KINDNESS & STANDING FOR WHAT IS RIGHT : LESSONS LEARNT / MORAL VALUES : NOVEL - DEAR MR KILMER

SAMPLE ANSWER

1.      Kindness is the language which the deaf can hear and the blind can see. Write about an episode that shows the acts of kindness and what it has taught you. Support your answer with close reference to the text.

2.      Based on the novel you have studied, describe an event which has taught you lessons about life. Explain in details how the event teaches you the lessons, with close reference to the text.

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An event which taught me lessons about life in the novel, Dear Mr Kilmer, by Anne Scraff,  is when Richard becomes the lone signer of the card sent to the Schemer. Here are the lessons that I have learnt.

This event has taught me that I need to be kind and show kind gestures to people even though you do not really know them .

Being kind does not mean that you have to give people something.  Kindness can be shown in terms of gestures.  Hannah was not really Richard’s friend in the beginning, but when he was given the sympathy card , he signed it. It was a kind gesture by him to show that he symphatised with Hannah for events that befell her. /

However, the rest of his classmate did not sign the card, either they were afraid to sign or they just did not want to./

For instance,…. (pg 31-33)

Richard knew that Hannah and her family would never hurt anyone. He felt disgusted that people pick on Hannah’s family just because she and her family…… (pg 33, 30)

By signing and sending the card personally , he was being very kind to Hannah.telling Hannah that not all people in Turtle Lake are mean. Some are nice and kind. True enough, some neighbours came to Hannah’s house to…. (pg53)

Another lesson that I have learnt from this event is we should be brave and able to stand for what we think is right.

Richard is brave and courageous enough to be the only one who signed the card even though a few of his classmates are scared to do so. (pg 34)…

It is unbelievable that most of the students felt that refusing to sign the card was the right thing to do. They even believed that defacing the Schermers’ property was patriotic. (pg 34)

Richard just ignored the giggling and rude remarks he heard behind his back.  He even volunteered to send the card personally to Hannah.  On his way home, he also had to fight with Abner and Harry.(pg 36-37).

He is willing to face all these just because he thinks that is the right thing to do.

In conclusion, the event in which Richard signed the card and sent it personally to Hannah taught me many lessons that will be useful in my life. I hope I can be kind and also as brave as Richard to stand for what is right when other people do not have the same opinion.