First Flight - Class 10th A Letter to God - G. L. FUENTES Summary, Glossary, Questions, and Answers Glossary - 1) Crest - top of the hill...
First Flight - Class 10th
A Letter to God - G. L. FUENTES
Summary, Glossary, Questions, and Answers
Glossary -
1) Crest - top of the hill, the topmost point on the wave.
2) downpour a heavy, sudden fall of rain.
3) Supper - the last meal of the day, sometimes it may be dinner or anything eaten after dinner.
4) draped - covered.
5) hailstones - a small, hard ball of ice that falls from the sky like rain.
6) exclaimed - to declare.
7) locusts - insects that fly in big swarms( groups) and destroy crops.
8) sorrowful - very sad.
9) solitary -lonely.
10) amiable - friendly and pleasant.
11) contentment - satisfaction.
12) wrinkling -folding.
13) a bunch of crooks - a very dishonest person.
Summary - The lesson, " A Letter to God" is written by the writer G. L. FUENTES, and it is a story of a hardworking farmer Lencho, who has a beautiful house and his corn crop situated on the top of the hill in the vicinity of beautiful nature. He is happy with his labor and expects a good harvest of corn this year. But, unfortunately, because of the hailstorm, his whole crop gets destroyed, he becomes very sad and thinks that this year his family will face hunger.
But out of great faith in God, he decides to write a letter to God, asking him to send 100 pesos to sow his field. When his envelope is opened in the post office, all the employees along with the post man touched by his faith in god. So they contribute 70 pesos and send to Lencho with a sign as God. Lencho gets angry with the people of the post office that God had sent him the complete amount, but the remaining amount was stolen by them. This is the irony of the lesson.
Questions And Answers -
Oral Comprehension Check -
1) What did Lencho hope for?
Ans - Lencho hoped for sufficient rainfall for his cornfield.
2) Why did Lencho say the raindrops were like, " new coins"?
Ans - Lencho's crop was ready for harvest, but he needed some rainfall or at least a shower to ripen his crop, and that would bring him a good harvest and prosperity, so he compared the raindrops to new coins.
3) How did the rain change? What happened to Lencho's fields?
Ans - The rain started slowly but suddenly a strong wind began to blow and along with the rain very large hailstones began to fall, and because of those hailstones his entire crop was destroyed.
4) What were Lencho's feelings when the hail stopped?
Ans - After the hailstorm stopped, Lencho became very sad and disheartened, because his entire crop was destroyed, and he thought that his family might suffer hunger this year.
5) Who or What did Lencho have faith in? What did he do?
Ans - Lencho had great faith in God he believed that God's eyes can see everything, and when his crop got destroyed because of a hailstorm, he wrote a letter to God asking for 100 pesos to sow cornfield again.
6) Who read the letter?
Ans - The postmaster read the letter.
7) What did the postmaster do then?
Ans - When the postmaster received Lencho's letter written to God, firstly he laughed then became serious and touched by his strong faith in God, and to keep his faith intact he decided to collect money from employees of the post office.
8) Was Lencho surprised to find a letter for him with money in it?
Ans - No, Lencho was not at all surprised to find a letter for him with money in it, rather he knew that God would definitely reply and help him.
9) What made him angry?
Ans - Lencho became angry when he saw that the money was less than what he was expecting from God. Actually, he was expecting 100 pesos, but he got only 70 pesos in the envelope.
Thinking about the Text :
1. Who does Lencho have complete faith in? Which sentences in the story tell you this?
Ans - Lencho has complete faith in God and the following lines indicate this-
1) But in the hearts of all who lived in that solitary house in the middle of the valley, there was a single hope: help from God.
2) His eyes can see everything.
3) " God," he wrote, if you don't help me, my family and I will go hungry this year.
4) God could not have made a mistake, nor could he have denied Lencho what he had requested.
2. Why does the postmaster send money to Lencho? Why does he sign the letter 'God'?
Ans - The postmaster sends money to Lencho because he is moved by Lencho's faith in God. Moreover, the postmaster did not want to shake Lencho's faith in God. So he signed the letter as,' God' to convey a message that God himself had written the letter to him.
3. Did Lencho try to find out who had sent the money to him? Why/Why not?
Ans - Lencho did not try to find out who had sent money to him because he had great faith in God and he was very sure that God would definitely respond to his request and send him the money.
4. Who does Lencho think has taken the rest of the money? What is the irony in the situation?
Ans - Lencho thinks that God has sent him 100 pesos, but he received only 70 pesos, so the post office people must have stolen the remaining money. The irony of the situation is that they really want to keep his faith intact in God and honestly help him, but on the contrary, Lencho thinks that people at the post office are a bunch of crooks, and dishonest.
5. Are there people like Lencho in the real world? What kind of a person would you say he is?
Ans - In today's world, it's not impossible but very rare to find people like Lencho. He is writing a letter to God without address, which shows us that he is innocent, and has a strong belief in God, So we can say he is a kind of naive, and unquestioning person.
6. There are two kinds of conflict in the story: between humans and nature, and between humans themselves. How are these conflicts illustrated?
Ans - The first conflict is between humans and nature. Lencho's crop is ready to harvest so he is feeling happy, but because of the hailstorm, his entire crop gets destroyed, here the proverb is true, 'Man proposes, God disposes".
Another conflict shown in the lesson is between humans, even though the intention of post office people was very good, and helpful, but still, Lencho is unable to understand, rather he blames them as dishonest people, so the moral is we are not going to get a reward after every good act but sometimes we may be criticized.
Thinking about Language :
A. Relative Clauses: Join the sentences given below using who, whom, whose, and which, as suggested.
1. I often go to Mumbai. Mumbai is the commercial capital of India. (Which)
Ans - I often go to Mumbai Which is the commercial capital of India.
2. My mother is going to host a TV show on cooking. She cooks very well. (Who)
Ans - My mother is going to host a TV show on cooking Who cooks very well.
Or - My mother Who cooks very well is going to host a TV show on cooking.
3. These sportspersons are going to meet the President. Their performance has been excellent. ( Whose)
Ans - These sportspersons, Whose performance has been excellent, are going to meet the President.
4. Lencho prayed to God. His eyes see into our minds. (Whose)
Ans - Lencho prayed to God Whose eyes see into our minds.
5. This man cheated me. I trusted him. (Whom)
Ans - This man Whom I trusted, cheated me.
Or - This man cheated me Whom I trusted.
( In Relative Clauses, we may have more than one answer.)
B. Find sentences in the story with negative words, which express the following ideas emphatically.
1. The trees lost all their leaves.
Ans - Not a single leaf remained on the trees.
2. The letter was addressed to god himself.
Ans - It was nothing less than a letter to God.
3. The postman saw this address for the first time in his career.
Ans - Never in his career, the postman had seen that address.
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