3/8/2021 SPM ENGLISH – Dear Mr. Kilmer: Plot Synopsis (Ch. 1 ~ Ch.

5) – Soothing Studying

Soothing Studying

SPM Notes, Tips and Tuition!

SPM ENGLISH – Dear Mr. Kilmer: Plot Synopsis

(Ch. 1 ~ Ch. 5)

Amalina / May 14, 2017May 5, 2020 / English Form 5

To make life easier for you, here’s a plot synopsis of Chapter 1 – Chapter 5 for you to read I hope this helps you!

Chapter 1

Richard goes hunting with his father (Pa Knight) and his brother (Gus Knight).
Richard purposely misses when he is shooting the buck, because he doesn’t like killing animals for
fun.
Pa told Richard that he didn’t need to go hunting anymore if he didn’t feel like it.
That night after supper, Richard helped his sister Angie with the chores.
He goes upstairs to his room and writes a poem.
It is seen that he keeps his collection of poems a secret.

Chapter 2

Mrs. Hansen began her English class by reading a poem titled “Trees”, that was wri en by Mr. Joyce
Kilmer.
One of the class bullies (Abner) tried insulting Mr. Kilmer, but Mrs. Hansen was quick to read out
the article from “The New York Times” that Mr. Kilmer is joining the Army.
Richard had found a new hero ~ he quickly jo ed down the address of the editor’s office of “The
New York Times”.
Richard noticed that Hannah Schermer’s book cover had the words “Dirty Hun” scrawled all over it.
He wondered who would do such a mean thing to a nice girl like Hannah.
Richard defended Hannah and her family in a discussion with Abner, Harry and Blanche.
After Richard got home and quickly finished his chores, he wrote a le er to Mr Kilmer.
In the le er – he mentioned that he wrote his own poetry but he kept it a secret from everyone

Chapter 3

Mrs. Hansen entered the class and told the class that the Schermers’ tavern had been vandalised and
terrible things were painted on the walls. She brought a card for the whole class to sign.
Many of the students refused to sign the card – they started insulting her – Mrs. Hansen got upset at
their remarks
Richard ended up being the only student in the entire class to sign the card
After class, Richard went to Mrs. Hansen and asked if he could deliver the card to the Schermers by
himself. Mrs. Hansen smiled and gave him the card.

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3/8/2021 SPM ENGLISH – Dear Mr. Kilmer: Plot Synopsis (Ch. 1 ~ Ch. 5) – Soothing Studying

On the way, Richard got confronted by the bullies (Harry & Abner). After they tried to fight him,
Richard defended himself and scared the bullies away.
Hannah reluctantly took the card from Richard when he mentioned that it might mean something to
her parents.
When Richard reached his home, Angie told Richard that he had received a le er from New York.

Chapter 4

Richard opened the le er from Mr. Kilmer and read it.

Mr. Kilmer told Richard to not be afraid and share his poems.
At dinner, Richard told his family about the le er. His family didn’t react enthusiastically. Angie
wouldn’t understand his poems; Gus and Pa said that he would grow out of the “phase”.
At school, Richard went to see Mrs. Hansen to show her the le er and some of his poems. Together,
they picked a poem to send to Mr. Kilmer
After Richard left the school building, Hannah came up to him to apologise and thank him for the
card.
On the way home, Richard saw the train full of soldiers in khaki uniforms. He wondered how they
could possibly be smiling at a time like this.

Chapter 5

Mrs. Hansen announced that Richard is going to read the le ers he received from Mr Kilmer. Some
of the boys started insulting Richard.
Richard read the le er out loud and read out the poem he had just wri en in honour of the soldiers
going to war.
Hannah gave a suggestion to make the last line of the poem sound be er. Richard complimented
Hannah’s suggestion.
That night, Richard wrote a reply to Mr. Kilmer. Over the summer, Richard worked hard on the farm
with Pa.
One night, Richard even wrote a poem about his father.
He received a le er back from Mr. Kilmer. He was very happy that Mr. Kilmer had complimented
Hannah. However, he was too shy to go see her. Hannah was always in Richard’s thoughts.

I hope this has managed to help you!

Chapters 6 – 10 are available here (h ps://soothingstudying.wordpress.com/2018/06/20/dear-mr-kilmer-

chapter-synopsis-chapter-6-chapter-10/)

P.S. Are you looking for affordable but super effective English tuition to help you score in your exams?
Drop me an email at nuramalina3108@gmail.com with the subject “SPM English Tuition” and I will try
my best to help you out

*From now onwards, I will be opening a Google form where you can register your details and tell me
your concerns/problem topics for SPM English. After the form has closed, I intend to make WhatsApp
groups (and possibly Zoom calls) where we can discuss and work on these topics together and make
your overall abilities in writing, reading and speaking English that much stronger.

If you are interested, please click the link below:

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Published by Amalina

My name's Amalina and I'm 18 years old :) View all posts by Amalina

4 Comments

1. Elaine Ong says:October 18, 2018 at 10:11 am

Thank you for this summary, Amalina. It was of great help.

Reply
2. Zul says:January 14, 2019 at 4:31 am
Thank you Amalina…it’s can help me in some 2019

Reply
1. Heenim says:February 10, 2020 at 4:40 pm
Thanks ! It reaaaally helps me a lot

Reply
3. Zul says:January 14, 2019 at 4:32 am
Sorry in SPM 2019….i’m typo

Reply

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