Learning Objectives

 Students should learn to respond to the picturesque details of the

chapter.
 Students should learn to highlight Lencho's disappointment and the
problems faced by him as a farmer.
 Students should learn to discuss the postmaster's act of charity to
sustain Lencho's faith in God.
 Students should learn to answer questions based on the story and
inference in general, idependently.

Characters in Brief
He was a destitute farmer who had
limited means of eaming He had unquestioned faith in
God.

He was a hardworking man His immense faith gave him

who worked like an ox. strength to face adversities.
Lencho

He was a compassionate and He was open-minded and had

generous person a positive outlook.

Postmaster

He decided to help lencho keep his faith intact.

Chapter in Detail
Lencho Anticipates a Rich Harvest
• Lencho was a hardworking farmer who sustained his family by
growing corn.
• It was nearing harvest time, and his fields needed rain.
• He waited anxiously looking for signs of rain in the sky.

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Example 1. Briefly state what did Lencho hope for? (Remember)
Evaluation Points
Marks
(As per CBSE Marking Scheme)
State the reason behind Lencho's hope.
3 ü Content: Show what and why did he hope so. (2m)
ü Expression: Use words like so, or, thus, etc. (1m)
Ans. Lencho had worked on his corn fields like an ox of a man. Thus, he
hoped for a downpour to get him a good harvest from the crops
that he had raised with his blood and sweat all through the year.
The Disastrous Hailstorm
• It started to rain heavily at suppertime, and Lencho was overjoyed.
• He compared the raindrops to silver coins in the expectation of a
rich harvest.
• A cold wind changed the rain into hailstones all of a sudden,
resulting in the destruction of his corn.
Character's Mood
 ecstatic; hopeful
(at the beginning)
 shocked, depressed
(at the end)

Lencho’s Letter to God

• A distressed and helpless Lencho turned to God for help.
• He wrote a letter to God asking for 100 pesos to survive till the
next year.
• He addressed the letter to God and dropped it in the post office's
mail box.
The Reaction to Lencho’s Letter
• The postman broke out laughing on seeing the letter addressed to
God.
• It was a source of amusement to all who worked there.
• The postmaster laughed at first, but he was also amazed by
Lencho’s faith in God.
• He decided to open the letter and write a reply to Lencho.

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 Character's Mood
 Post Office Employees: Surprised
 Postmaster: Impressed

The Postmaster’s Idea

• The postmaster was initially shocked to see that a reply would
require money.
• He was determined to help Lencho and decided to raise a fund.
• He donated a part of his salary and asked his colleagues and friends
to help in an act of charity.
• He ended up collecting 70 pesos and put it in an envelope for
Lencho signed as ‘God’.
Example 2. Why does the postmaster send money to Lencho? What
is the significance of his signature on the letter as ‘God’? (Understand)
Evaluation Points
Marks
(As per CBSE Marking Scheme)
Identify the goal of the postmaster behind sending the
money to Lencho and signing the letter as 'God'.
ü Content: Show the points that made postmaster send
3
the money and sign the letter as 'God'. (2m)
ü Expression: Use words like so, thus, this is why, hence,
etc. (1m)
Ans. After reading Lencho’s letter to God, the postmaster decides to
help him in his difficult time, so he sends the money to him. He
wants to keep Lencho’s belief in God intact by sending him the
money on God’s behalf. This is why he signs the letter as ‘God’.
Lencho’s Reaction to Letter from God
• Lencho visited the post office the following Sunday to see if he had
a letter from God.
• When the postman handed him the envelope, he was not at all
surprised.
• But he got annoyed when he found that there were only 70 pesos
in it.
• He was convinced that God cannot make a mistake.

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• He reasoned that it must be the post office employees who stole a
part of it.
• He wrote a second letter to God asking him to send the rest of the
money as well because he needed it.
• He cautioned God not to send it through mail because the post
office employees were ‘bunch of crooks’.
Character's Mood
 Dissappointed; furious; frustrated
Example 3. Who does Lencho think has taken the rest of the money?
Explain the irony in the situation. (Understand)
[NCERT]
Evaluation Points
Marks
(As per CBSE Marking Scheme)
State the irony behind Lencho's accusation.
ü Content: Write who Lencho thinks has stolen the money
3 and present the irony in his thought. (2m)
ü Expression: Use words like instead, or, in fact, etc. (1m)

Ans. Lencho thinks that the post office employees have taken the rest
of the money from the envelope that God has sent for Lencho. The
irony in the situation is that instead of Lencho being thankful to
the post office employees, who have contributed the money in
order to help him, he thinks them to be untrustworthy and calls
them ‘bunch of crooks’.

