DEAR MR KILMER :

CHAPTER 3
SYNOPSIS
QUESTIONS
SPM QUESTIONS
SYNOPSIS
 Mrs Hansen tells the class that someone vandalised
the tavern owned by Hannah Schermer’s parents.
They painted terrible things all over the walls.
 Mrs Hansen asks the class to sign a card that she
bought to express regret for what has happened.
 A girl ask why did people do that, Mrs Hansen says
that they thought it was patriotic to harass an
innocent German family.
 The troublemakers like Abner, Harry, Blanche and
Peggy Mason refuse to sign the card. Because Abner
thinks that the Schermers are German spies.
Blanche says that Hannah’s family sang German on
Hannah’s birthday although the war is going on.
SYNOPSIS
 Peggy says that Hannah thinks she is better and have more
culture than other students. While Harry says that Hannah
does not help the others with their Mathematics.
 Mrs Hansen is shocked to hear them talk such way.

 They gang up to warn the others not to sign.

 Only Richard dares to defy them and sign the card. Since all
the boys are afraid Abner and Harry will beat them up. The
girls worry that Peggy and Blanche, who are popular, will not
speak to them.
SYNOPSIS
 After school, Richard takes the card from Mrs
Hansen to give it to Hannah. The two bullies, Abner
and Harry, fight with Richard. Richard kicks Harry in
the stomach and is about to box Abner. Abner
pleads not to box him and promises to leave him
alone. Then Richard walks away.
 Richard is about halfway to the Schermers’ tavern
when something occurs to him. The inside of the
card is blank, except for his signature. He decides to
write a message in the card and sees Hannah at her
tavern.
 “DIRTY HUNS!” are painted all over the wall. Richard
gives the card to Hannah. She is angry but takes it
reluctantly.
SYNOPSIS
 Richard apologies for what has happened. Hannah says
that her parents have two different ideas about people.
Her father says that people are basically good but her
mother says people are better at being mean than they
are at being nice. Hannah agrees with her mother at the
moment.
 Richard had written in the card that a lot of people in
the Turtle Lake respect them and would not do such an
awful thing. But now, he is not sure if many people in
Turtle Lake really respect them.
 On the way home, Richard climbs his favourite oak tree
overlooking the train tracks. He sees many happy people
getting into it. He wishes he could go far away so he
would not be bullied for what he believes in.
SYNOPSIS
 Richard knows he could not run away and leave
his family behind. He walks the rest of the way
home.
 As Richard approaches his house, Angie run
towards him and hands him a letter from New
York. Richard could only think of one person
who would write him from New York and its
Joyce Kilmer. But that did not seem possible
QUESTIONS
1) a. What do the vandals do to the Schermers’ tavern?
b. Why do they do that?

2) Mrs Hansen buys a card for Hannah. What does she want the
class to do?

3) Why do the other students not sign the card?

4) What happens to the card in the end?

5)What do Abner and Harry do after school?

QUESTIONS
6) Is Hannah happy to receive the card from Richard?

7) What does Richard do next?

8) What does Richard do on the way home?

9) From whom does Richard think it is? Give a reason.

SPM QUESTIONS
1. QUESTION 4 (SPM 2012)
Based on a 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.
1. Question 6 (SBP Trial 2016)
Which character in the novel do you sympathize
with? Explain why you sympathize with this character
with close reference to the text.
ANSWERS
1) a. They paint “DIRTY HUN” all over the wall on the tavern.

b. The Schermers are German and the vandals think that is

patriotic to harass them.

2) She wants the class to sign it expressing their

regret/sympathy for what has happened to Hannah.

3) All the boys are afraid Abner and Harry will beat them up.
The girls worry that Peggy and Blanche, who are popular, will
not speak to them.

4) Richard takes it from Mrs Hansen to give it to Hannah himself.

ANSWERS
5) They fight with Richard.

6) No. She is angry over what has happened.

7) He persuades her to take the card and give it to her

parents by apologizing.

8) Richard climbs his favourite oak tree overlooking the

train tracks.

9) Joyce Kilmer. Because he sent a letter to him before.

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
 The novel that I read was ‘Dear Mr Kilmer’ by Anne Schraff. The character I
sympathized with was Hannah Schermer. There were three reasons why I
sympathized with her.

Firstly, her schoolmates called her ‘Dirty Hun’. They evenscrawled “Dirty Hun” all
over her book cover. 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. Starting from this incident, the Schermers were always
being mistreated by some of the Turtle Lake people.

Secondly, her parents’ tavern was vandalised. They painted “Dirty Huns” all over
the walls. Mrs Hansen asked her class to sign a sympathy card for the
Schermers. 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.