Get here the summary, textbook solutions, questions, answers, notes, extras, mcqs, pdf of the chapter (prose) A Letter to God by GL Fuentes for SEBA, (Assam Board) and TBSE (Tripura Board) Class 10 English (Second Language). However, the given notes/solutions should only be used for references and should be modified/changed according to needs.
Summary
Lencho, a simple farmer, is the main character of G. L. Fuentes’s A Letter to God. A hailstorm totally destroyed Lencho’s cornfields. As a result of the hailstorm, a heartbroken Lencho wrote a letter asking God to send him a hundred pesos to help him and his family survive until the next harvest. When the postmaster saw a letter addressed to God, he took notice of it. As a result of Lencho’s deep faith in God, the postmaster chose to answer it personally. Only seventy pesos could be collected after he contributed a portion of his salary and collected money from his colleagues and friends He sent the money to Lencho by mail. Unknown to him, Lencho’s faith in human goodness was not as strong as his belief in God. Soon after, the post office received a second letter from Lencho to God in which he asked God to send him the remaining 30 pesos, but warned him not to go to the post office for fear of being robbed again, as they had done the first time.
1. In-text questions/oral comprehension check of A Letter To God
1. What did Lencho hope for?
Answer: In order to water his ripe cornfields, Lencho hoped for rain or at least a shower.
2. Why did Lencho say the raindrops were like ‘new coins’?
Answer: As a result of the rain, Lencho would have more money and prosperity. The money seemed to be falling from the sky in a way. Consequently, Lencho compared the raindrops to new coins of money that fell from the sky. Big drops were ten-cent coins, and small drops were five-cent coins, according to him.
3. How did the rain change? What happened to Lencho’s fields?
Answer: The rain turned into a heavy hailstorm that lasted for an hour before ceasing completely. He lost all his corn because his fields were completely covered with hailstones. All of the leaves and flowers had fallen from the trees and plants.
4 What were Lencho’s feelings when the hail stopped?
Answer: Seeing his corn destroyed, Lencho’s heart ached. In addition to being distraught over the loss of his ripe corn, he was concerned about the future. It broke his heart to realise that all of his hard work had been in vain and that no one was there to help him and his family.
2. In-text questions/oral comprehension check of A Letter To God
1. Who or what did Lencho have faith in? What did he do?
Answer: Lencho had faith in God’s goodness and his ability to provide. When Lencho’s family’s crop failed, Lencho prayed to God, begging him to help his family survive. He asked for a hundred pesos which would help cover his losses and tide him over until the next harvest, according to the letter.
2 Who read the letter?
Answer: The postmaster read Lencho’s letter.
3 What did the postmaster do then?
Answer: Postmaster was moved by Lencho’s faith and didn’t want it to be shaken, so he decided to answer Lencho’s letter personally. As a result, the postmaster collected seventy pesos from his employees and some of his friends. He also donated a portion of his salary. Then he sent it to Lencho with a letter that only read ‘God’.
3. In-text questions/oral comprehension check of A Letter To God
1. Was Lencho surprised to find a letter for him with money in it?
Answer: The fact that Lencho found a letter with money in it was not a surprise to him, as he was confident that God would respond to his letter and send him the money as he had prayed for.
2. What made him angry?
Answer: After opening the letter, which he believed had come from God, and counting the money, Lencho found only 70 pesos instead of the hundred he had asked for. He believed that God had sent the full amount, but the employees at the post office had stolen thirty pesos from it, which enraged him.
Exercise/thinking about the text of A Letter To God
1. Who does Lencho have complete faith in? Which sentences in the story tell you this?
Answer: Lencho has complete faith in God. The sentences from the text that tell us this are:
- “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.”
- “All through the night, Lencho thought only of his one hope: the help of God, whose eyes, as he had been instructed, see everything, even what is deep in one’s conscience.”
- “God if you don’t help me, my family and I will go hungrythis year.”
- “Lencho showed not the slightest surprise on seeing the money; such was his confidence.”
- “God could not have mude a mistake.”
2. Why does the postmaster send money to Lencho? Why does he sign the letter ‘God’?
Answer: Due to his admiration for Lencho’s innocence and unwavering faith in God, Postmaster sends Lencho money so that his faith will not be shaken.
He signs the reply letter ‘God’ in order to make Lencho believe that God had read his letter and sent him the money he had requested.
3. Did Lencho try to find out who had sent the money to him? Why/Why not?
Answer: As far as Lencho was concerned, he did not try to find out who had sent him the money because he was absolutely certain that it had come from God himself.
4. Who does Lencho think has taken the rest of the money? What is the irony in the situation?
Answer: Postal workers have allegedly stolen the remaining funds according to Lencho. People who had tried their best to help Lencho and who had given him money were accused of being crooks for having stolen his money, which made the situation even worse.
5. Are there people like Lencho in the real world? Whaí kind of a person would you say he is?
Answer: People like Lencho are hard to find in today’s world, but they can be found in places where science’s questioning mind hasn’t risen to the surface.
As a simple village farmer, Lencho placed his trust entirely in God’s goodness. Because of his lack of experience, he accepted the impossibility without question. In his second letter, he was ungrateful and a little greedy by failing to thank God and insisting on the remaining money. He had a suspicious nature and was quick to make assumptions. Overall, Lencho’s stupidity was hilarious.
6 There are two kinds of conflict in the story: between humans and nature, and between humans themselves. How are these conflicts illustrated?
Answer: The destruction of Lencho’s cornfield by a hailstorm illustrates the conflict between humans and nature. After hoping for rain to help his harvest, Lencho was devastated when the rain turned to hail, destroying his entire harvest. On the other hand, Lencho blames the very people who had tried to help him, demonstrating the conflict between humans. He blames them for stealing his money, not knowing that they had sent it to him in the first place.
Extra/additional questions and answers/solutions of A Letter To God
1. Explain Lencho’s house and its surroundings.
Answer: Lencho’s house sat atop a low hill and was the only house in the entire valley. It was possible to see the river from the house, as well as Lencho’s fields of corn, which were dotted with blooming flowers.
16. Why did Lencho not want the money to be sent through the mail?
Answer: Lencho didn’t want the rest of the money to be sent by mail because he knew God couldn’t make a mistake and send him only seventy pesos when he asked for a hundred. He blamed the post office employees for stealing his money from the envelope because of his strong faith in God. He also referred to them as a “bunch of crooks” who aided him in his difficult situation.
17. Do you think Lencho was correct in labelling the post office workers as a bunch of crooks? Why or why not?
Answer: Lencho was a poor and simple farmer who believed in God wholeheartedly. When he asked God for a hundred pesos, he only got seventy. He blamed the post office employees for stealing his money because he couldn’t believe God would send him any less money because of his faith in God. He was sceptical of these workers. However, calling them a bunch of crooks was incorrect because they assisted him with his problem.
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