Dictionary
Word Meaning Synonyms Antonyms
Crest top of a hill/ peak, ridge bottom, nadir, base
mountain
Downpour heavy rain rainstorm, shower, sprinkle
torrential rain
Solitary singular lonely, aloof, together, combined
unaccompanied
Resolution strong will to do determination, indecision,
something settlement irresolution

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 Word Meaning Synonyms Antonyms
Amiable to be friendly. hostile, cordial, immoral, unfriendly
amicable
Content- sense of gratification, disappointment,
ment satisfaction complacency agitation
Affixed attached append, fasten, detach, unfasten,
tack withdraw
Blow to hit hard jab, punch, whack embrace, caress
Crook a thief robber, criminal, loyal, simpleton,
cheater law-abiding
Intimately in a personal closely, personally, half way, partly,
detailed way familiarly insufficiently
Conscience moral sense of ethics, principles immoral, unethical
right and wrong

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6 English Language & Literature Class X

 OBJECTIVE Type Questions
[ 1 mark each ]

1. The phrase “but still he knew how to write” proves that:

(a) Lencho was a diligent farmer.
(b) Lencho was literate.
(c) Lencho was gullible.
(d) Lencho was uneducated.
Ans. (b) Lencho was literate.
Explanation: Literacy refers to the skill to read and write. Hence,
(b) Lencho was literate is the right answer.

EXTRACT BASED Questions

[ 5 mark each ]

2. 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. It said : “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) State TRUE or FALSE:
None of the words (1) - (4) given below describe Lencho's
decision to write a second letter to God.
1. Reckless, 2. Humble, 3. Laidback, 4. Forgiving
(B) The postmaster opened the letter expecting it to .................. .
(C) The postmaster was eager to read Lencho's second letter.
Infer what his reaction would have been after reading it.
Answer briefly in 40-50 words.
(D) Find the suitable word from the extract to complete the
following:
Sanctioned : approved : : demanded : ........
[Mod. CBSE Term-1 2021]

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Ans. (A) False
Explanation: The statement is false because (1) reckless
describes Lencho's decision to write a second letter to God.
(B) be full of thankfulness towards God.
(C) The postmaster would have felt dismayed and unhappy
after reading Lencho's second letter. He would have felt
disappointed that his good deed not only went unseen, but
also brought rebuke. It is also possible that the postmaster
would have laughed on reading the letter because he was a
light-hearted person.
(D) Asked
Explanation: ‘sanctioned’ and ‘approved’ are synonyms,
‘demanded’ needs a synonym to fill in the blank. Asked is a
synonym of ‘demanded’.

SHORT ANSWER TYPE Questions (SA)

[ 3 marks each ]
Answer the following questions in 40-50 words:
3. Lencho waited eagerly for a reply from God. Do you think the
postmaster was also very keen to know Lencho’s reaction upon
receiving the ‘reply’? [CBSE Question Bank 2021]
Ans. Yes, I think the postmaster was also very keen to know Lencho’s
reaction upon receiving the ‘reply’ as he thought that Lencho
would be extremely ecstatic and surprised to receive the money
that he asked from God. The postmaster was expecting to see a
great amount of happiness on Lencho’s face upon receiving the
‘reply’.
4. How did the rain change? What happened to Lencho’s fields?
[Diksha]
Ans. Soon after the rainfall had begun, the wind become strong
leading to a hailstorm. As a result of which, Lencho’s crop fields
got withered, the trees had shed their leaves and the flowers had
fallen.

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 LONG ANSWER TYPE Questions (LA)
[ 6 marks each ]
5. Read the given anecdote and analyse the similarities and
differences with reference to ‘A Letter to God’.
A very poor woman called-in a radio station asking for help
from God. A non-believer, also listening to this radio program,
decided to make fun of the woman. He got her address, called
his secretary and ordered her to buy food and take it to the
woman.
However, the instruction was: "When the woman asks who
sent the food, tell her that it’s from the devil.''
When the secretary arrived at the woman's house, the woman
was very happy and grateful for the help. The Secretary then
asked her, ''Don't you want to know who sent the food?''
The woman replied, ''No, I don't even care because when God
orders, even the devil obeys! [CBSE Question Bank 2022]
Ans. The woman in the anecdote is very similar to Lencho because both
of them have an unquestionable faith in God. Just like Lencho, she
does not hesitate to call God for help in the time of need. She is
so sure of God’s help that she doesn't even ask the secretary who
the food is from. Similarly, Lencho is not perplexed when he sees a
letter from God. Both of them are sure of God’s help. On the other
hand, the woman does not believe that anyone can cheat God or
tamper with God’s orders. She believes that God is all powerful.
Lencho has a different attitude because he thought that the post
office employees cheated God and stole some of the money they
had.

A Letter to God 9