Chapter A Letter To God

Extract Based Questions

Glossary

Words Meanings

crest top of a mountain or hill

valley low area of land between hills or mountains

ripe fully developed and ready for harvest

downpour heavy rainfall

shower drizzle

intimately in a private way

supper evening meal

god willing by grace of God

predict guess beforehand

approaching coming forward

pleasure feeling of satisfaction and happiness

draped covered

hailstone pellets of hardened snow

resemble having similar appearance

exposing making visible

plague epidemic caused by pests

locusts crop destroying insects moving in swarms

solitary existing alone

conscience inner sense of right or wrong

daybreak dawn

peso currency of several Latin American countries

envelope (here) paper cover for letter

amiable having pleasant manner

correspondence letters sent or received

evident clearly seen or understood

resolution firm decision

charity money given out of generosity to help

contentment satisfaction

deed (here) work

deny refuse

bunch a group of something

crooks dishonest people

Read the following extracts carefully and answer the questions that follow.

Question 1.
The house- the only one in the entire valley- sat on the crest of a low hill. From this
height one could see the river and the field of ripe corn dotted with the flowers that
always promised a good harvest. The only thing the Earth needed was a downpour
or at least a shower. Throughout the morning Lencho who knew his fields intimately
had done nothing else but see the sky towards the North-East. “Now we’re really
going to get some water, woman.
” The woman who was preparing supper, replied, “Yes, God willing”.
(a) Where was Lencho’s house located?
(b) What was Lencho’s wife preparing?
(c) Find the word from the passage which means ‘very closely’.
(d) What does ‘Crest’ means?
Answer:
Lencho’s house was located on the crest of a low hill.
(b) Lencho’s wife was preparing supper.
(c) The word is ‘Intimately’.
(d) Crest means the top part of a hill.

Question.
With a satisfied expression he regarded the field of ripe corn with its flowers,
draped in a. curtain of rain. But suddenly a strong wind began to blow and along
with the rain very large hailstones began to fall. These truly did resemble new silver
coins. The boys, exposing themselves to the rain, ran out to collect the frozen
pearls.
(a) What happened to the rain suddenly?
(b) ‘The frozen pearls’ refers to which thing in the paragraph.
(c) Find the similar meaning-of ‘contented’ in the paragraph.
(d) Find from the passage a word which means ‘to take after’.

Answer:
(a) The rain suddenly changed into hailstones.
(b) ‘The frozen pearls’ refers to hailstones.
(c) The word is ‘Satisfied’.
(d) The word is ‘Resemble’.
 Short Answer Type Questions

Question 1.Who was Lencho? What were his main problems?

Answer: Lencho was a hardworking farmer, who lived on the crest of a low hill.
Due to the hailstorm his crops were destroyed, so he needed money to sow his field
again and support his family. These were the main problems of Lencho.

Question 2. Give a brief description of the view from Lencho’s house?

Answer: Lencho’s house was situated on the crest of a low hill and it was the only
one in the valley. One could easily see the river and the field of ripe corn from here.

Question 3.What did Lencho compare the raindrops to and why?

Answer: Lencho compared the raindrops to new coins because the crop needed the
rain badly and it was the sign of good harvest. Good harvest meant prosperity for
Lencho as he needed the money to fulfil his basic needs.

Question 4.Why did Lencho write a letter to God?

Answer:When.Lencho’s crops were completely destroyed by the hailstorm, he
wrote a letter to God because he was the only hope in his despair. Lencho asked
him to send hundred pesos to sow his field again and support his family.

Question 5.Why and how did the postmaster help Lencho?

Answer:The postmaster was determined to help Lencho. He did not want Lencho’s
faith in God to be shaken so he asked his employees and friends to help Lencho. He
also contributed a part of his salary for this act of charity.

Question 6.Why did Lencho not want the money to be sent through mail?
Answer: Lencho wrote in his second letter that he received only seventy pesos but
he needed a hundred pesos. He requested God not to send rest of the money by
post since the post office employees were a bunch of crooks and would steal the
money.

Question 7.Do you think that Lencho was right to call the post office employees a
bunch of crooks? Why or why not?
Answer: Lencho called the post office employees a bunch of crooks as he did not
get full money that he had demanded. He could not believe that God had sent him
any less money so he doubted these people. But he was not right to call them a
bunch of crooks.

Long Answer (Value Based)

Question1.
“Humanity still exists”, this is what we get to know after reading A letter to God’ in
which firm faith in God of a poor farmer and helpfulness of the post office
employees are aptly depicted thought. Write a paragraph on the values in it, in
about 80-100 words. Give the paragraph a suitable title.

Answer:
Existence of Humanity
After reading ‘A letter to God’, our faith in humanity stirs for strong. We learn from
the story that there still are people who help others without any self interest. The
postmaster and the post office employees lay an example for everyone of us to be
kind. Though they all laughed at his letter, they were really moved by the grip of
faith Lencho had in God. The way they all decided to help the stranger in his hard
times restores our faith in the existence of humanity and motivates us to be a noble
and kind person.

Question 2.Describe Lencho’s qualities in light of his faith in God. Do you have
faith in God like Lencho? Was Lencho’s reaction towards post office employees
right?
Answer:Lencho was a poor farmer who totally depended on the harvest to survive
and fulfil basic needs of his family. Once his crops were destroyed due to heavy
rainfall and hailstones and he was afraid to think how his family would survive. He
believed that God would help him in this plight. He had firm faith in God, he
believed that God would not let him be hungry.
Now-a-days faith in God like Lencho is almost impossible and unseen. People are
very much aware that nobody is willing to help others without any self interest.
Lencho’s reaction towards post office employees was not right or justified but it was
just because of his innocence as he could not believe that God had done such a
mistake. It were only the post office employees who had stolen money according to
him.

Question.3.What is the Irony? Explain the irony in the Story A letter to God
‘?
Irony is a figure of speech in which words are used in a way that is different from
their literal meaning. Irony also refers to a situation where outcomes are opposite
to the expected but usually in an amusing manner. Irony can be used to make a
point or to express amusement.

In the lesson A Letter to God, irony is seen when the result of help was not as
expected. After helping Lencho the Post office employees thought that Lencho
would be happy to receive the help from God. The outcome was just opposite to the
expected one.
Another point of irony is seen when the central character Lencho prayed for rain
and God answered with a hailstomes. This contrast shows how expectations of good
can sometimes backfire, creating unintended consequences.
It also speaks that life does not always turn out how we plan it and that surprises
are an integral part of life.