PERSONAL LETTER
I. Reading Comprehension
A LETTER TO GOD
Rancho's house - the lone house in the entire valley - was on the crown of a low hill. From the pinnacle of the hill, one could see the rapid flowing stream and next to it vast fields of ripe corn in between the red kidney bean flowers. looking at it one could predict that it was going to be good harvest but it needed a rainfall, however brief.
All through the morning, Rancho kept scanning the sky for signs of rainfall and he was quite confident that it would rain. "You know, woman, now we are finally going to get some rain." His wife, who was busy preparing food, replied: "Yes, God willing."
As soon as Rancho's family, his wife and sons, sat for dinner, just he had predicted big drops of rain started falling. In the northeast, huge clouds were covering the sky like a blanket. The air had the smell of rain combined with the smell of fresh earth. The atmosphere at that time was absolutely heavenly. The boys left their food on pretext of getting one thing and another. All they wanted was to get wet and play in the rain.
Rancho was very happy as he looked at his field,"Ah! Now my harvest is going to be wonderful. "He started dreaming about all the things he will be going once he sells the crops. Suddenly heavy winds began to blow accompanied by big drops of rain, which looked like huge pearls of ice. :Oh my God! This can't be happening,' he thought. "NO!! NO!! I will be destroyed. This is no rain, it is a hailstorm, I hope it will pass soon. "But in front of his family, he kept a strong front and said, "I am sure it will pass soon, don't worry."
Unfortunately it didn't. The hailstorm lasted the whole night. It destroyed the entire field of his precious crops. Everything looked so white as if someone had thrown sacks and sack of pearls all over the place.
Rancho and his wife were worried to death. Everything they had was destroyed and they had no inkling as to what they will do.
The boys asked them, "What are wee going to do? Everything is destroyed. We don't even have few pieces of corn or beans. Does this mean we are going to die of hunger?"
Rancho said, "My sons, nobody dies of hunger. Always remember we have God. I am sure he will help us."
All through the night, Rancho kept on thinking how to ask for help from God. "God knows everything but I think I should write to Him and ask directly what I want."
Rancho was thankful for the day his parents had sent him to school. Even though he was interested in studies, he had grudgingly learnt to read and write. So he took out paper and a pen and started writing.
Rancho Lucas
The Violet Hill
Argentina
18th May 1999
Dear God
Hi,
I am writing this letter to you out of extreme urgency, otherwise I wouldn't have disturbed you. You know about the recent hailstorm in my place. Well, it has destroyed me. Everything in my farm was destroyed. My corn and kidney beans were almost ready and all it needed was a rainfall but instead of rainfall came a storm. If it had lasted for a short period it would have been OK, but unfortunately it lasted for an entire night. It has put me at a serious disadvantages, you see God, my sole source of income is that farm and now it is completely destroyed. Nothing is left. If I leave it like this, my family will die of hunger, since we will not have anything to eat. I can't sit still and do nothing about it. I need 100 pesos to buy seeds and resow my field all over again and buy some food till the next harvest. So dear God, please help me. I know you will not disappoint me.
Sincerely yours,
Rancho, the farmer
He put the letter inside an envelope and addressed it to "God, 7th Heaven" and placed a stamp on it and dropped it in the mailbox. The workers at the post office were preparing the letters to mail when they came across the letter addressed to God. The postman who came across the letter became curious because he had never seen a letter addressed to God. He wanted to open the letter but his job ethics stopped him from doing so. He decided to take the letter to the Postmaster. The Postmaster was very nice and kind gentleman. He always helped people in any way he could. When the postman gave him the letter, he looked at it and said, "It takes a man with strong faith to start aa communication with God. I wish I had such strong faith."
After much thought, he decided to read the letter and perhaps reply it, He opened Rancho's letter. Little did he know that replying the letter would need more than good intention, a pen and paper. Rancho needed a lot of money but the postmaster didn't have any. Since he had already decided to help Rancho, he decided to give his salary, and he asked his friends and co-workers to contribute, But it was impossible for him to collect 100 pesos. He was happy that at least 70 pesos were collected. So he put the money in an envelope and signed it as "God" and asked the postman to deliver it to Rancho's house.
When the postman arrived at Rancho's house and delivered the letter to him, Rancho was exhilarated beyond means. And he kept repeating. Thank you God! Thank you God! I know you wouldn't let me down.
