CBSE Class 10 English A Letter to God Assignment

A Letter to God

INTRODUCTION—
‘A Letter to God’ is a story of extreme faith in God. A natural calamity leaves Lencho, a hard-working farmer, in distress. The farmer writes a letter to God asking him to send money. The chapter concludes in a very ironic situation.

SUMMARY—
Lencho was a poor but hardworking farmer. His house was on the top of a hill and that was the only house in the valley. He hoped for a good crop, but his fields needed rain or at least a shower. He waited for the rain and it did come. One day, it started drizzling. In the beginning, Lencho felt the falling rain drops as ‘new silver coins’ falling from the sky. But gradually, the rain transformed into a hail storm. The hailstones fell for an hour. It destroyed his crop completely. Lencho’s soul was filled with sadness. He thought that they would go hungry the whole year unless they found someone who could help them. Suddenly his heart was filled with hope. He had firm faith in God. Lencho knew how to read and write. The following Sunday, he wrote a letter to God mentioning his destroyed crop and asked him for money so that he could sow his field again. Then he put the letter in an envelope, addressed it to ‘God’ and went to the post office. He affixed a stamp on it and dropped it in the mail-box. The postman, who took the letter out of the mail-box saw the letter and showed it to the postmaster. Everyone in the post office had a hearty laugh. But immediately the postmaster realised the man’s predicament and unshakable faith in God. He decided to help the man. He discussed with his colleagues and all of them decided to part with some money for an act of charity. They collected money, put it in an envelope and addressed it to Lencho. This letter contained a single word in the form of a signature : God.
The next Sunday, Lencho went to the post office. The postmaster handed him the letter. Lencho was not at all surprised on receiving a letter from God. He had unshakable faith that God would reply in the form of money and he did receive it. He opened the envelope but became angry on counting the money. There were only seventy pesos in the envelope, whereas he had asked for one hundred. He knew God could not have made a mistake. Immediately, he wrote another letter to God, put it in the mail-box and went out.The postmaster took out the letter from the mail-box and opened it. Lencho had requested God to send the rest of the money i.e., thirty pesos as he had received only seventy pesos. Lencho had a feeling that the people at the post office had cheated him by taking out some money from God’s envelope. So, he wrote that God should not send money through mail as according to him, the post office employees were a bunch of crooks.

Extract Based Questions

Read the passage given below and answer the questions that follow : 

1.So, in order to not to shake the writer’s faith in God, the postmaster came up with an idea : answer the letter.But when he opened it, it was evident that to answer it, he needed something more than good will, ink and paper. But he stuck to his resolution : He asked money from his employees. 

Question. Who decided to answer the letter ?
(a) The clerk
(b) The Post office employees
(c) God
(d) The Postmaster
Answer : D

Question. The Post master sought whose help to contribute money?
(a) God
(b) The visitors
(c) The Government
(d) Post office employees
Answer : D

Question. Which word in the extract means the same as ‘firm decision’ ?
(a) evident
(b) resolution
(c) right decision
(d) perfect decision
Answer : B

Question. Who is ‘he’ in the passage ?
(a) Clerk
(b) Lencho
(c) Post-master
(d) God
Answer : C

2. In the north-east, huge mountains of clouds could be seen approaching. The air was fresh and sweet. The man went out for no other reason than to have the pleasure of feeling the rain on his body, and when he returned he exclaimed, “These aren’t raindrops falling from the sky, they are new coins. The big drops are ten cent pieces and the little ones are fives.”

Question. Why did Lencho go out in the rain?
(a) to have the pleasure of feeling the rain on his body.
(b) to bathe in the rain.
(c) to collect his corns.
(d) to cover the roof of his house.
Answer : A

Question. Lencho compared the rain drops to new coins because
(a) they were round in shape.
(b) good rain means good money.
(c) Both (a) and (b)
(d) they were as hard as coins.
Answer : C

Question. Which word in the extract means the same as ‘coming closer’?
(a) mountains of clouds
(b) falling
(c) went out
(d) approaching
Answer : D

Question. What are the raindrops compared to?
(a) clouds
(b) fresh air
(c) new coins
(d) big drops
Answer : C

3. The following Sunday, Lencho came a bit earlier than usual to ask if there was a letter for him. It was the postman himself who handed the letter to him while the postmaster, experiencing the contentment of a man who has performed a good deed, looked on from his office. Lencho showed not the slightest surprise on seeing the money; such was his confidence – but he became angry when he counted the money. God could not have made a mistake, not could he have denied Lencho what he had requested. 

