Credits to Teacher Nuha

1. Dear Mr Kilmer by Anne Schraff
(Notes)
Prepared by nuhazyun@yahoo.com (SAMBBST)

2. When
writing your
response,
answer these
questions:
WHAT
happened?
WHO was
there? Or
Who was
involved?
WHY did it
happen?
WHEN did
it happen?
WHERE did
it happen?

3. Understand the following:
Terms Meaning
Event / Incident
(What happened?)
Peristiwa
Peristiwa / kejadian yang berlaku di dalam
sesebuah cerita
Cause
(Why did it happened?)
Penyebab
Mengapa sesuatu peristiwa berlaku.
Effect Kesan
Apakah kesan-kesan kepada watak-watak yang
terlibat apabila sesuatu peristiwa berlaku.
Character Watak di dalam sesebuah cerita.
Characteristics / Qualities
/ Personalities
Perwatakan / Sifat / Kualiti seseorang watak.

4. THEMES / MORAL
VALUES / LESSONS
(TEMA / NILAI MURNI /
PENGAJARAN)
FAMILY LOVE (T)
We must love our family.
(MV)
We must be protective.
(MV)
FRIENDSHIP (T)
We must be kind.
(MV)
We must be helpful.
(MV)
We must
be brave.
(MV)
We must be
protective. (MV)
We must stick to our
principles to do what
is right. (MV)
PATRIOTISM (T)
We must be patriotic. (MV)
We must be fair. (MV)
We must be brave. (MV)

5. IMPORTANT
EVENTS
(1) Richard purposely
missed shooting a buck.
(2) Richard wrote his
first letter to Mr Kilmer.
(3) Hannah Schermer
cried at the school
hallway.
(4) Richard was the
only student who
signed a sympathy card
for the Schermers.
(5) Richard told his
family and Mrs Hansen
that he wrote poetry
and wrote a letter to
Mr Kilmer.
(6) Hannah declined
the role of Lady Liberty.
Richard declined his
part as the Doughboy.
(7) Richard wrote a
poem as a tribute to Mr
Kilmer. In the poem,
Richard likened Mr
Kilmer to the “world”.

6. Richard purposely missed
shooting a buck.
Richard thought that hunting was
not important.
Richard could not kill animals.
CAUSES EVENT EFFECTS
Gus, Richard’s elder brother, was upset with Richard
because Richard purposely misfired.
Richard’s father, Pa, was also disappointed with
Richard.
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.
Pa asked Richard why he purposely missed shooting
the buck.
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7. Richard wrote his first letter to
Mr Kilmer.
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.
Mrs Hansen told the class that Mr
Kilmer was a famous poet. He
worked for “The New York
Times”.
CAUSES EVENT EFFECTS
Richard got Mr Kilmer’s office
address.
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.
Richard regarded Mr Kilmer as his
new hero because Mr Kilmer
loved poetry and was brave to
enlist in the army.
This was how Richard became friends with Mr
Kilmer. They always exchanged letters with each
other.
Richard always sent a poem with his letters. Mr
Kilmer would praise Richard and make suggestions
to improve the poem.
2

8. Hannah Schermer cried at the
school hallway.
Someone scrawled “Dirty Hun”
all over her book cover.
CAUSES EVENT EFFECTS
Richard told some of his schoolmates about it.
Richard realised that his schoolmates were mean to
Hannah and her parents.
• They said that the Schermers were Huns.
• 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.
Starting from this incident, the Schermers were
always being mistreated by some of the Turtle Lake
people.
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9. Richard was the only student
who signed a sympathy card for
the Schermers.
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.
CAUSES EVENT EFFECTS
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.
After school, Richard took the card from Mrs
Hansen. He wanted to give the card to Hannah.
On Richard’s way to Hannah’s home, Abner and
Harry was waiting to hit him. They called Richard a
Hun lover. Their cruel intention was in vain as
Richard fought them back. They promised to leave
Richard alone.
Hannah accepted the card reluctantly. Later,
Hannah apologised to Richard for being rude.
This was the beginning of their friendship.
4

10. Richard told his family and Mrs
Hansen that he wrote poetry.
Richard received a letter from Mr
Kilmer.
Mr Kilmer advised Richard to
overcome his fear.
CAUSES EVENT EFFECTS
Nobody was interested.
• 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.
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.
Mr Kilmer advised Richard to
share his poetry with people
around him.
5

11. Hannah declined the
role of Lady Liberty.
Richard declined his
part as the Doughboy.
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 with Mrs Hansen’s
decision. They regarded Hannah as an
unpatriotic German although she was an
American citizen.
CAUSES EVENT EFFECTS
Pa was disappointed when Richard declined the role
of the Doughboy.
• Pa advised Richard not to side with the
Schermers.
• Influenced by Abner’s father story, he thought
that the Schermers wanted the Germans to win
the war.
• Richard told his father that the Schermers were
patriotic.
• They wanted the Allies to win.
• Hannah’s brother, Otto, was an American soldier.
Some parents complained to the principal
and demanded Mrs Hansen to choose
someone else. Mrs Hansen did not change
her mind.
Hannah wrote the best essay so Mrs Hansen
asked Hannah to read it. After she read the
essay, only Richard clapped his hand.
Hannah told Richard that her essay started a
little war in Turtle lake. She did not want to
cause any more problems. Richard wanted to
support Hannah.
Hannah’s friendship with Richard became stronger.
• Hannah invited Richard to her house.
• Richard got to know Hannah’s parents.
• Richard visited the Schermers whenever he felt
lonely.
• The Schermers understood his dreams.
• Richard shared Mr Kilmer’s letters with them.
• He read his poems to them.
• During Christmas, Hannah baked cookies for Mr
Kilmer.
• Mrs Schermer knitted a scarf to cheer Mr Kilmer
up.
Gus told Richard that all students said that he was
unpatriotic and a traitor.
6

12. Richard wrote a poem as a
tribute to Mr Kilmer.
Mr Kilmer was killed in the war
between the Allies and the
Germans.
Mr Kilmer was Richard’s penpal.
CAUSES EVENT EFFECTS
The tribute was printed in the local newspaper, “The
Turtle Lake Weekly”.
Richard’s father read the poem.
 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 poem.
His father finally supported Richard’s passion in
writing poetry.
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.
Richard was afraid that his father was going to be
angry at him. His father did not like Richard writing
poems.
7
In the poem, Richard likened Mr
Kilmer to the “world”.