DEAR MR KILMER NOTES AND EXERCISE Thirdly, Richard was brave.
Thirdly, Richard was brave. This was shown when Richard told his
1. ‘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. 15% SPM2007
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 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 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.
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 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.
2. Using the details from the novel that you have studied, as his “world”. His father was amazed how Richard could use the same word
• Describe what happens at the end of the novel. in his tribute. Richard continued writing poems about farm life for the local
• Explain why you find the ending either happy or sad. newspaper. Richard got his father’s help as he was an experienced farmer.
15% SPM 2008 Every night, Richard read his poems aloud. His father would correct or give
The novel that I read was ‘Dear Mr Kilmer’ by Anne Schraff. At the suggestions to improve the poems. His father finally supported Richard’s
end of the story, Richard’s father finally supported his passion in writing passion in writing poetry.
poetry. This was a happy ending.
In conclusion, the ending of this story was truly heart warming when
Richard Knight had a secret. Nobody knew that he wrote poetry a father and a son finally got along through the love of 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
3. Using the details from the novel that you have studied, write about a
difficult decision made by one of the characters.
With close reference to the text, do you think this was the right decision?
The novel that I studied was ‘Dear Mr Kilmer’ by Anne Schraff. A difficult
decision made by Richard was to tell people that he wrote poetry. This was the
right decision.
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.
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, Richard was a brave boy when he decided to tell his secrets
to everyone.
4. Based on the novel you have studied, write about an event that makes
you angry? With close reference to the text, give reasons why the event
makes you feel this way.
The novel that I studied was ‘Dear Mr Kilmer’ by Anne Schraff. An event
that made me angry was when the Schermers’ tavern was vandalised. I was
angry because of two reasons.
Firstly, I was angry because some Turtle Lake people were being unfair to
the Schermers. They vandalized the Schermers tavern. They painted
“Dirty Huns” all over the walls. They said that the Schermers were Huns.
Some Turtle Lake people believed that Huns were a barbaric clan originated
from Germany. They said that the Schermers were unpatriotic because
they spoke German and served Hun food at their tavern while a war was
going on against Germany.
Secondly, I was angry because Richard’s classmates were being unkind to
the Schermers after the Schermers’s tavern was vandalised. Mrs Hansen
brought a card to express regret for what had happened Mrs Hansen asked
her class to sign the card. 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.
In conclusion, the event where the Schermers was being mistreated
infuriated me. I truly believed that discrimination was unjust.
5. Suggest one character in the novel you have read who you think is a
good role model for teenagers. Briefly describe the character and give
reasons for your choice with close reference to the text.
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.
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.
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 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 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.