Question. Was Lencho surprised on seeing the money?
(a) a little
(b) not at all
(c) very much
(d) a sort of
Answer : B

Question. Lencho didn’t get 100 pesos from God, it was only __________.
(a) Eighty pesos
(b) Fifty pesos
(c) Seventy pesos
(d) Sixty pesos
Answer : C

Question. Lencho’s belief in God was __________.
(a) strong
(b) weak
(c) somewhat strong
(d) very weak
Answer : A

Question. Who handed the letter to Lencho?
(a) The Post master
(b) The Clerk
(c) The Postman
(d) Stranger
Answer : C

Reference to Context

In the north-east huge mountains of clouds could be seen approaching. The air was fresh and sweet. The man went out for no other reason than to have the pleasure of feeling the rain on his body, and when he returned he exclaimed, these aren’t raindrops falling from the sky, they are new coins. The big drops are tencent pieces and the little ones are fives.

(a) Choose the answer that lists the correct descriptions about the falling rain.

(a) option 1
(b) option 2
(c) option 3
(d) option 4
Answer : A

(b) Why did the man go out in rain?
(a) for sheer pleasure
(b) to get his clothes
(c) to examine the rain
(d) to examine the roads
Answer : A

(c ) The big raindrops were the size of ______.
(a) five-cent pieces
(b) twenty-cent pieces
(c) ten-cent pieces
(d) ifteen-cent pieces
Answer : C

(d) What was falling from the sky?
(a) raindrops
(b) stones
(c) mud
(d) money
Answer : A

(e) The extract uses the phrase, ‘proceed towards’ for rain. Identify the synonym of the phrase from the given words.

(a) option 1
(b) option 2
(c) option 3
(d) option 4
Answer : C

Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow:
The moment the letter fell into the mailbox the postmaster went to open it. “God : Of the money that I asked for, only seventy pesos reached me. Send me the rest, since I need it very much. But don’t send it to me through the mail because the post office employees are a bunch of crooks. Lencho.”

(a) When is Lencho thinking about the money?
(a) while writing the second letter
(b) while writing about crop failure
(c) while writing his first letter
(d) while stamping the letter
Answer : D

(b) Choose the option that lists the set of statements that are NOT TRUE according to the given extract.
1. Lencho realized the sacrifices made on his behalf.
2. Lencho trusted in God to send him 100 pesos.
3. Lencho wrote letters to God for help.
4. He was confident about getting a sure answer.
5. Lencho does not sound greedy when he collects the 70 pesos.
6. Lencho liked the post office employees.
7. Lencho was not happy with the money he got.
(a) 1, 2, 4
(b) 1, 2, 3
(c) 1, 2, 6
(d) 3, 5, 7
Answer : C

(c) Pick the option that correctly classifies fact/s (F) and opinion/s (O) of the students below.

(a) F – 1, 2 and O – 3, 4
(b) F – 1, 3, 4 and O – 2
(c) F – 1, 3 and O – 2, 4
(d) F – 3 and O – 1, 2, 4
Answer : A

(d) Why does he address the post office employees as crooks?
(a) because he received less money
(b) because he was cheated of money
(c) because they had charged money
(d) because they owed him money
Answer : A

(e) Why is Lencho asking money from God?
(a) he is poor
(b) he lost his money
(c) he was duped of his money
(d) his crops were ruined
Answer : D

Question. The man went out for no other reason than to have the pleasure of feeling the rain on his body, and when he returned he exclaimed, “These aren’t raindrops falling from the sky, they are new coins. The big drops are ten cent pieces and the little ones are fives.”
(a) Who is the speaker? Why does he seem so happy to see the rain?
(b) Give reasons why he calls the raindrops ‘coins’?
Answer : (a) The speaker is the farmer Lencho, the protagonist of the story. He is happy because his corn was ready for harvestand he had been waiting for rains.
(b) The raindrops were big and he could see that the rain shower would help his harvest and bring him some money. Thus, to him, the raindrops were coins.

