BRAINSTORM IDEAS

Character : Richard

Reason 1: Reason 2: Reason 3:

He loved animal He was kind He was brave

Event 1 : Event 2 : Event 3 :

Richard Richard was the Richard told his
purposely only student family that he
missed shooting who sign a wrote poetry
a buck sympathy card
for Hannah
 BRAINSTORM IDEAS

Character : Richard

Briefly describe Richard

15 years old. Mr. Knight’s

Tall , pale son. Angie Mr. Kilmer’s
and Gus pen pall. Loved
and slender
younger Hannah’s poetry
brother best friend

BRAINSTORM IDEAS

Reasons

Reason 1 : Reason 2 :
Reason 2:
He was brave He was brave He was supportive

Event 1 : Event 2 : Event 3 :

Richard was the Richard told his Hannah declined

only student family that he the role of Lady
who sign a wrote a ppetry Liberty. Richard
sympathy card and send it to Mr declined his part
for Hannah. Kilmer as a Doughboy
Question 5 (SPM 2015  Similar to SPM 2007)
Suggest one character in the novel you have read who you think is agood role model for teenagers.
Briefly describe the character and give reasons for your choice with close reference to the text.

Sample answer Event

The novel that I read was ‘Dear Mr Kilmer’ by Anne Schraff. A good role model for teenagers
was Richard. Richard was 15 years old. He was tall, pale and slender. Richard was Mr Knight’s son. He
was Angie and Gus’s younger brother. He was Mr Kilmer’s penpal and Hannah’s best friend. He loved
poetry. There were three reasons why I chose Richard.
4
Firstly, he was kind. One day, Mrs Hansen asked her class to sign a card for the
Schermers. Someone vandalised the tavern owned by Hannah’s parents. They painted “Dirty Huns” all
over the walls. Mrs Hansen brought a card to express regret for what had happened. The troublemakers
like Abner, Harry, Blanche and Peggy refused to sign the card. They warned other classmates not to
sign the card. The boys were afraid Abner and Harry would hit them. The girls worry that popular girls
like Peggy and Blanche would not speak to them. However, Richard was the only student who
signed the sympathy card for Hannah Schermer.After school, Richard took the card from Mrs
Hansen. He wanted to give the card to Hannah. Hannah accepted the card reluctantly. Later, Hannah
apologised to Richard for being rude. This was the beginning of their friendship.
2
Secondly, Richard was brave. This was shown when Richard told his family he wrote poetry.
Before telling his secret to his family, Richard wrote a letter to Mr Kilmer. Mr Kilmer was Richard’s
penpal. Richard learnt about Mr Kilmer whenRichard’s English teacher, Mrs Hansen read a poem to the
class. The title of the poem was “Trees” by Joyce Kilmer. In his letter, Richard told Mr Kilmer that he
wrote poems too. However, he kept this as a secret from everyone. Richard asked for Mr Kilmer’s 5
advice. He wanted to know whether he should tell his secret to everybody. One day, Richard received a
letter from Mr Kilmer. Mr Kilmer advised Richard to overcome his fear. Mr Kilmer advised Richard to
share his poetry with people around him. Nobody was interested when Richard told his family about
Mr Kilmer’s letter and his secret. Gus did not believe that Mr Kilmer was famous. Pa did not believe
that Richard wrote poetry. Richard asked whether his family members wanted to read his poems.
Nobody was interested. Richard was sad. Gus advised Richard not tell anyone he wrote poetry. He 6
wanted Richard to fit in with other people. Everyone called him a Hun Lover after he signed the card
for Hannah.

Thirdly, he was supportive. Hannah and Richard won the roles of Lady Liberty and the
Doughboy respectively because they wrote the best essays. Mrs Hansen asked the class to write an
essay as one of the activities for a patriotic programme which helped sell Liberty bonds. Many students
were angry when Hannah won the role. They regarded Hannah as an unpatriotic German although she
was an American citizen. Hannah told Richard that her essay started a little war in Turtle lake. She did
not want to cause any more problems. So she declined the role of Lady Liberty. Richard wanted to
support Hannah. Therefore,Richard declined his part as the Doughboy. His family, his schoolmates and
the Turtle Lake People criticized him for turning down his role. They called him unpatriotic and a
traitor. These criticisms never stopped Richard from standing up for what was right.

In conclusion, Richard was a good role model for teenagers because he had good personalities.
Question 1 (SPM 2007)
‘It is important to have a person you look up to in your life.’
From the novel that you have read, write about one character that you look up to. Give reasons why you choose
him/her.

Sample answer Event

The novel that I read was ‘Dear Mr Kilmer’ by Anne Schraff. One character that I looked up to
was Richard. There were three reasons why I looked up to Richard.

Firstly, he loved animals. This was shown when Richard purposely missed shooting a 1
buck. Richard thought that hunting was not important. Richard could not kill animals. Gus, Richard’s
elder brother, was upset with Richard because Richard purposely misfired. Richard’s father, Pa, was
also disappointed with Richard. Pa asked Richard why he purposely missed shooting the buck. Richard
told Pa that he had no right to kill it. Richard told Pa that he felt painful and sad to kill an animal. Pa
told Richard not to go hunting anymore if he did not like it.