Rancho has very strong faith in God. He was not surprised when he opened the envelope. But as he was counting the money, he became very angry. God couldn't have made mistakes in sending the money. So he took out paper and write to God again. Then he placed a stamp oon it and put it in the mailbox. When the postman took the letter out, he immediately took it to the Postmaster. The Postmaster quickly opened the letter and everyone in the post office gathered around him wanting to know what Rancho wrote to God,
Rancho Lucas
The Violet Hill
Argentina
20th May 1999
Dear God
I am really grateful to you for sending the money. I knew you wouldn't let my family go hungry. Of the money you sent, I only received 70 pesos. Please send me the rest. I really need the money. But, this time please, God don't send it through the mail, because the people working here in this post office are all a bunch of thieves,
Sincerely yours,
Rancho, the farmer
A. Answer the questions below based on the text above, in short!
1.Where was Rancho’s house?
Assignment
Write a letter addressed to your friend or your parent that tells about the event of
1. SCHOOL ANNIVERSARY 2019 or
2. MAULUDAN CELEBRATION held by your school.
As it tells about a past event, the content or the body of your letter must be in the SIMPLE PAST tense.
Note:
1. for Reading and vocabulary (A and B) do in groups of 2 or 3
2. for Writing Skill, do individually.
All the assignments should be sent to my email, yatidjoko@gmail.com
All through the morning, Rancho kept scanning the sky for signs of rainfall and he was quite confident that it would rain. "You know, woman, now we are finally going to get some rain." His wife, who was busy preparing food, replied: "Yes, God willing."
As soon as Rancho's family, his wife and sons, sat for dinner, just he had predicted big drops of rain started falling. In the northeast, huge clouds were covering the sky like a blanket. The air had the smell of rain combined with the smell of fresh earth. The atmosphere at that time was absolutely heavenly. The boys left their food on pretext of getting one thing and another. All they wanted was to get wet and play in the rain.
Rancho was very happy as he looked at his field,"Ah! Now my harvest is going to be wonderful. "He started dreaming about all the things he will be going once he sells the crops. Suddenly heavy winds began to blow accompanied by big drops of rain, which looked like huge pearls of ice. :Oh my God! This can't be happening,' he thought. "NO!! NO!! I will be destroyed. This is no rain, it is a hailstorm, I hope it will pass soon. "But in front of his family, he kept a strong front and said, "I am sure it will pass soon, don't worry."
Unfortunately it didn't. The hailstorm lasted the whole night. It destroyed the entire field of his precious crops. Everything looked so white as if someone had thrown sacks and sack of pearls all over the place.
Rancho and his wife were worried to death. Everything they had was destroyed and they had no inkling as to what they will do.
The boys asked them, "What are wee going to do? Everything is destroyed. We don't even have few pieces of corn or beans. Does this mean we are going to die of hunger?"
Rancho said, "My sons, nobody dies of hunger. Always remember we have God. I am sure he will help us."
All through the night, Rancho kept on thinking how to ask for help from God. "God knows everything but I think I should write to Him and ask directly what I want."
Rancho was thankful for the day his parents had sent him to school. Even though he was interested in studies, he had grudgingly learnt to read and write. So he took out paper and a pen and started writing.
Rancho Lucas
The Violet Hill
Argentina
18th May 1999
Dear God
Hi,
I am writing this letter to you out of extreme urgency, otherwise I wouldn't have disturbed you. You know about the recent hailstorm in my place. Well, it has destroyed me. Everything in my farm was destroyed. My corn and kidney beans were almost ready and all it needed was a rainfall but instead of rainfall came a storm. If it had lasted for a short period it would have been OK, but unfortunately it lasted for an entire night. It has put me at a serious disadvantages, you see God, my sole source of income is that farm and now it is completely destroyed. Nothing is left. If I leave it like this, my family will die of hunger, since we will not have anything to eat. I can't sit still and do nothing about it. I need 100 pesos to buy seeds and resow my field all over again and buy some food till the next harvest. So dear God, please help me. I know you will not disappoint me.
Sincerely yours,
Rancho, the farmer
He put the letter inside an envelope and addressed it to "God, 7th Heaven" and placed a stamp on it and dropped it in the mailbox. The workers at the post office were preparing the letters to mail when they came across the letter addressed to God. The postman who came across the letter became curious because he had never seen a letter addressed to God. He wanted to open the letter but his job ethics stopped him from doing so. He decided to take the letter to the Postmaster. The Postmaster was very nice and kind gentleman. He always helped people in any way he could. When the postman gave him the letter, he looked at it and said, "It takes a man with strong faith to start aa communication with God. I wish I had such strong faith."
After much thought, he decided to read the letter and perhaps reply it, He opened Rancho's letter. Little did he know that replying the letter would need more than good intention, a pen and paper. Rancho needed a lot of money but the postmaster didn't have any. Since he had already decided to help Rancho, he decided to give his salary, and he asked his friends and co-workers to contribute, But it was impossible for him to collect 100 pesos. He was happy that at least 70 pesos were collected. So he put the money in an envelope and signed it as "God" and asked the postman to deliver it to Rancho's house.
