Write a character sketch of Franz

Question: Write a character sketch of Franz.

Answer: Franz was a student of a school in Alsace. His schoolmaster was M. Hamel. Franz was not brilliant. Franz enjoyed spending time out of doors. He liked the warm and bright day and loved to listen to the chirping of the birds and watching the drilling of the Prussian soldiers. He preferred this to be in the classroom. He didn’t prepare his lesson on participles. When he was asked to recite, he got mixed up and confused. He was not excited to go to school and did not show any interest in M. Hamel’s teaching. But he was scared of M. Hamel’s scolding. He always dreaded the great ruler that M. Hamel kept under his arm. Franz knew how ‘cranky’ M. Hamel was. However, Franz was forced to change his opinion about M. Hamel. An order came from Berlin pronouncing that the German language would be taught in the schools of French districts of Alsace and Lorraine. On knowing that it was the last lesson that Mr Hamel was going to deliver, his views about him changed. He started respecting the man who had spent forty years in the same school. He felt sorry for not learning French. He shared M. Hamel’s views about the French. It was the most beautiful language in the world. Franz sarcastically remarked, “Will they make them sing in German, even the pigeons?” After the last lesson, his views about the French took a patriotic turn. He listened to M. Hamel’s last lesson with rapt attention and dignity and regretted having been careless and inattentive.

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