A Letter to God - First Flight Book

• You cannot control the wind, but you can always adjust your sails, meaning you cannot control what happens to you, but you can control how you react.

First Flight Book - Prose Section

####A Letter to God

• A farmer named Lencho prepared his farm, but a hailstorm destroyed his crops.
• Lencho writes a letter to God asking for 100 pesos to survive and replant his fields.
• The postmaster is amazed by Lencho's faith and decides to help him.
• The postmaster and his colleagues collect 70 pesos and send it to Lencho.
• Lencho is angry upon receiving only 70 pesos and writes another letter to God.
• Lencho asks God to send the remaining 30 pesos directly, not through the post office, as he believes the employees are thieves.
• The story highlights the power of faith, hope, and the simplicity of rural life.
• The story expresses that faith can move mountains but gratitude is extremely important.
• Lencho is faithful, naive, and hardworking.
• The postmaster is kind, amiable, and generous.

####Nelson Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom

• Nelson Mandela describes his struggle to free his country from apartheid.
• Apartheid involved discrimination based on race.
• Mandela defines courage as triumph over fear, not the absence of it.
• Both the oppressed and the oppressor are robbed of their humanity.
• Mandela speaks of courage, sacrifice, humanity, and the universal desire for freedom.
• True freedom is when enjoyed by everyone, not just a select few.
• Nelson Mandela is brave, determined, and selfless.

####Two Stories About Flying: His First Flight

• Explores humanity's fascination with flying.
• A young seagull hesitates to fly despite his family's encouragement due to fear.
• Hunger and his mother's cleverness finally push him to make his first flight.
• It highlights perseverance and self-discovery during trying times.
• The theme is courage, self-discovery, and trusting yourself.
• Overcoming fear is the first step toward growth.
• The young seagull is initially timid and hesitant but becomes courageous and determined.

####Two Stories About Flying: The Black Aeroplane

• A pilot flies into a storm to reach his family.
• A mysterious black airplane guides the pilot to safety, then disappears.
• The reason behind the black airplane that led the pilot to safety is left to the reader's imagination.
• The theme is mystery and supernatural intervention.
• Faith and hope can lead to miraculous rescues.
• The Pilot is adventurous, curious, hopeful, and very determined.

####From the Diary of Anne Frank

• Anne Frank, a Jewish girl, writes about her experiences during the Nazi persecution.
• The experiences that she details include the emotions, fears, and dreams.
• The experience highlights human resilience during the Nazi persecution.
• Anne is lively and happy, despite her circumstances and has interactions with teachers.
• Anne feels lonely and cannot confine in people but maintains a positive attitude.
• Anne writes essays for Mr. Keising with one specific one being about a chatterbox.
• The essay eventually changes his opinion about children needing to talk.
• War and resilience displays the theme of this excerpt.
• Importance of self-expression is greatly displayed throughout the writing.
• Despite the dark time they were enduring, Anne Frank's story displays hope and humanity.
• Being that Anne Frank displayed high levels of intellect and always honest, she can be considered sincere.
• In addition to this, Anne Frank was introspective and mostly optimistic throughout.

####Glimpses of India: A Baker from Goa

• Explores the importance of bread and bakeries in Goan culture.
• A baker also known as a Pader serves role in Goan culture whether it is weddings or any large gatherings.
• The baking culture is a mix between Portuguese culture and native culture.
• Explores the traditional and cultural heritage of Goa.
• Traditions keep history alive in daily life.
• Goan bakers are cheerful, hardworking, and they come from traditional families.

####Glimpses of India: Coorg

• Coorg is a beautiful place in Karnataka known for coffee plantations and brave people.
• The region is beautiful and contains scenic views and wildlife.
• The people in Coorg are known as brave hospitable people.
• Claims the people can be traced to Arabic and Greek origins.
• The true beauty of the region is in its nature and cultural richness.
• The theme explores nature, culture, and bravery of the people.
• The people known as Coorgi are known to display great hospitability.

####Glimpses of India: Tea from Assam

• Explores the tea plantations in Assam which is known as the largest tea growing region in the world.
• The state contains many scenic traveling zones.
• The knowledge of tea is explored through experience and knowledge of a central character who visits the region.
• Grows knowledge through curiosity.
• Assam displays cultural heritage.
• The narrator in the story is inquisitive and takes time to be observant.

