DEAR MR.

KILMER
(CHAPTER 5)
BY
NURUL NADHIRAH
NURQISTINA
NUR ALEYA MYSARAH
 SYNOPSIS
Richard shares Mr.Kilmer’s latest letter
with his class and his poem on a
thunderstorm.Then he reads the poem on
the troop train which he plan to send to
Mr.Kilmer.Now,Blanche,Peggy and a few
other students look at Richard with
newfound respect.Richard tells that he
would like a different ending for his poem
on the troop train, but he cannot think of
one.Hannah suggests changing it to
“Although I wonder why?”
 POEM
The train is full of soldiers
Going off to war.
The thunder of its wheels
Is like a cannon’s roar.
I see the young men’s faces
As the train goes swiftly by.
I see that they are smiling,
Though some will surely die.
Mr.Higby,Richard’s history teacher,talks
about war in the class.He corrects Abner
and Peggy when they refer to the
Germans as Huns.He tells the class that
the Germans are not Huns and explains
that Huns are nomadic.Mongolian
horseman who controlled much of
Europe.That night,Richard writes a letter
and sends his poem on the troop train to
Mr.Kilmer.He also tells him that the last
line in that poem is suggested by his
friend.
That year,Pa has extra corn to sell and
makes profit.Richard enjoys working
with Pa,but there is still a barrier
between them.He notices that Pa
sometimes gazes with a sad and
haunted look.That night,Richard writes
a poem about Pa but he may not share
it with him.
 POEM
My father has a farmer’s hands,
All rough and hard and strong.
His eyes,though,are a poet’s eyes
That seem to ache and long.
His lips are all too often closed
And never speak of pain.
Whar secrets hide inside of him?
Oh,how I wish he would explain!
A few weeks later,Mr.Kilmer writes to
Richard that he volunteered to fight in
this last war so that young people like
him need not fight and die anymore.He
also like Hannah’s last line for
Richard’s poem.
 The challenges of growing up
• Richard has little chance of communicating
with Pa who is often silent and
reserved.Richard can only share a limited
amount of his pain and frustration with Angie
• Richard is a boy with principles and firm belief.
He does not give in the herd mentality or get
pressured. Thus he has to face the bullies in
his class when he is the only person who signs
the card for the Schermers.
 Love, understanding and family
relationship
• Pa loves his children but is unable to express it
or talk about buried pain over the loss of his
wife and brother. Often lost in his silence and
his thought, this causes ‘some strange barrier’
between him and his children
• When Gus tells Pa that he has enlisted to
joined the war, his father is shocked and
unhappy. It is because Pa actually afraid of
losing Gus in the war like his brother
 Humanity and friendship give us
hope
• Being kind to others when they are facing
difficulty reveals the basic goodness of man,
and underline our humanity
• When the Schermes’ tavern was vandalised,
Mrs Hansen asks her class to sign a card of
sympathy. The whole class disobeys her,
except Richard
 Character and Characteristics
• Richard
- observant,perceptive,analytical,intelligent and
mature
• Pa
-deligent and hardworking
• Joyce Kilmer
-brave and patriotic
• Hannah Schermer
-intelligent and perceptive
END OF CHAPTER 5