. Everyone concentrates; even the youngest pupils ignore beetles entering the room. Hearing pigeons, Franz wonders whether the authorities will make even them sing in German.

M. Hamel looks around the familiar room. Franz imagines the pain of leaving after forty years. The teacher's sister packs upstairs because they must leave the country the next day. Nevertheless, he continues through the lessons: writing, history and the youngest children's sounds.

Old Hauser joins the children's spelling, crying as his voice trembles. At twelve, the church clock, the Angelus and the Prussian trumpets mark the closing moment. The Angelus is a Christian prayer associated with a bell; here its sounding follows the church clock.

M. Hamel tries to address the class but cannot continue. He writes “Vive La France!”, meaning “Long live France!”, on the board as large as he can. He leans his head against the wall and dismisses the class with a hand gesture, without speaking.

How do the characters reveal different responses to the last lesson?

Franz: a pupil capable of change

Franz initially fears being exposed as unprepared. He notices the pleasures outside and hopes the usual classroom noise will conceal his lateness. These details establish his immediate concerns without making him incapable of feeling or learning. He resists the temptation to stay away.

His self-awareness, or recognition of his own conduct, grows after the announcement. He regrets his wasted opportunities and wants desperately to recite correctly. His inability to do so matters because sincere regret cannot instantly supply knowledge he has failed to acquire.

Franz also becomes attentive to other people's grief. He understands the elders' presence and imagines what leaving the school means to M. Hamel. His development is therefore both educational and emotional: he values learning more and sees the people around him with greater sympathy.

M. Hamel: teacher, critic and participant

M. Hamel has taught there for forty years. Franz associates him with a formidable ruler and an irritable manner, but the last lesson reveals his gentleness, patience and attachment to the school. His formal clothing honours the occasion and gives the day a ceremonial quality.

He does not treat Franz as the sole cause of the failure to learn. His admission of personal fault makes his criticism more balanced. He recognises how his gardening and fishing have interrupted instruction, even as he challenges the pupils' delay and the parents' priorities.

His continued teaching shows courage within the circumstances. He knows he must leave, hears the packing upstairs and still conducts every lesson to the end. At the close, his inability to speak and his final written declaration reveal an emotion that ordinary instruction can no longer contain.

Old Hauser and the village elders

Old Hauser makes the adults' regret visible. His worn reading book, spectacles and trembling voice connect him with elementary learning. When he joins the youngest pupils, the distinction between adult visitor and child learner briefly becomes less important than their shared attachment to French.

The former mayor, former postmaster and other villagers sit quietly on the back benches. Their attendance expresses regret, gratitude and respect for their country. It does not mean that they have come to inspect the school or announce the order themselves.

Wachter and the teacher's sister

Wachter belongs to the world outside the classroom. His presence at the noticeboard links Franz's journey with the public announcement. Franz interprets his remark as mockery, but that reaction does not establish the blacksmith's intention as a fact.

M. Hamel's sister does not give a speech. Her packing upstairs makes the approaching departure concrete. The sound reminds Franz that the teacher's separation from his school is an immediate event involving his home and possessions as well as his professional role.

How does Franz's attitude to school change?

From escape to attachment

At first, Franz experiences school as an obligation associated with fear. He dreads the participle rule, has not prepared it and finds the outdoors tempting. Even his plan for entering depends on escaping notice. He wants to avoid the consequences of not learning.

After the announcement, loss changes his perspective. Books he had found burdensome become precious because the opportunity to study French is being removed. The same teacher whom he had feared becomes someone he cannot bear to lose. Familiar things acquire a newly recognised value.

This is not evidence that the books, the language or the teacher have suddenly become different in every respect. Franz's relation to them changes. He connects them with an opportunity that seemed endlessly available but is now reaching its end.

Regret does not equal instant knowledge

His failed recitation prevents a simple picture of complete transformation. He wishes to answer accurately, but the neglected rule remains beyond him. Regret, sorrow over earlier conduct or lost opportunity, changes his motivation before it can repair the effects of his choices.

Later, his improved understanding of grammar shows what attention can make possible. Franz thinks he has never listened so carefully. He also thinks M. Hamel has never explained with such patience. Keeping both observations preserves the connection between a willing learner and careful teaching.