####Mijbil the Otter

• The story revolves around the author, Maxwell, and his otter, Mijbil.
• Mijbil is intelligent, smart, and playful.
• Friendship and the bond between humans and animals is greatly explored.
• Animals can enrich the life of humans in unexpected ways.
• Knowing how to raise a domestic animals is shown to be important during the story.
• Maxwell is seen as caring, patient, and compassionate.
• Mijbil is playful and intelligent.

####Madam Rides the Bus

• A story where an 8 year old girl decides she wants to ride the bus around her town.
• The 8 year old girl, Valli, saves money and secretly rides the bus.
• Valli enjoys the ride and the sights as she explores a new surrounding.
• The ride makes Valli face the reality of death when she sees a dead cow on the side of the road.
• Valli returns to her hometown and understands that everything that comes to life will eventually come to death.
• Innocence transpires into maturity for a child.
• The experience shapes our understanding of the world.
• As a traveler, you only explore one location, but traveling allows people to explore new things.
• Valli is inquisitive, independent, and observant.
• Valli is also daring.

####The Sermon at Benares

• The story explores an element of Gautam Buddha's story and life.
• A woman comes to him after losing her child.
• Gautam Buddha then gives a sermon to the woman in Benares.
• He tells the woman about what everyone experiences in hardship.
• The sermon is focused on detatching from the physical world.
• A message is sent that one has to accept suffering to be at peace.
• The sermon details an inate part of what death is.
• Gautam Buddha's teachings leads towards enlightenment when detatching.
• Sincerity can be found in a message and a way that one thinks of death.
• Kisa, the woman, is an empathetic and giving woman.

####The Proposal

• The story details a man, Lomov, coming over to propose to a woman, Natalya.
• The proposal is a farce as both lead to a very large shouting match.
• Both fight often about minor details and never get to the core of what they wish.
• Despite this, Natalya's father insists she marry him as they both are growing in wealth together.
• Marriage should not be completely based on wealth or financial status.
• Natalya is emotional, but argumentative and that translates into a lot for her.
• The fathers of both Lomov(Lomov's father) and Natalya's dad are always looking for a come up situation.

####Book - Poetry Section #####Dust of Snow

• The poem describes how a small event can completely ruin a person's day.
• The poet encounters a crow in a snow laden forest.
• When the crow shakes, snow lands on the author.
• That small shake of snow had a large effect on the author as it improves his day.
• Nature has a very heeling presence and can help make an author feel at ease.

#####Fire and Ice

• The poem mentions how the world can end between fire and ice.
• Fire references anger, hate, and desire.
• Ice references the hatred people have for each other.
• Fire can also be love and the heat one shares for another.
• Trade and Desire can cause equal destruction to society. #####A Tiger in the Zoo
• The poem describes a tiger in a zoo versus in the wild.
• When a tiger is in captivity, he loses what makes him special.
• The feeling of being wild in contrast to being captured.
• The animals in the wild deserve the right to move to their habitat with no human disturbance.

#####How to Tell Wild Animals

• The story outlines the way a traveler can understand where different species of animals all start from.
• Tells of identifying wild animals through humour.
• Touches on lions being yellow or brown in color.
• Touches on tigers being yellow, but striped.
• Tells of jaguars and leorpards typically being spotted.
• Includes how bears hug and the care that they show.
• The bear is described as having a strong build.
• Hyenas are described to have smiles whereas crocodiles cry before going to their den.
• Crocodiles are seen to have deceptive tears.
• Chameleons in particular are seen to display different camoflouge techniques.
• Some ways that you can display nature and animals are through observation and curiosity.

#####The Ball Poem

• The poem explores the importance of what being a child means to the narrator.
• It explores that first feeling of knowing hardship and learning not to quit in life. Childhood loss and acceptance is the key. Loss is expected in life and we will move on from it.

#####Amanda

• The poem describes the life of a child's home and describes the different rules they have to abide by.
• Amanda is often seen as being corrected often and having constant instruction.
• Parents and loved ones around her, while they care, often come off as abrasive and cold.
• Child childhood innocence and the importance each one has.

#####The Trees

• This is a poem that is written with deep appreciation of nature by Adriene Rich.
• The trees are used to symbolize freedom in one's life.
• The power stems from each individual in a society.

