A Letter to God Vocabulary and Key Terms

Vocabulary and thematic terms extracted from the story 'A Letter to God' for lecture review.

Crest

The top of a hill.

Draped

Covered, specifically as if with cloth.

Locusts

Insects which fly in big swarms (groups) and destroy crops.

Conscience

An inner sense of right and wrong.

Peso

The currency of several Latin American countries.

Amiable

Friendly and pleasant.

Contentment

Satisfaction.

Lencho

A farmer who knew his fields intimately and had total faith in God's help after his crops were destroyed.

New coins

A metaphor Lencho used for raindrops, where big drops were ten cent pieces and little ones were fives.

Frozen pearls

A metaphor used to describe hailstones.

Ox of a man

A description of Lencho, meaning he worked like an animal in the fields.

Hundred pesos

The amount of money Lencho requested from God to sow his field again and live until the next crop.

Postmaster

A fat, amiable fellow who organized a collection of money to ensure Lencho did not lose his faith in God.

Seventy pesos

The actual amount of money that reached Lencho, which was a little more than half of what he requested.

Bunch of crooks

The label Lencho gave to the post office employees, believing they had stolen the remaining money sent by God.

Irony

An unexpected aspect of a situation that is strange or amusing because it is the opposite of what is expected.