A wider sympathy

Franz's attention gradually moves beyond his own embarrassment. He interprets the villagers' sadness, thinks about the teacher's long service and watches Hauser struggle with emotion. The classroom is no longer simply the place in which he may be punished; it becomes a shared place of belonging.

His thought about the pigeons suggests that he is also beginning to question the reach of political authority. The question can express protest against forced language change, but it remains a child's imagined question. It is not a report of an actual order concerning birds.

The change is best traced through evidence: his decision to attend despite temptation, his shock at the announcement, his affection for the books, his unsuccessful recitation, his improved attention and his sympathy for the adults. These stages avoid presenting him as suddenly perfect.

What themes and messages emerge from the story?

Language as a source of identity

A theme is a central idea developed through a literary work. Here, the threatened loss of French teaching reveals the connection between language, memory and belonging. The villagers' attendance and M. Hamel's farewell join personal attachment to a wider feeling for their country.

M. Hamel urges the people to preserve their language even under foreign control. His prison-and-key comparison suggests that language can help sustain an inner sense of community and the possibility of freedom. It is an image of hope, not a practical timetable for liberation.

Neglect and belated recognition

Procrastination means delaying something that needs to be done. M. Hamel identifies postponement as a central failing: people have assumed there will be time to learn later. The sudden final lesson reveals how costly that assumption can become.

Franz's regret and the elders' return to school develop the same theme across different ages. Both recognise the value of an opportunity after neglecting it. The message is to value learning while it is available, rather than relying indefinitely on another chance.

Shared responsibility for education

The story distributes responsibility among pupils, parents and teacher. Franz has avoided study; parents have favoured additional earnings; M. Hamel has interrupted lessons for personal activities. No single confession explains away the other contributions.

This shared blame concerns neglected education. It does not make these people the authors of the order imposed from Berlin. Distinguishing the two helps explain why the story can criticise local habits while also showing the suffering caused by an external command.

Patriotism expressed through ordinary actions

Patriotism, love of and attachment to one's country, appears in attendance, careful writing, formal dress and the final words on the board. These are small actions within a schoolroom, but the last lesson gives them public and emotional significance.

The handwriting names connect France and Alsace. M. Hamel's written farewell affirms France when he can no longer speak. The pupils' concentration and the villagers' quiet respect make attachment visible without a scene of military action inside the school.

Loss, dignity and human vulnerability

M. Hamel continues to teach despite his approaching departure. This supports a reading of dignity, self-respect shown under painful circumstances. At the same time, his final silence shows vulnerability. The story allows dedication and grief to exist together.

Hauser's trembling voice similarly combines an almost comic sound with real sorrow. Franz and the others feel like laughing and crying. That mixed response makes the scene human: emotion does not always appear in a single, tidy form.

Note: M. Hamel's praise of French expresses his judgement and attachment. It does not establish an objective ranking of languages or require contempt for another language.

How do language and style make the lesson memorable?

First-person narration and limited knowledge

Narration is the telling of a story. Franz's account lets the reader discover the reason for the unusual day as he does. At first he notices separate clues but lacks the explanation. M. Hamel's announcement then brings those clues together.

Franz reports both observations and interpretations. The teacher looks around the room; Franz imagines that he wants to remember its appearance. Preserving expressions such as “as if” matters because the narrator cannot directly know every thought in another person's mind.

Contrast, irony and changing sounds

Contrast places differences beside each other to make them noticeable. The ordinary noisy opening of school contrasts with the final lesson's silence. Fear of a scolding contrasts with the teacher's kindness. An apparently routine school day becomes an occasion of collective grief.

Irony here is the striking reversal between expectation and outcome. Franz most wants to learn when his familiar chance to study French is ending. A boy tempted to avoid school comes to wish that its ordinary opportunities could continue.

The changing sounds reinforce that reversal. The expected desk noise is absent; concentrated writing produces the sound of pens. Hauser's voice trembles, and the clock and trumpets announce the end. M. Hamel's final gesture replaces the speech he cannot complete.

Comparisons and symbolic details

A simile compares things using a word such as “like” or “as”. The handwriting models resemble small flags in Franz's account. The comparison turns classroom materials into signs of attachment to France and Alsace while remaining tied to what the pupils are actually doing.

A metaphor describes something in terms of something else without a literal identity. Franz's description of the announcement as a thunderclap conveys sudden shock. His description of his books as old friends expresses affection where he had previously felt annoyance.