When the postman arrived at Rancho's house and delivered the letter to him, Rancho was exhilarated beyond means. And he kept repeating. Thank you God! Thank you God! I know you wouldn't let me down.
Rancho has very strong faith in God. He was not surprised when he opened the envelope. But as he was counting the money, he became very angry. God couldn't have made mistakes in sending the money. So he took out paper and write to God again. Then he placed a stamp oon it and put it in the mailbox. When the postman took the letter out, he immediately took it to the Postmaster. The Postmaster quickly opened the letter and everyone in the post office gathered around him wanting to know what Rancho wrote to God,
Rancho Lucas
The Violet Hill
Argentina
20th May 1999
Dear God
I am really grateful to you for sending the money. I knew you wouldn't let my family go hungry. Of the money you sent, I only received 70 pesos. Please send me the rest. I really need the money. But, this time please, God don't send it through the mail, because the people working here in this post office are all a bunch of thieves,
Sincerely yours,
Rancho, the farmer
(Inspired from "Una carta a Dios" by Por Gregorio Lopez y Fuente)
(taken from Bahasa Inggris SMA/MA/SMK/MAK kelas XI, edisi revisi 2017)
A. Answer the questions below based on the text above, in short!
1.Where was Rancho’s house?
2.Mention
2 things we could see from the hill?
3.Would
there be a rainfall at that time?
4.Why was Rancho very afraid?
5.How
long did the hailstorm last?
6.What
did Rancho do to overcome this trouble?
7.What
did he ask to the God?
8.
Did the God receive his letter?
9.Who
replied his letter?
10.Where
was the money from?
11.Why
was he angry after counting the money?
12.What
do you think why Rancho blamed that people who worked in that post office were
thieves?
B. Find the meaning of the following words or phrases related to the text!
1. the lone house 11. precious crops
2. the crown of the hill 12. inkling
3. flowing stream 13. grudgingly
4. predict 14. sole source income
5. keep scanning 15. seeds
6. absolutely heavenly 16. resow
7. pretext 17. disappoint
8. big drops of rain 18. come across
9. hailstorm 19. contribute
10. a strong front 20. exhilarated beyond means
II. Writing Skill
Study the format of a personal letter below!
(2) 35 Senggigi Raya Lombok
75019 Nusa Tenggara Timur
12th January, 2014 (1)
My Dear Lovely Siti, (3)
Hello!
(4) How
are you, sweetie?
I know you are angry with me because I am writing to you after a long
time. I am so sorry, please forgive me.
(5) You know we are I Lombok right now. It is so beautiful beyond imagination. I am
writing to you from this early cute little café on the Senggigi
beach. As you know, mom loves shopping so she went and will be gone for hours,
I took a rain check from shopping ad decided to write to you while I enjoy my
cup of coffee.
You
know yesterday we went to Gili Nangu Island; it is a beach o the southeast of
Lombok. The place is awesome. It is so beautiful. I couldn’t believe my eyes.
There are beautiful coral reefs everywhere. We went for snorkeling and we saw
most amazing fish ever. I wish you were here, it would have been much more fun.
Mom’s
making sure we don’t miss any sight in the whole city, so we’ve practically
been everywhere.
(6) I
got to go, mum is here. I will see you soon.
(7) Lots of love
(8) Lana
(9) P.S. I’m bringing you lot of souvenirs ad pictures!!
Structure of Personal letter
1. Date :
- 23th January 2019
- January 23 th, 2019
2. Address : the writer address
3. Salutation and Name:
- My dear,
- My dearest, ...
- My lovely ...
4. Introduction : The opening of the letter, usually start with how are you or refers to previous letter
5. Body : It contains what you want to write or tell to the receiver
6. Closure: it indicates the letter is going to end
7. Complementary close:
- with love,
- love you,
- sincerely yours,
- your sincerely,
8. Signature and Name
9. Postscript P.S. : After thought in a letter. You begin with P.S. and end it with your initials
Write a letter addressed to your friend or your parent that tells about the event of
1. SCHOOL ANNIVERSARY 2019 or
2. MAULUDAN CELEBRATION held by your school.
As it tells about a past event, the content or the body of your letter must be in the SIMPLE PAST tense.
Note:
1. for Reading and vocabulary (A and B) do in groups of 2 or 3
2. for Writing Skill, do individually.
All the assignments should be sent to my email, yatidjoko@gmail.com
