SPM English – Dear Mr Kilmer: Chapter Synopsis (Chapter 6 – Chapter 10)

Hello dear readers! Due to the amazing reception all of you gave me for my first blog post about Dear Mr Kilmer Chapter Synopsis for Chapters 1 – 5 (if you haven’t read it yet, you can find it here) – I decided to continue by posting the chapter synopsis for the remaining chapters. As always, I hope they help you and let me know in the comments if they did! 🙂

Chapter 6

• Richard and Mr. Kilmer exchanged letters throughout the summer. Richard always attached a poem with each letter he sent.
• Mr. Kilmer sent a letter saying that he had arrived in France, and was getting ready to join the battle.
• Richard was worried about the war. The fighting seemed far from over, and he worried if his brother or even himself would go fight in the war someday. He thought of his uncle’s death, and how his father was deeply affected by it.
• When school started, Mrs. Hansen announced that the class would put on a programme to help give funds for the war and sell “Liberty Bonds”
• One girl student will be chosen to play “Lady Liberty” and one boy student will be chosen to play the “Doughboy”, an American soldier. Both students will be chosen by writing the best essays about the topic “How We Can Help The War Efforts Right Here in Turtle Lake”.
• Richard started thinking, and had an idea. All the students could write letters to the soldiers fighting overseas. It would help them not feel lonely and homesick. He started writing his essay.
• Two mean girls, Peggy and Blanche, discussed who would be chosen as Lady Liberty. They made fun of their classmates Millie (for being so mousy) and Hannah (for being a Hun). Richard was shocked at their comments.
• After everyone turned in their essays, Mrs. Hansen announced that Richard will play the role of Doughboy. He read his essay out loud to the class, and almost everyone clapped after he was done (except Harry and Abner, the bullies).
• Then, Mrs. Hansen announced that Hannah will play Lady Liberty. Everyone gasped. Hannah read her essay out loud, looking nervous. She focused on the need for everyone in Turtle Lake to care about each other, no matter the differences between them.
• After Hannah finished reading, Richard was the only one who clapped for her.

Chapter 7

• Richard noticed that some students wanted to clap for Hannah too. But Harry, Abner and Peggy were sitting with their arms crossed – scaring the other students from clapping.
• The next morning, everyone at school was angrily discussing Mrs. Hansen’s choice for Lady Liberty. There were even some angry parents that came to visit the principal’s office.
• In class, Mrs. Hansen announced that Hannah had declined the role of Lady Liberty. Several students were happy about the announcement.
• At lunch break, Richard asked Hannah why she declined the role. She replied that she didn’t want to “start a war” in Turtle Lake. It would be best for everyone if she gave the role to someone else. Richard stood by Hannah, and said that he would decline the “Doughboy” role too.
• Richard and Hannah went to go see Mrs. Hansen to tell her about Richard’s decision. Mrs. Hansen was no longer ashamed of being American, because of her two fine students.
• Richard walked Hannah home that afternoon, and he had never felt happier. Making Hannah feel better made him feel wonderful.
• The next day at school, Millie and Herbie had been chosen to play “Lady Liberty” and “Doughboy”. It didn’t turn out to be a popularity contest – fairness had still won.
• During lunch break, Hannah invited Richard to supper with her parents. Richard said yes.
• Richard told his brother he won’t be home for dinner.
• After school, Richard walked with Hannah back to her house. He met her parents there, who were warm and friendly to him.
• While waiting for dinner, Mr. Schermer chatted with Richard about poetry. During dinner, Mr. and Mrs. Schermer discussed many interesting things about their lives.
• After dinner and dessert, everyone went to the parlour to listen to music. When dusk arrived, Richard was sad to leave but happy because Hannah’s parents said he was always welcome.

Chapter 8

• Richard’s father chats with Richard about his decision to not be in the play. His father lectured him about siding with the Schermers, and how that meant he wasn’t standing with the other people in the town.
• Richard’s father said that Richard’s poetry is filling his mind with foolish ideas. Richard became sad after hearing this.
• As fall continued, Richard was still unpopular with the other students, but becoming closer to Hannah. He also visited the Schermers’ house often.
• In January, Richard received a sad letter from Mr. Kilmer, he wrote about missing his family and being gloomy. Hannah’s family decided to send him a care package to cheer him up.
• Mr. Kilmer wrote back later that the package made him very happy.
• In spring, Richard’s history teacher taught the class about the battles that were happening. The small hope everyone had was in President Wilson’s peace plan (which was to build a League of Nations)
• In late May, the war news suddenly got much better. Everyone was in a great mood, just in time for the end-of-term picnic. The students walked to a nearby meadow, while Richard and Hannah sat under a large elm tree and ate together. He asked Hannah to tell him about New York.
• Richard and Hannah suddenly got upset thinking about the war. Richard decided to carve his and her initials in a tree, when Hannah suddenly got hit in the ankle by a stone with the word “Hun” on it.

Chapter 9

• Richard and his father were cleaning the barn when Gus came to announce that he had enlisted in the army. This upset Pa very much, and he scolded Gus before leaving angrily.
• When Gus tried to say goodbye to Pa, Pa didn’t respond. Gus left quietly and Richard was scared of never seeing his brother again.
• Richard and Angie discussed Pa’s bitter mood these days, and Angie said he was worried about Gus.
• Between working at the farm, Richard spent time with the Schermers often to distract him from his family problems. He also continued to work on poems.
• After receiving a letter from Mr. Kilmer and responding immediately, Richard received the sad news from Hannah that Mr. Kilmer had been killed in battle.

Chapter 10

• The Schermers gave him a copy of the newspaper, and Richard read the story of how Mr. Kilmer passed away.
• He hastily thanked the Schermers and quickly ran to somewhere he could cry by himself. He went home and wrote a poem titled “In Memory of Sergeant Joyce Kilmer”.
• After sharing the poem with the Schermers, they encouraged him to take it to the newspaper office to be printed and shared with everyone in Turtle Lake.
• On Thursday, the poem was printed in the newspaper. Pa called out to Richard, and finally told him the story of his brother who passed away in battle, Roland.
• After reading the poem and seeing Pa’s reaction, both Pa and Richard finally understood why Richard wrote poems.
• The war finally ended. Richard and his family laughed about Gus being in the army for a long time, but were also thankful the danger was over. Hannah’s brother Otto also returned from the war.
• As winter came closer, Richard divided his time between school, the farm, and spending time with the Schermers, especially Hannah.
• Richard’s poetry could be regularly seen in the newspaper, and since it was usually about farm life – Pa helped Richard to make the poems better, and sometimes Pa just smiled and said it was a good poem.

 

Well, I hope this summary helps you in your exams! If you need any more help related to English Literature or English for SPM – you can email me at nuramalina3108@gmail.com. I hope this helped you, and good luck for your exams! 🙂

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