A symbol is something concrete that suggests a further meaning. The final writing can be read as a symbol of continued national attachment. The pigeons can suggest natural freedom beyond imposed linguistic rules, although the question allows more than one interpretation.

Pathos is the quality that evokes pity or sorrow. The packing upstairs, Hauser's tears and M. Hamel's interrupted speech create it through restrained details. The teacher's apparent height at the end conveys the impression he makes on Franz, not physical growth.

Which key quotations reveal the chapter's central ideas?

The announcement and the habit of delay

Speaker and context: M. Hamel announces the end of French teaching to the assembled class.

“This is your last French lesson.”

The sentence gives the title its immediate meaning. Its directness explains Franz's shock and makes the teacher's clothes, the quiet room and the visitors understandable. An ordinary lesson becomes a farewell because its usual continuation has been withdrawn.

Speaker and context: M. Hamel recalls the postponement that he and others have accepted.

“I'll learn it tomorrow.”

The short promise captures an apparently harmless habit whose consequences are now clear. The phrase belongs to his criticism of shared delay. It should not be used to suggest that Franz alone has neglected education or that the teacher exempts himself.

Freedom, protest and the farewell

Speaker and context: M. Hamel compares preserving a people's language under domination with possessing a means of release.

“the key to their prison”

The phrase connects language with freedom. In this comparison, the prison represents subjection and the key suggests the sustaining value of a shared language. The complete idea depends on people continuing to hold on to that language.

Thinker and context: Franz hears pigeons during the writing lesson and questions the reach of the imposed language change.

“Will they make them sing in German, even the pigeons?”

The question can suggest the absurdity of trying to command every natural expression. It may also reveal a child's protest against the order. Its openness is important: it is a thought that invites interpretation, not a literal prediction about the birds.

Writer and context: M. Hamel writes on the blackboard after emotion prevents him from continuing his address.

“Vive La France!”

This final declaration turns writing itself into an act of attachment. The words mean “Long live France!” Their force comes from the teacher's effort, the large lettering and the silence that follows, rather than from a completed farewell speech.

How can a literary answer connect evidence with interpretation?

Begin with the precise event

A literary interpretation explains what a detail may mean in its context. Begin with an event or observation, then explain its significance. For example, the village elders sit at the back of the room; their attendance expresses regret, gratitude and respect.

Different details support different claims. Franz's failed recitation supports an argument about neglected preparation. His improved understanding supports an argument about renewed attention. The first does not disappear because the second occurs, and a balanced account includes both.

Keep the speaker and the qualification

Attribution means identifying whose statement, thought or judgement is being discussed. M. Hamel calls French the most beautiful language in the world, the clearest and the most logical. Presenting this as his opinion keeps an answer faithful to his emotional position rather than turning praise into a measurable fact.

Similarly, Franz thinks the teacher may be trying to remember the room's appearance. He feels that M. Hamel seems almost to want to pass on all his knowledge at once. These are impressions, not independently verified accounts of the teacher's private intentions.

Explain without inventing an ending

A question about the final scene can connect the clock and trumpets with the lesson's ending, then discuss the teacher's silence and written patriotism. It cannot establish what Franz later becomes or what the villagers do after leaving, because the account stops at dismissal.

The same discipline applies to the order. It requires only German to be taught in the specified schools. The story explores the pain of linguistic loss, but an answer should not invent additional punishments, private conversations or enforcement measures.

Evidence and meaning work together. A list of incidents without explanation misses their emotional relationship; an argument without incidents becomes vague. The strongest reading identifies the detail, connects it to the question and preserves any uncertainty present in Franz's account.

Glossary

• Participles — Verb forms used in verb phrases or as adjectives; Franz has not prepared the rule he must recite.
• Dread — Intense fear or anxious anticipation, describing Franz's expectation of being scolded for his lack of preparation.
• Bulletin-board — A board displaying public announcements, associated in Franz's experience with unwelcome news about the military situation.
• Draft — Compulsory recruitment for military service, one kind of bad news associated with the town-hall notices.
• Apprentice — A person learning a trade under an experienced worker, such as the companion accompanying Wachter.
• In unison — Together at the same time, describing how the pupils usually repeat their lessons aloud.
• Commotion — Noisy activity or disturbance, which Franz hopes will conceal his arrival after the usual starting time.
• Solemn — Serious and marked by gravity, describing the unusual atmosphere of the classroom during the final lesson.
• Primer — An elementary reading book, like the worn volume old Hauser brings to the classroom.
• Reproach — Express blame or disapproval; M. Hamel acknowledges reasons for criticising his own conduct as well.
• Procrastination — Delaying necessary action, reflected in the repeated assumption that learning can be left until tomorrow.
• Patriotism — Love of and attachment to one's country, expressed through the villagers' respect and M. Hamel's farewell.
• Pathos — A quality that evokes pity or sorrow, illustrated by Hauser's tears and the teacher's interrupted speech.

