Dear Mr Kilmer : Model Questions and answers

1. We must have the courage to do the right thing- Based on the

novel you have read , provide incidents from that novel that support
is statement
(As you can see it says incidents rather than characters so we can write
many incidents involving many characters)
In the novel Dear Mr Kilmer, there are many incidents that encourage us to do the
right thing
First is the incident of the play where Hannah is ousted in an unceremonious way
due to her German ethnicity. She doesnt balk at the unfairness of the discrimination
but has the courage to retract her participation as Lady Liberty, a role she won fair
and square. This prompts Richard to do the right thing that is reject the role of the
dough boy as an act of courage emulating his friend Hannah.
Furthermore, the next incident is when faced with uncomfortable opposition from
Pa and Gus in the face of the deer shooting incident, Ricahard has the courage to do
the right thing. He purposely misses the deer as its against his principles to kill a
wild animal for sport. He is brave enough to say that he doesnt like killing animals
to Pa and stands up to the taunting that Gus provides after that
Subsequently, the incident of the card where the class refused to sign an apology to
The Schermers who and their home vandalized by the anti-German crowd. Richard
is the only one who signs it courageously as it is the right thing to do. At a tender
age , school bullies can be more intimidating than they really are but Richard is
courageous enough to stand up to them after school when Abner and Harry taunt
him. He shows courage in avoiding a conflict until the bullies lunge at him and the
right thing to do was teach them a lesson.
Next was the incident where Joyce Kilmer joins the war as a soldier as it was the
right thing to do despite the principle of despising war. The other incident is when
Otto is forced to join the war effort against his native Germany. These incidents
show great courage on the part of the characters involved.
In conclusion , all these incidents prove that it takes great courage to do the right
thing/.
2. a brave man is not one who has no fear but one who conquers that
fear. Based on the novel you have read , describe how this is
potrayed by one of the characters and explain how this will benefit
you.
Fear of what others may say, fear of how people you love will react and fear that
what we do might not be supported by the community in Turtle Lake are the
issues in the novel Dear Mr. Kilmer.
Richard is the character who character who comes to mind in this matter as he
has the fear that his passion for writing poetry will not be accepted by his

conservative father. However he conquers this fear and divulges his secret at
the dinner table and gets a cold response from Pa. Despite this Richard
perseveres till the end till his father accepts his passion without antagonizing
him. This has been useful to me as its applies to my life when dealing with
opposition to our parents
Richard also overcome the fear of having to stand his ground on the issue of
hunting by politely explaining his concerns to hiss Pa. He conquers his fear of his
imposing father by politely refusing while his being more outspoken with his
brother and overcoming the fear of having to fit in. this character has shown me
that we do not have to always fit in where we dont. we can be ourselves
Moreover, Richard overcomes the fear of corresponding with a great famous poet
by sending a letter too Joyce Kilmer anyhow. Although it took some prodding
from Mrs. Hansen, Richard is brave enough for a young boy to overcome his fear
of writing to a famous writer. This motivates me to do the same that is, never
say it is impossible
Finally he conquers the fear of everyone seeing his poem when Mrs Hansen
suggested that he publish his poem in the local newspaper. It took great courage
especially in a society that looks unkindly on boys who have pursuits that are
deemed unmanly. Here I learnt that if you dont try you will not succeed.
In conclusion, it is clear that there are many instances of overcoming our fears
and the resulting positive effects that we can all learn from in this novel.