Secondly, Richard was kind. One day, Mrs Hansen asked her class to sign a card for the 4
Schermers. Someone vandalised the tavern owned by Hannah’s parents. They painted “Dirty Huns” all
over the walls. Mrs Hansen brought a card to express regret for what had happened. The troublemakers
like Abner, Harry, Blanche and Peggy refused to sign the card. They warned other classmates not to
sign the card. The boys were afraid Abner and Harry would hit them. The girls worry that popular girls
like Peggy and Blanche would not speak to them. However, Richard was the only student who
signed the sympathy card for Hannah Schermer. After school, Richard took the card from Mrs
Hansen. He wanted to give the card to Hannah. Hannah accepted the card reluctantly. Later, Hannah
apologised to Richard for being rude. This was the beginning of their friendship.
2
Thirdly, Richard was brave. This was shown when Richard told his family and Mrs Hansen that
he wrote poetry. Before telling his secret to his family and Mrs Hansen, Richard wrote a letter to Mr
Kilmer. Mr Kilmer was Richard’s penpal. Richard learnt about Mr Kilmer when Richard’s English
teacher, Mrs Hansen read a poem to the class. The title of the poem was “Trees” by Joyce Kilmer. In
his letter, Richard told Mr Kilmer that he wrote poems too. However, he kept this as a secret from
everyone. Richard asked for Mr Kilmer’s advice. He wanted to know whether he should tell his secret 5
to everybody. One day, Richard received a letter from Mr Kilmer. Mr Kilmer advised Richard to
overcome his fear. Mr Kilmer advised Richard to share his poetry with people around him. Nobody
was interested when Richard told his family about Mr Kilmer’s letter and his secret. Gus did not
believe that Mr Kilmer was famous. Pa did not believe that Richard wrote poetry. Richard asked
whether his family members wanted to read his poems. Nobody was interested. Richard was sad. Gus
advised Richard not tell anyone he wrote poetry. He wanted Richard to fit in with other people.
Everyone called him a Hun Lover after he signed the card for Hannah. The next day, Richard told Mrs
Hansen that he wrote poetry. He showed her Mr Kilmer’s letter. Mrs Hansen helped Richard to choose
a poem. Richard would send the poem to Mr Kilmer. As advised by Mrs Hansen, Richard shared Mr
Kilmer’s latest letter and his poem with the class.Some of his classmates, including Blanche and Peggy,
were deeply moved by his poem. They started to respect Richard. Hannah suggested a different ending
to Richard’s poem.

In conclusion, I admired and respected Richard because he had good personalities.

 Main Character

Diligent and Helpful

-He always help Pa in farm and Angie Courageous
in the kitchen doing the house chores. -send card to Hannah and having
fight with Abner and Harry

Selfless Courageous
-turn down the role after -send card to Hannah and having
Hannah fight with Abner and Harry

. Mature,Open Minded Sensitive

-not sided with people who RICHARD KNIGHT -Could not kill the buck even
disturb Hannah having a chance to do it.

Quiet Poetic
-Love being alone and not like to -borrow book from Mrs Hansen
toal to much. -write poems and keep it in
drawer
 Patient Intelligent
-still strong even her tavern had been -always helping Richard with good ideas
vandelised and suggestion to complete his poem.

Sensitive Appreciative
-When someone scrawls “Dirty -thanked Richard for sending her the
HANNAH SCHEMERS sympathy card
Hun” all over her books, she
cries in the hallway.

. Mature,Open Minded Generous and Kind Hearted

-She bakes cookies for Mr Kilmer
-She declines the part of Lady
Invited Richard for supper
Liberty although she won the
contest because she does not
want to cause more problems
 Hardworking
-He is good hardworking farmer. He
plough, plants, cuktivates and tends to
the cattle. He does all the works.

Responsible
Secretive -He took care of Gus,Angie and
-Pa didnt told his children about Richard alone after her wife died.
his brother Roland. PA
(Richard’s father)

Understanding Loving
-He didnt angry and ask Richard -He dont let his son Gus to joined the
the reason why he didnt kill the army training
buck

Brotherly Adventurous
-asked Richard to fit in with the -desperately want to join the war
community so he will not be without disscussing with Pa because
isolated by them. he didnt like to do farming
GUS -like to go for hunting

(Richard’s brother)

Impatient Stubborn
-cannot wait to join the army -disobey Pa because he wants to join
training the war.

Boastfull
-always tease Richard and tell him his
awesomeness
Gus

Mr Kilmer

Understanding
-he understands Richard feelings and feel not awkward when communicating by the way of writing letter.

Helpful
-give Richard advice and motivation through letter

Patriotic
-joined the war eventhough he is a famous poet.

Poetic
-write numerous of poet.One of his famous poet is tree.

Mrs Hansen

Patriotic
-put up a sale and play to finance the war

Supportive
-urges Richard to read his poem in front of the class.

Tolerant
-do not angry when Hannah and Richard turned down the role
Creative
-support Hannah with giving a sympathy card.

Angie

Hardworking
-doing all the housechores by himself without complaining

Loving
-continueing her mother role after her mother death and she realising that no one will taking care of his family

Mr Schermers and Mrs Schermers

Optimistic
Mr Kilmer is an optimist while his wife opposite

Intelligence and Cultured

Themes
Fillial Love
-Gus love Richard his brother,he advises him to fitting in with community so he will not be isolated by them
-Pa still cant forget his brother Roland after the war with Spain in Cuba
-Richard loves Angie by helping her doing the housechores like washing the dishes at the kitchen

Patriotic Spirits
-Mr Kilmer joined the war even he is a famous poet because he hope that he can end the war so the next generation
will not involved with this unnecessary war.
-Mrs Hansen doing many programme by selling the Liberty Bond to finance the war.
-The Schermers rationing their food by eating small pieces of meet as a symbolic of symphathy for allies that fighting
in the war.