Common errors and misconceptions

• Misconception: Franz spends the day outdoors. Correct: He considers staying away but resists the temptation and goes to school, although he arrives late and unprepared.
• Misconception: The visitors are current officials conducting an inspection. Correct: They include the former mayor and former postmaster; they attend in regret, gratitude to M. Hamel and respect for their country.
• Misconception: The order closes the school permanently. Correct: It requires only German to be taught in the schools of Alsace and Lorraine; a new teacher is expected the next day.
• Misconception: M. Hamel blames Franz alone. Correct: He includes parents and himself in the responsibility for neglected learning, admitting that he has interrupted teaching for personal reasons.
• Misconception: Franz's regret enables him to recite the rule perfectly. Correct: He still fails at the opening words, although he later understands the grammar lesson much better.
• Misconception: The pigeons are ordered to sing in German. Correct: Franz imagines this question. It invites interpretation of forced language change and does not describe an actual instruction.
• Misconception: M. Hamel gives a complete spoken farewell. Correct: Emotion interrupts his speech; he writes his declaration on the blackboard and dismisses the class with a gesture.

Exam-style questions with model answers

Q1. Franz arrives late, expects classroom noise to hide him and fears a scolding. Instead, the room is quiet and M. Hamel invites him to sit down kindly. Explain two contrasts between his expectations and experience. [2 marks]

1. Franz expects noise to conceal his arrival, but the quiet classroom makes him enter in everyone's view.
2. He anticipates punishment, but M. Hamel's kind invitation replaces the scolding he fears.

Q2. After hearing that this is his last French lesson, Franz wants to recite the participle rule correctly but confuses its opening words. What two connected ideas about regret and learning does this incident reveal? [2 marks]

1. The announcement creates sincere regret and a new desire to demonstrate knowledge he had previously neglected.
2. That desire cannot immediately replace preparation: his failed recitation reveals the continuing consequence of not learning the rule earlier.

Q3. M. Hamel says pupils postponed learning, parents preferred their earnings from farms or mills, and he himself often sent pupils to water flowers or gave holidays when he wanted to fish. Explain how these details distribute responsibility for neglected education. [3 marks]

1. The pupils are responsible for postponing study. Their reliance on a future opportunity helps explain why they remain unprepared when French teaching ends.
2. The parents contribute by prioritising the extra income earned through work on farms or in mills over their children's learning.
3. M. Hamel accepts responsibility for interruptions caused by his own activities. His admission makes the criticism shared rather than a simple accusation against the children.

Q4. The villagers sit quietly at the back of the last French lesson. They regret not attending school more, thank M. Hamel for forty years of service and honour their country. Hauser joins the youngest pupils with his primer and cries. Explain four meanings of their participation. [4 marks]

1. Their presence expresses regret for missed educational opportunities, extending the lesson's concern with neglected learning beyond Franz and his classmates.
2. Attending is an act of gratitude towards M. Hamel, whose forty years of teaching have connected him with the community.
3. Honouring their country makes the classroom a setting for shared national attachment at the moment French teaching is being removed.
4. Hauser's participation and tears make these collective feelings personal and visible, showing how elementary learning can acquire deep emotional value.

Q5. At first Franz considers avoiding school, fears M. Hamel and regards his books as a nuisance. After the announcement ending French lessons, he regrets neglected study, values his books, feels affection for his teacher, still fails the participle rule and then listens with unusual care. Analyse his change in five points. [5 marks]

1. Franz's initial temptation to avoid school shows that immediate pleasure and fear matter more to him than the opportunity to learn. This establishes the starting point of his change.
2. The announcement interrupts his assumption that learning can continue later. Regret develops because he recognises the value of an opportunity just as it is being withdrawn.
3. His altered response to the books shows new attachment to learning. Their former inconvenience becomes less important than the threatened loss of what they offer him.
4. Affection replaces his earlier fear of M. Hamel. The prospect of separation makes the teacher's importance more visible than the disciplinary behaviour Franz previously resented.
5. His failed recitation shows that regret does not instantly repair neglect. His subsequent careful listening nevertheless demonstrates a meaningful change in his willingness to learn.