#####Fog

• This poem is written about the mystery and wonder surrounding daily life and fogs.
• Nature can be unpredictable as expressed by the poem.

#####The Tale of Custard the Dragon

• The story is written about friendship and heroism in what seems like a fantasy setting.
• A monster ends up saving a town by taking a stand and ending up being more brave than his compadres.
• The moral is don not act better if you do not know better.

#####Anne Gregory

• This poem explores love from a youthful perspective.
• It details self confidence and inner beauty over outside beauty.
• It urges others to be more kind to internal beauty.

####Footprints Without Feet #####A Triumph of Surgery

• A vet narrates the story of an overfed dog named Tricky.
• The love given to Tricky from his owner has lead to his illness.
• The love and care that Tricky is given is not helping at all.
• Over Indulging in a bad vice can harm you more than help you.
• Tricky is Over Induldged, Greedy, and Lazy.
• The owner is excessive and ignorant, but is still loving towards her dog.
• Doctors show that they should be trained well and practice their skills with care.

#####The Thief's Story

• A thief, young and clever, meets caring man who changes his life around.
• The young thief's name Hari Singh is a fake name given to him but has great potential to do good.
• As it continues, Hari, begins to discover his passion and wants to live a better life.
• That change is only caused because of the kind soul by the name of Anil.
• The poem describes how knowledge and education can change almost all people.
• People go from distrusting to honest when given adequate care.

The Midnight Visitor

• A midnight visitor is described to be very stout and not what he seems.
• He has physical attributes that set him aside to be different from others.
• An act of wit and quickness allows one to change from physical strength and change people.
• You can change from one personality to another when given quick wit and other attributes.
• A situation can be overcome by one's personality but does not mean that person is not intelligent and aware.
• As described here, the Midnight Visitor is all about smarts even though he may not be the most intelligent.

#####A Question of Trust

• There is exploration on if robbers can be trusted or not by themselves.
• However this plays on the idea of trusting if there are criminals or not.
• Honor among thieves in what it seems as being put, and taken literally as there ends being no trust.
• This story explains the irony of having trusted someone but also making an assessment of the person that you are trusting.
• The idea and message of the story details very smart people can fall to people who are very cunning.

#####Footprints Without Feet

• The scientist is a person who makes discovery that cannot be tracked.
• There is a message sent about science going wrong.
• The scientist's name, known as Griffin, goes around the world, doing harm to people, in ways most could not.
• That high level of intelligence has led Griffin away astray and has in many ways, killed him.
• High powers or super powers come attached with a sense of responsibility.
• Power with no responsibility is very unethical.

#####The Making of a Scientist

• The story explores a man name Richard and displays the making of a scientist.
• Scientist should be curious and hard working.
• Scientists also need to be intelligent and creative.
• There should be an emphasis on science and hard research.

#####The Necklace

• The poem is about a girl, a woman in this sense, with a heart of gold.
• The poem is about hard times, suffering, and what it takes to be thankful with what one has.
• The girl struggles during the times but finds inner resolve.
• True meaning of what is there is always better than a fake or superficial life.

#####Bholi

• The story touches on the importance of social justice and awareness.
• It speaks of a woman who did everything in her power to do what would make not only her proud but her family proud.
• It is a message about fighting for your rights no matter how small they may seem.
• All that is needed is conviction with whatever each person believes.

#####The Book That Saved the Earth

• A book that seems trivial to many saves an entire people after they see what it means.
• The book that saved the town was simply a book full of riddles.
• Humor and wit mixed to create some of the deepest messages.

Additional Information

####Points to Remember

• Always write answers in your own words.
• For inference-based questions, understand the context and tone.
• If struggling with vocabulary questions look at context clues.

Analytical Paragraph Notes

• Analyze the high and low values in data.
• Look for any trends or comparisons.
• Have a introduction, detailed analysis and an analysis before compiling answer.
• Be effective with your use of word count. ####Formed Letters: Key Points
• Complain Letter
• Place Order Letter
• Inquiry Letter
• Letter to editor
• Write the letter and address the body well
• Close statement

A farmer, Lencho, seeks help from God after a hailstorm destroys his crops. The postmaster, impressed by Lencho's faith, sends 70 pesos. Lencho, upset by the missing amount, accuses post office employees of theft, highlighting themes of faith and gratitude.