Question 1 (SPM 2007)

‘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.

Sample answer
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.
Thirdly, Richard was brave. This was shown when Richard told his 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.