Q6. At the end, the church clock strikes twelve and Prussian trumpets sound. M. Hamel stands pale, cannot continue his address, writes “Vive La France!” as large as he can, leans his head against the wall and dismisses the pupils by gesture. Explain the significance of these details in five points. [5 marks]

1. The striking clock marks the lesson's end, while the Prussian trumpets connect that ending with the military power surrounding the school. The external situation enters the final classroom moment.
2. M. Hamel's pallor and interrupted address reveal the intensity of his emotion. The teacher who has conducted the lesson can no longer express his farewell through ordinary speech.
3. Writing becomes an alternative form of expression when speech fails. The blackboard, a familiar teaching surface, now carries the teacher's most urgent final statement.
4. His large declaration means “Long live France!” It expresses continued attachment to his country despite the imposed change in the language of instruction.
5. His leaning against the wall and silent gesture complete the farewell through physical actions. The restrained ending lets grief and the final written words remain prominent.

Q7. During the writing lesson, Franz hears pigeons and wonders whether they too will be made to sing in German. The schools have been ordered to teach only German. Give three points explaining the possible meaning and limits of his question. [3 marks]

1. The question can express protest against imposed language change by extending the command imaginatively from schoolchildren to birds, where it appears absurd.
2. The pigeons may suggest natural expression or freedom that political authority cannot simply remake through an instruction about the language of schooling.
3. This remains Franz's thought, not an actual order concerning pigeons. Its meaning is open to interpretation, so it should not be reduced to a literal prediction.

Q8. M. Hamel urges people under domination to preserve their language, comparing this with having a key to their prison. Explain the comparison and its condition in two points. [2 marks]

1. The prison represents domination; the key suggests that a shared language can sustain identity and hope of freedom.
2. The comparison depends on people holding on to their language. It does not promise immediate political liberation.

Key takeaways

• Franz narrates a final French lesson after an order from Berlin requires schools in Alsace and Lorraine to teach only German.
• The unusual silence, M. Hamel's formal clothes and the village elders' presence prepare for the announcement that changes Franz's outlook.
• Franz's regret produces affection and attention, but his failed recitation shows that neglected preparation cannot be repaired instantly.
• M. Hamel shares responsibility among pupils, parents and himself, making his criticism of educational neglect an act of self-examination too.
• The villagers attend to express regret, thank their teacher for forty years of service and show respect for their country.
• Language becomes a source of identity and attachment; preserving it suggests hope within M. Hamel's comparison of a prison and its key.
• Franz's question about the pigeons invites interpretation of forced language change and must be distinguished from an actual command.
• The final writing on the blackboard expresses patriotism when M. Hamel's emotion prevents him from completing a spoken farewell.

Test yourself

Why is Franz afraid before he reaches school?

He is late and has not prepared the participle rule on which M. Hamel intends to question the class.

What does Franz initially think about Wachter's remark?

He thinks the blacksmith is making fun of him, but this is Franz's interpretation of the remark.

What distinguishes M. Hamel's clothes that morning?

He wears his special green coat, frilled shirt and embroidered black silk cap, previously worn only on inspection and prize days.

What does old Hauser bring, and how does he participate?

He brings a worn primer and later joins the youngest pupils in spelling, while crying and speaking with a trembling voice.

What follows the grammar lesson?

A writing lesson follows grammar, using handwriting models prepared by M. Hamel with the names France and Alsace.

Why should M. Hamel's praise of French be attributed to him?

It expresses the teacher's judgement and attachment to his language, rather than establishing an objective hierarchy of languages.

What is the difference between Franz's regret and his performance?

He sincerely wants to recite correctly, but still confuses the rule's opening words. His emotional change has not instantly supplied the missing knowledge.

How is the class finally dismissed?

After writing his declaration and leaning his head against the wall, M. Hamel dismisses the pupils silently with a hand gesture.