Question. That night was a sorrowful one.
“All our work, for nothing.”
‘‘There’s no one who can help us.”
“We’ll all go hungry this year.”
(a) Why will the family “go hungry this year”? Explain the meaning of the line: “All our work for nothing”.
(b) Who do you think they would turn to for help next?
Answer : (a) The family will go hungry because the hail had destroyed their harvest of corn. The father and sons had been toiling in the field for the better part of the year, preparing the field for the crop. However, the hailstorm had ruined the entire crop.
(b) The farmers have no one else to turn to but the Almighty. They turn to God to ask for sustenance and monetary help.

Question. “One of the employees, who was a postman and also helped at the post office, went to his boss laughing heartily and showed him the letter to God. Never in his career as a postman had he known that address. The postmaster — a fat, amiable fellow — also broke out laughing.”
(a) Why was the employee laughing? Who was the reason for his laughter?
(b) Give the meaning of the word: Amiable.
Answer : (a) The postmaster was laughing at the letter he had received. Lencho was the reason for his laughter. He had written a letter to God and posted it, expecting a response.
(b) Amiable means pleasant and friendly.

Question. Lencho showed not the slightest surprise on seeing the money; such was his confidence — but he became angry when he counted the money. God could not have made a mistake, nor could he have denied Lencho what he had requested.
(a) Why did Lencho not show any surprise seeing the money?
(b) What was the reason for his anger?
Answer : (a) Lencho had a strong faith in God. He was such a simple-minded farmer, who knew that the money he had received was from God.
(b) He was angry because he had received 30 pesos less than what he had asked for. Lencho thought that the people at the post office had taken the money.

Short Answer Type Questions :

Question. How did the postmaster collect the money? Was he able to collect the full amount?
Answer : The postmaster asked for money from his employees. He himself gave a part of his salary and several friends of his were obliged to give something ‘for an act of charity’. But still, he was not able to collect the full amount of a hundred pesos.

Question. When did it start raining? How did Lencho’s family welcome it? What became troublesome soon?
Answer : Lencho prayed for the rain to come since his crops essentially needed that to ripen. It finally started raining during the evening and big drops of water began to fall. When Lencho went out to feel the rain on his body, he called the raindrops, “new coins”.
The raindrops however soon changed into hailstones which caused great trouble for the crops.

Question. What did Lencho do to face the sadness caused by the destruction of the crop?
Answer : The destruction of the crops by the storm posed a big problem in front of Lencho. He had to do something else his family would starve, so he only thought of God at that hour of crisis. His unquestionable faith in God made him write a letter to him. In this letter, Lencho decided to ask God for help. He had no other way to stop his family from starving and thereafter, dying.

Question. Describe the destruction caused by the hailstones in Lencho’s fields.
Answer : As soon as the raindrops started changing into hailstones, the corn was totally destroyed. Not a leaf remained on the trees, the flowers withered away and not a leaf of corn remained in the fields. Even the locusts would not have done so much of destruction. It was a sorrowful sight for Lencho to watch.

Question. How did Lencho react when he counted the money?
What did he do thereafter?
Answer : Lencho had asked for 100 pesos from God in his letter. He was confident that the God will send him his money but when he received only 70 pesos on opening the letter, he got really angry. He went up to the window to ask for paper and ink and wrote another letter to God wherein he complained to God against the crook postmasters and officials.

Question. ‘All through the night, Lencho thought only of his one hope.’ What was it? How did he think of it?
Answer : Lencho could not sleep the whole night. His only hope was the help from God. The hailstones had completely destroyed his crops. He felt that God’s eyes could see everything and that he would not behave so unfair with anyone. This help from God was his only hope. He kept assuring himself that no one died of hunger because God was not that cruel.
He also kept thinking that one should not be upset even in the times of total loss.

