NOVEL SAMPLE ANSWERS (KEDAH TRIAL 2017)

SAMPLE 1

The novel that I have learnt is Dear Mr. Kilmer written by Anne Schraff. This novel is about a
social misfit named Richard Knight who loves poetry and hates violence. He began exchanging letters
with Mr. Joyce Kilmer who encourages him to share his poems and has taught him many life lessons.
There are several events that show friends should support each other in this novel.
First of all, an event that shows friends should support each other is ‘Sign the
Sympathy Card’ event. One day, Richard saw Hannah was crying in the hallway. Her book cover was
sprawled with ‘Dirty Hun.’ It is because she is a German-American. The next day, Prairie Haus was
vandalised. The walls were sprawled with ‘Dirty Huns.’ Later on, Mrs Hansen brought a card to her
class. She wanted her students to sign the sympathy card to show their support for the Schermers.
Nobody signed except Richard. This clearly shows Richard’s support for Hannah. Some students
wanted to sign too, but they were afraid. The boys were threatened by Harry and Abner meanwhile
the girls were afraid to lose their friendship with Peggy and Blanche. In the end, nobody except
Richard managed to overcome their fear to sign the card. Mrs. Hansen was absolutely disappointed
and upset with her students’ decision and she decided not to send the card to the Schermers.
Luckily, Richard offered to help to send the card to the Schermers. On his way to the Schermers,
Harry and Abner tried to stop him but surprisingly they were subdued by Richard. They asked for
forgiveness and promised to stay away and leave Richard alone. Then, Richard gave the card to
Hannah. Hannah asked, “why people do bad things?” Richard answered, “maybe they were just
afraid.” Richard and Hannah became close after this incident, but other students began to call
Richard “Hun’s Lover.” It was obvious in this event that friends should support each other just like
Richard showed his support to Hannah by signing the sympathy card.
Moreover, another event that shows friends should support each other is the Liberty Bonds
incident. On 1917, America finally joined the war. The school organised a patriotic programme to sell
the Liberty Bonds to fund the war. Mrs. Hansen held an essay writing competition to determine who
will have Lady Liberty and the Doughboy roles. Richard won the Doughboy role. He wrote about
sending letters to the young American soldiers. Everyone was impressed and applauded him.
Hannah won the Lady Liberty role. Hannah wrote about making peace but everyone’s reaction was
different. Nobody clapped except Richard. Almost everyone in the school was unhappy with Mrs.
Hansen’s decision. Some parents even came to school to complain about it to the principal. After
that, Hannah decided to decline her role. Everyone was happy with her decision except Richard who
was shocked. Instead of peace, Hannah thought she had started a war in Turtle Lake. To show his
support to his friend, Richard decided to decline his role too. The two of them became even closer
but this incident made other people to start calling Richard unpatriotic and a traitor. Clearly, Richard
decided to decline his role because he wanted to show his support as a friend to Hannah who had
declined her role earlier.
In conclusion, this novel contains several events that show friends should support each
other. We should follow the value in our daily life too. By practising it, it will help us to become a
better and useful person in the future and have a friendship as strong as Richard’s and Hannah’s
friendship, who support each other no matter what happens.

Written by: ASHRAF HAFIZIE BIN BAHDUN (5 SAINS 2)

 SAMPLE 2

The novel I learnt is Dear Mr. Kilmer by Anne Schraff. This novel is about a social misfit
named Richard Knight who loves poetry and hates violence. He secretly wrote poems before he
began exchanging letters with Mr. Joyce Kilmer. The theme in this novel is friends should support
each other.

The first event that shows this theme is when Richard signed the sympathy card to show his
support for Hannah. This is shown in the story when Richard saw Hannah crying in the hallway. Her
book cover was sprawled with 'Dirty Hun.' It is because she is a German-American. The next day,
Prairie Haus was vandalised. The walls were sprawled with 'Dirty Huns.' Mrs. Hansen brought a card
to her students. She wanted her students to sign the card to show sympathy and support for the
Schermers. Nobody signed except Richard. Many students wanted to sign the card but they were
afraid of the troublemakers. The boys were threatened by Abner and Harry while the girls were
afraid to lose their friendship with Peggy and Blanche. Mrs. Hansen was upset and decided not to
send the card but Richard offered to help deliver the card. On the way to the Schermers, Abner and
Harry tried to stop Richard but he subdued them. They promised to leave Richard alone. Richard
gave the card to Hannah. Hannah asked why people do bad things. Richard saif it is because people
are scared. Richard and Hannah became friends but other students began to call Richard "Hun's
Lover." As we can clearly see now, even though Richard was in a difficult situation, he always does
the best he could to show his support to his friend, Hannah.

The second event that shows this theme is during the Liberty Bonds incident when Richard
declined his role to show his support for Hannah. This is shown in the story when in 1917, America
finally joined the war. The school has organised a patriotic programme to sell Liberty Bonds that
helps fund the war. To choose Lady Liberty and the Doughboy, Mrs. Hansen held an essay writing
contest. Richard won the Doughboy role. He suggested to write letters to young American soldiers.
Many students were impressed and clapped their hands. Hannah won the Lady Liberty role. She
wrote about making peace. She said the real enemy is the war itself. Nobody clapped except
Richard. Other students were not satisfied with Mrs. Hansen's decision. Some parents came to see
the principal to complain. As a result, Hannah decided to decline her role. Many students were
happy but Richard was shocked. He asked Hannah why she declined her role. Hannah said she
wanted to make peace but she just started a war in Turtle Lake. To show his support for Hannah,
Richard also declined his role. Richard and Hannah became closer but other students began to call
Richard unpatriotic and a traitor. As we can clearly see, Richard sacrificed his role because he
wanted to show Hannah his support as they are friends.

In conclusion, friends should support each other is shown when Richard signed the
sympathy card and during the Liberty Bonds incident. I hope their friendship will become a good
example and beneficial to us.

Written by: MASITAH BINTI MOHAMAD (5 SAINS 2)