 Describe what happens at the end of the novel.

 Explain why you find the ending either happy or sad.

Sample Answer :
The novel that I read was ‘Dear Mr Kilmer’ by Anne Schraff. At the end of the story,
Richard’s father finally supported his passion in writing poetry. This was a happy
ending.

Richard Knight had a secret. Nobody knew that he wrote poetry including his family,
teachers and schoolmates. One day, 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. Mr Kilmer was a famous poet. He enlisted in the army. He wrote a
letter to Mr Kilmer. In his letter, Richard told Mr Kilmer that he wrote poems
too. Richard asked for Mr Kilmer’s advice. He wanted to know whether he should tell his
secret to everybody. A few days later, 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.

One day, Richard received a bad news about Mr Kilmer.Mr Kilmer was killed in the war
between the Allies and the Germans. Richard wrote a poem as a tribute to Mr Kilmer. In
the poem, Richard likened Mr Kilmer to the “world”. The tribute was printed in the local
newspaper, “The Turtle Lake Weekly”. Richard’s father read the poem. Richard was
afraid that his father was going to be angry at him. His father did not like Richard
writing poems. After reading the poem, his father told Richard about what happened to
Richard’s uncle, Roland. His father never told Richard about this story. Roland was
killed in a war in Cuba. His father regarded Roland as his “world”. His father was
amazed how Richard could use the same word in his tribute. Richard continued writing
poems about farm life for the local newspaper. Richard got his father’s help as he was an
experienced farmer. Every night, Richard read his poems aloud. His father would
correct or give suggestions to improve the poems. His father finally supported Richard’s
passion in writing poetry.

In conclusion, the ending of this story was truly heartwarming when a father and a son
finally got along through the love of poetry.