Question. What did Lencho write in his letter to God?
Answer : Lencho wrote that because of the hailstorm, his crops had been destroyed and he needed a hundred pesos to live until the next crop was harvested. He wrote that if God did not help him, he and his family would die out of hunger.

Question. Why did Lencho write a letter to God?
Answer : Lencho’s crops were destroyed by a hailstorm. He had put all his money in farming and therefore, he was left with no money now. But he had strong faith in God that God would definitely solve his problem.
So, he wrote a letter to God asking for 100 pesos so that he and his family wouldn’t starve.

Question. Where was Lencho’s house situated? Why was he looking at the sky?
Answer : Lencho’s house was the only house situated in the valley. It was on a crest of a low hill. One could see the river and the fields of ripe corn from there.
Lencho sat looking the whole day at the sky because his crop needed the rain to ripen.

Question. Where was Lencho’s house situated ? Why did he sit seeing the sky ? 
Answer : Lencho’s house was situated on the crest of a low hill in the valley. The whole day he sat seeing the sky because he knew that his fields needed downpour or at least a shower and he was waiting to see the signs of rain.

Question. Explain the qualities of the post office employees ?
Answer : The post office employees represented the people who believed in helping others. They were kind and helpful.
They cooperated with each other and contributed to their best of the capability just to keep Lencho’s faith in God alive. They had love, concern, compassion and empathy for Lencho.

Question. Why was Lencho angry when he received the letter ? 
Answer : When Lencho received the letter, he opened the envelope. He, at once, became angry on counting the amount in it. There were only seventy pesos in the envelope, whereas he had asked for one hundred.

Question. What were Lencho’s feelings when he found the letter with money in it ? What did he do after opening the letter ? 
Answer : In the beginning, Lencho was very happy and satisfied to receive the letter. But when he counted the money and found it less, he became very angry. He wrote another letter to God, demanding thirty more pesos.

Question. How did Lencho’s hope change to despair ? 
Answer : Lencho was waiting for a shower of rain that his field needed. But his hope for good rain vanished when the wind changed into hailstorm. It destroyed everything. So, Lencho’s hope changed to despair as his family would face starvation.

Long Answer Type Questions :

Question. In the lesson ‘A Letter to God’, what moral values does the postmaster display in his behaviour ?
Answer : The Postmaster first laughed looking at the letter which had a strange address. But soon he became serious. He was surprised at the faith that Lencho had in God. He wanted his faith to be intact in God. The Postmaster was a kind and compassionate fellow. He tried to keep Lencho’s faith in God intact by collecting the amount for him. He was an empathetic and softhearted fellow who cared for Lencho. He displayed good leadership qualities by asking each Post office employee to contribute to his extent. The Postmaster himself gave a part of his salary and also requested his employees and a few friends to contribute for the good cause as a charity. He encouraged to perceive others in a more positive light. He was a man who fostered a sense of community building and spreaded positivity which helps in creating a healthy society.

Question. All through the night Lencho thought only of his one hope: the help of God…The following Sunday, at daybreak he began to write a letter…It was nothing less than a let- ter to God...The following Sunday Lencho came a bit earlier than usual to ask if there was a letter for him…. Lencho showed not the slightest surprise on seeing the money, such was his confidence.
Answer : In Apostrophe start A Letter to God Apostrophe end, the help provided was of a different nature of aid. Lencho writes a letter to God asking for money and his conviction in God touches the postmaster and his team who raise money and sends it to him. Lencho asks for help but the source of his aid is clearly revealed and it was not God, yet Lencho was still not satisfied with the money he received and felt cheated.

Question. How do you think the postmaster felt when he received Lencho’s second letter? What do you think he did?
Answer : The postmaster must have felt really bad on receiving Lencho’s second letter. He had worked so hard to collect the money so as to reinstate Lencho’s faith in God but in spite of his hard efforts he received only accusation about the postmasters and post officials being crooked and roguish. He must have felt that all his hard work of collecting 70 pesos went into vain for Lencho thought ill about him.

