Chapter 1: A Letter to God
Chapter 1: A Letter to God
Activity (Page 15)
These questions are based on the sample Money Order form
(i) In addition to the sender, the form has to be signed by the…
Answer: payee (upon receiving the money).
(ii) The ‘Acknowledgement’ section of the form is sent back by the post office to the… after the… signs it.
Answer: sender; payee
(iii) The ‘Space for Communication’ section is used for…
Answer: writing a brief message to the receiver.
(iv) The form has six sections. The sender needs to fill out… sections and the receiver…
Answer: The sender needs to fill out the main Money Order details (payee’s name, amount, sender’s name/address) and the sender’s address on the ‘Acknowledgement’ slip. The receiver primarily needs to sign the form upon receipt.
Chapter 1: A Letter to God – Question Answer & Moral Analysis (NCERT Class 10 English)
Based on NCERT Class 10 English chapter “A Letter to God” by G.L. Fuentes, here are the solved questions and grammar exercises along with an important value-based answer.
I. Oral Comprehension Check (Page 5)
- What did Lencho hope for?
Answer: Lencho hoped for a downpour or at least a shower for his field of ripe corn. - Why did Lencho say the raindrops were like ‘new coins’?
Answer: He compared them to new coins because the rain promised a good harvest, which would bring him money. He called the big drops ten-cent pieces and the little ones fives. - How did the rain change? What happened to Lencho’s fields?
Answer: Suddenly, a strong wind began to blow, and along with the rain, very large hailstones began to fall. The hail rained for an hour, and the corn was totally destroyed; not a leaf remained on the trees. - What were Lencho’s feelings when the hail stopped?
Answer: Lencho’s soul was filled with sadness. He told his sons that even a plague of locusts would have left more than the hail, and they would have no corn that year.
II. Oral Comprehension Check (Page 6)
- Who or what did Lencho have faith in? What did he do?
Answer: Lencho had complete faith in God. He wrote a letter to God asking for a hundred pesos to sow his field again and to live until the next crop. - Who read the letter?
Answer: A postman first saw the letter and showed it to his boss, the postmaster, who eventually read it. - What did the postmaster do then?
Answer: He decided to answer the letter to keep Lencho’s faith in God alive. He collected money from his employees, gave part of his own salary, and gathered a little more than half of what was requested (seventy pesos) to send to Lencho.
III. Oral Comprehension Check (Page 7)
- Was Lencho surprised to find a letter for him with money in it?
Answer: No, Lencho showed not the slightest surprise on seeing the money; such was his confidence. - What made him angry?
Answer: He became angry when he counted the money and found only seventy pesos instead of the hundred he asked for. He believed God could not have made a mistake nor denied him his request.
IV. Thinking about Language (Page 8-10)
1. Matching Storm Names
- A violent tropical storm in which strong winds move in a circle: Cyclone
- An extremely strong wind: Gale
- A violent tropical storm with very strong winds: Typhoon
- A violent storm whose centre is a cloud in the shape of a funnel: Tornado
- A violent storm with very strong winds, especially in the western Atlantic Ocean: Hurricane
- A very strong wind that moves very fast in a spinning movement and causes a lot of damage: Whirlwind
2. Relative Clauses (Joining Sentences)
- I often go to Mumbai, which is the commercial capital of India.
- My mother, who cooks very well, is going to host a TV show on cooking.
- These sportspersons, whose performance has been excellent, are going to meet the President.
- Lencho prayed to God, whose eyes see into our minds.
- This man, whom I trusted, cheated me.
3. Using Negatives for Emphasis
- The trees lost all their leaves.
Story Sentence: Not a leaf remained on the trees. - The letter was addressed to God himself.
Story Sentence: It was nothing less than a letter to God. - The postman saw this address for the first time in his career.
Story Sentence: Never in his career as a postman had he known that address.
V. Metaphors (Page 11)
- Cloud – Huge mountains of clouds – The mass or hugeness
- Raindrops – New coins – Value and financial hope
- Hailstones – Frozen pearls / New silver coins – Appearance and roundness
- Locusts – A plague – Destructive nature
VI. Poem: Dust of Snow (Page 14)
- What is a “dust of snow”? What does the poet say has changed his mood? How has the poet’s mood changed?
Answer: “Dust of snow” refers to fine particles of snow. The poet says the act of a crow shaking snow down on him from a hemlock tree changed his mood. His mood changed from regretful or sorrowful to one that saved some part of the day.
VII. Poem: Fire and Ice (Page 15)
- For Frost, what do fire and ice stand for?
Answer:
- Fire stands for greed, avarice, cruelty, lust, fury
- Ice stands for insensitivity, conflict, intolerance, rigidity, coldness, indifference, hatred
- What is the rhyme scheme of the poem?
Answer: The rhyme scheme is ABA ABC BCB
Value-Based Question – Was Lencho Justified or Ungrateful?
- Lencho’s reaction was not justified because he failed to recognize the kindness and effort of the post office employees who helped him in his time of need
- His blind faith in God made him assume that the money came directly from God, so he blamed the post office employees instead of appreciating them
- This shows that excessive faith without practical understanding can lead to misunderstanding and ingratitude
- However, from Lencho’s perspective, his faith was so strong that he could not even imagine human intervention, which explains his reaction
- Overall, Lencho’s behavior appears ungrateful because he did not acknowledge the generosity and humanity of the postmaster and his team
- A Letter to God question answers
- NCERT Class 10 English Chapter 1 solutions
- Lencho character analysis
- Dust of Snow summary and questions
- Fire and Ice explanation and rhyme scheme
- NCERT English grammar exercises solved