Solution of Chapter 1. A Letter to God (First Flight - English Book)

What did Lencho hope for?

Why did Lencho say the raindrops were like ‘new coins’?

How did the rain change? What happened to Lencho’s field?

What were Lencho’s feelings when the hail stopped?

Who or what did Lencho have faith in? What did he do?

Who reads the letter?

What did the postmaster do then?

Was Lencho surprised to find a letter for him with money in it?

What made him angry?

Who does Lencho have complete faith in? Which sentence in the story tells you this?

Why does the postmaster send money to Lencho? Why does he sign the letter to ‘God’?

Did Lencho try to find out who had sent the money to him? Why/why not?

Who does Lencho think has taken the rest of the money? What is the irony in the situation? (Remember that the irony of a situation is an unexpected aspect of it. An irony situation is strange or amusing because it is the opposite of what is expected.)

Are there people like Lencho in the real world? What kind of a person would you say he is? You may select appropriate words from the box to answer the question.

greedy, naive, stupid, ungrateful, selfish, comical, unquestioning

There are two kinds of conflicts in the story: between humans and nature, and between humans themselves. How are these conflicts illustrated?

Look at the following sentence from the story:

Suddenly a strong wind began to blow and along with the rain very large hailstones began to fall.

‘Hailstones’ are small balls of ice that fall like rain. A storm in which hailstones fall is a ‘hailstorm’. You know that a storm is bad weather with strong winds, rains, thunder and lightning.

There are different names in different parts of the world for storms, depending on their nature. Can you match the names in the box with their description below, and fill in the blanks? You may use a dictionary for help.

gale, whirlwind, cyclone, hurricane, tornado, typhoon

1. A violent tropical storm in which strong winds move in a circle: _ _c_ _ _.

2. An extremely strong wind: _a_ _.

3. A violent tropical storm with very strong winds: _ _p_ _ _ _.

4. A violent storm whose center is a cloud in the shape of a funnel: _ _ _n_ _ _.

5. A violent storm with very strong winds, especially in the western Atlantic Ocean: _ _ _r_ _ _ _ _.

6. A very strong wind that moves very fast in a spinning movement and causes a lot of damage: _ _ _ _l_ _ _ _.

Notice how the word ‘hope’ is used in these sentences from the story.

(a) I hope it (the hailstorm) passes quickly.

(b) There was a single hope: help from God. In the first example, ‘hope’ is a verb which means you wish for something to happen. In the second example, it is a noun meaning a chance for something to happen.

Match the sentence in Column A with the meaning of ‘hope’ in column B.

Relative clauses:

Definition:

The clause that gives us more information about the first/principal clause is called relative clause. It is used to add two or more simple clauses into one.

Look at the sentences:

(a) Throughout the morning Lencho – who knew his fields intimately – looked at the sky.

Here, italicized parts of the sentences give us more information about Lencho. So, we call them relative clause.

(b) The woman, who was preparing supper, replied, “Yes, God willing”.

Here, italicized parts of the sentence give us more information about the woman. So, we call them relative clauses.

Join the sentences given below using who, whom, whose, which as suggested.

1. I often go to Mumbai. Mumbai is the commercial capital of India. (which)

2. My mother is going to host a TV show on cooking. She cooks very well. (who)

3. These sportspersons are going to meet the President. Their performance has been excellent. (whose)

4. Lencho prayed to God. His eyes see into our minds. (whose)

5. This man cheated me. I trusted him. (whom)

Using negatives for Emphasis:

We know that sentences with words such as no, not or nothing show that absence of something or contradict something.

For example.

(a) This year we will have no Corn. (Corn will be absent.)

(b) The hail has left nothing (Absence of a crop).

(c) These aren’t raindrops falling from the sky, they are new coins. (Contradicts the common idea of what the drops of water falling from the sky are).

But sometimes negative words are used just to emphasize an idea.

Look at these sentences from the story:

(d) Lencho had done nothing else but see the sky towards the north-east (He had done only this).

(e) The man went but for no other reason than to have the pleasure of feeling the rain on his body. (He had only this reason.)
(f) Lencho showed not the slightest surprise on seeing the money. (He showed no surprise at all.)

Now look back at example (c). Notice that the contradiction in fact serves to emphasize the value or usefulness of the rain to the farmer.

Find sentences in the story with negative words, which express the following ideas emphatically.

1. The trees lost all there leaves.

………………………………………………..

2. The letter was addressed to God himself.

……………………………………………………

3. The postman saw this address for the first time in his career.

………………………………………………………

Metaphors

The word ‘Metaphor’ comes from a Greek word meaning ‘transfer’.

Metaphors compare two different things or ideas.

• the leg of the table: The leg supports our body. So, the object that supports a table is described as a leg.

• the heart of the city: The heart is an important organ in the center of our body. So, this word is used to describe the central area of a city.

Some more examples of metaphors:

1. Life is a dream.

2. Rana Pratap was the lion of India.

3. I am the star of my family.

In pairs, find metaphors from the story to complete the table below. Try to say what qualities are being compared.

One has been done for you.

Have you ever been in great difficulty, and felt that only a miracle could help you? How was your problem solved? Speak about this in class with your teacher.

Listen to the letter (given under in this lesson) read out by your teacher/on the audio tape. As you listen fill in the table given below:

What is a ‘dust of snow’? What does the poet say has changed his mood? How has the poet’s mood changed?

How does Frost present nature in this poem? The following questions may help you to think of an answer.

(i) What are the birds that are usually named in poems? Do you think a crow is often mentioned in poems? What images come to your mind when you think of a crow?

(ii) Again, what is ‘a hemlock tree? Why doesn’t the poet write about a more ‘beautiful’ tree such as a maple or an oak, or a pine?

(iii) What do the ‘crow’ and ‘hemlock’ represent-joy or sorrow? What does the dust of snow that the crew shakes off a hemlock tree stands for?

Have there been times when you felt depressed or hopeless? Have you experienced a similar moment that changed your mood that day?

There are many ideas about how the world will ‘end’. Do you think the world will end some day? Have you ever thought what would happen if the sun got so hot that it ‘burst’, or grew colder and colder?

For Frost, what do ‘Fire’ and ‘ice’ stand for? Here are some ideas:

What is the rhyme schemes of the poem? How does it help in bringing out the contrasting ideas in the poem?