Question. Based on the story, illustrate Lencho’s faith and attitude towards God and man.
Answer : Lencho has great faith in God. When his crop is destroyed and he faces a complete ruin and starvation, he writes a letter to God asking for his help. When a reply comes back, he is not surprised as he believes that God himself has responded to his plea for help. On the other hand, when he gets only a part of the money he had asked God to give him, he instantly believes that the post office employees have stolen some of it. He has no faith in the men at the post office. Lencho has never seen God and still he has a great faith in him but the least amount of trust in the humans who lived around him. This shows his narrow belief and twisted manner of thinking.

Question. (a) What did the postmaster need to answer the letter? How did he collect it?
(b) How did Lencho react to the help?
Answer : (a) The postmaster was a kind man. He wondered at Lencho’s blind faith in God. He did not wish to shake or destroy it. Instead, he wished he had such a faith too. He opened the letter and decided to reply to it. But he needed something more than just writing. Lencho had requested God to send him money. So, the postmaster decided to send money to him. He asked for money from his employees. He himself gave a part of his salary. It was impossible for him to collect the hundred pesos. He was able to collect only seventy pesos. It was then sent to Lencho.
(b) Lencho came to the post office a bit earlier than usual and asked if there was a letter for him. The postman gave a letter to him. Lencho did not even show slightest surprise on seeing the money. Such was his confidence in God ! Instead, he became very angry when he counted the money. According to him, God could not have made a mistake. He also could not have denied what he had requested. He at once wrote another letter to God. He wrote to God to send the remaining money but not through the mail. He said in his letter that the postmasters were crooks and that they had stolen 30 pesos. Thus, God should not send cash through mail.

Question. The postmaster helped Lencho but received abuses in return? Where had the postmaster gone wrong? What would you do in this place? Write your answer in about 80 words.
Answer : The greed of a man and his blatant thanklessness makes him cruel and insensitive of the feelings of other people. In this case, I don’t think that the postmaster had gone wrong anywhere because his intentions were the best. He wanted Lencho to maintain his faith in God and in order to do that he did everything which was possible. He collected money from his fellow post officials and sent it to Lencho. Lencho was so blind in his faith towards God that he could not see any human helping him. The only thing that the postmaster did wrong was to not give his name along with the cash that he sent to Lencho.

Question. The Post Master represents the people who still believe in helping others. Mention those values of the Post Master which you would like to emulate. Write it in about 100-120 words.
Answer : The postmaster represents a bunch of people like Lencho who have faith in God. And they believe in helping others. We learn from the story that still there are people like the Postmaster and the Post Office employees, who help others without any self interest. To keep Lencho’s faith in God intact, the postmaster co-operated with his employees and collected the amount. He had love and empathy towards Lencho when he knew about his situation. He was a compassionate man and even hid his identity in helping Lencho. He sent the amount to Lencho in the name of God. Even though none of the Post Office employees or Post Master were related to Lencho in any manner yet it was a pure act of humanity, kindness and selflessness on their part. The way they all helped Lencho in his hard times even restores our faith in humanity and motivates us to be a noble and kind person like the Postmaster.

Question. Write a letter as Lencho to your friend and tell him about the destruction of your crops, about the letter you wrote to God and also about the reply with money that you received. Express your irritation about the Post Office employees also.
Answer :
17A, Carter Road
Southern Valley
Madagascar
Spain
05th April, 20××

Dear Juan,
Hope this letter of mine will find you hale and hearty. This year I was waiting for good rain, which could shower my corn fields. The rain did come last week but it brought hailstones along with it. The rain had completely ruined my harvest. Me and my family were having nothing to eat. We thought, we will be starving soon. But I had not lost the hope, so I wrote a letter to God and asked him to send me 100 pesos for help. God did help me. After four days, I received a money-order from God. I got the money but not the full amount, which I had asked for. I got only 70 pesos. My 30 pesos are missing which I doubt these Post-Office employees, who are crooks must have kept it for themselves. I don’t trust them at all. Once again I have written a letter to God to send me the balance 30 pesos. I’m sure he will definitely help me again. I’m waiting for God’s reply.

With love
Lencho.