Sing To The Dawn E-Module

Sing
to the

Dawn

MINFONG HO

The Author

Minfong Ho spent most of her
childhood in Thailand, then studied in
Taiwan and at Cornell University in
Ithaca, New York.

She first started writing after she
left home, to combat homesickness
while studying in the United States.
Her first book, Sing To The Dawn  and
Rice Without Rain, are set in the
country of her childhood, Thailand.
She also the author of The Clay
Marble and Maples In The Mist, and
co-author of Sing To The Dawn, the
musical based book.

Minfong Ho now lives with her
husband and three children in Ithaca,
New York.

SYNOPSIS

This novels tells a story about a
girl named Dawan who dreams to
further her studies in the city. She
struggles to prove her worth in
the anti-feministic village. Her
dreams come true when she won
the scholarship but it was not an
easy journey for her. Dawan is
pressured by her father who
thinks that a girl does not need to
further their studies. In the same
time, she faces pressure from her
brother as he wants her to
surrender the scholarship to him.

Dawan has to go through many
obstacles and she was torn with
doubts. However, the burning
flame and passion in her has
pushed her to claim her right in
getting better education at the
city. Soon, her father gave his
permission for her to go to the
city and she also gained support
from her mother and also her
grand-mother. Dawan strives to
changed the perception of the
villagers and hopefully they can
have a new mindset that girls are
also capable to get a better
education. She wishes to be the
change that her family, and her
village need.

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CHAPTER 10
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THEME

As general, the theme is about the ideas
that contain in the novel. There is a few
themes that you can find in this novel. The

themes are:

THEME

Discrimination toward gender

The mindset that girl cannot further their study and
achieve their dream They need to stay at home to
take care of the family. For example, Dawan's father
did not allow Dawan to further her study even she

gets the scholarship because she is a girl. This
mentality needs to be sorted out because everybody

deserves to get better education despite his/her
gender.

Misuse of the authority

Someone that has power always uses his/her power to
take advantage of someone that does not have power.

As the example, the villager needs to pay tax to the
landowner even they just a worker on that farm. Another

example that you can see based on this theme is when
Vichai hurt his sister "Bao" because she lets the bird free.
From this example, it shows that the misuse of authority

not just happen between a rich and a poor but also
happen in the family.

The value of education

In this novel, it shows how education becomes a
valuable part of life. Education can change someone life

but it needs support from others such as family. For
example, the Grandmother supports Dawan to further

her study. Education is also about courage. For
instance, Dawan needs to face her brother to get the
scholarship and she also needs to against her father to
just further her study to change her family life and also

the villager life.

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CHARACTER AND
CHARACTERISTIC

As everyone knows, a character is a person that
exists in the novel while characteristic is the

identity of that character. So in this novel, there
are NINE key characters. Those characters are:

BRAVE. She is really brave to convey her
thought to the head village and also when she

defends Bao from Vichai.

DETERMINE. She is really determined to
change the villager life by change

organization and system that have been
a burden for them.

LOVING. Even her brother and father have
been a barrier for her to further the study
but she still loves her family and want them

to get a better life.

BRILLIANT. She can get the first place in the DAWAN
government exams to obtain scholarship even she
needs to face his brother "Kwai" who also a really

smart person.

CARING. He cares about his sister
when he pushes Dawan by accident

and makes Dawan bleeds.

SELFISH. He doesn't let want Dawan KWAI
to accept the scholarship even though

she won the first place in the
government exams.

SMART. He has a lot of ideas on how to improve the
villager and his family life and he also gets the
second place in the government exam.

TEACHER DREAMER. He has his dream to
reconstruct the system of the farm in

the village by teaching the kids
about it.

FAIR. He doesn't being prejudice and
being fair by asking Dawan and Kwai
about their father decision regarding

the scholarship.

BAD TEMPERED. He always scolds his
child for not obeying him. He also scolds

Kwai because he did not get the first
place in the government exams.

FATHER FIRM. He doesn't like when Dawan won the
scholarship and never admit it. He also always
with his decision for not letting Dawan further her

study for a quite long time.

OLD MINDSET. He does not allow Dawan to
further her study because she thinks that women

should stay at home and take of the family.

THOUGHTFUL. She doesn't want MOTHER
Dawan to have high hopes because it

might hurt her feelings.

PATIENCE. She has great patience to
live with a bad-tempered husband
and also to obey all of his order.

SEDULOUS. She does not give up to
make Dawan has the opportunity to

further her study.

UNDERSTANDING. She
understands what Dawan has
been facing and try to hear

what is her problem.

GRANDMOTHER

SUPPORTIVE. She supports Dawan to get
the approval from her father and always

help Dawan whenever she in need.

UNSUPPORTIVE. He does not support Dawan to
continue her study because he believes that kind

of action is unnecessary.

RELIGIOUS. He believes that MONK
people should not waste their time

on the unneeded things and
should focus on the peace and

the enlightenment.

KIND-HEARTED. She willingly helps the
bird to get free from the cage. She also
helps Dawan to get to her home when she

hurt her leg.

FEARLESS. She scolds Kwai for not BAO
being fair towards Dawan even Kwai is

much older and stronger than she is.

NATURE LOVER. She sells flower at the market not just
because of the money but also because she loves the
flower. She also helps the sparrow to get free from the

cage.

NEGATIVE. She always thinks that the world and the reality
of life are unfair because women never get a chance to

change their life and always being burdened by the family
matter.

HELPFUL. She always helps Dawan
as her cousin just like she help

Dawan when Dawan hurt her ankle
and she also always give advice for

Dawan.

NOI

CHARACTERS &
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ICS

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SETTI

Sing to th

INGS

he Dawn

PHYSICAL SETTINGS

- It is set in a village in Thailand.
- There is a river flowing through the village
rickety old bridge (favourite place of both D
Kwai to watch sunrise)
- Dawan comes from a poor family that has
luxuries

e with a
Dawan and

s few

SOCIAL SETTINGS

- The family is a strong unit and it shows pu
kindness among them
- The children respect their father and obey
is essentially a patriarch society as it is the r
get an education and girls appear as inferio
equals to men.
- Supressed society where the landowners
earnings of the workers and leave them poo
miserable.

ure love and

y his wishes. It
right of boys to
or and not as

take all the
or and

TIME SETTINGS

- It is set in modern times but speaks of a v
traditional mindset that goes back several
decades.
- Women are not considered equal to men

village/old,
n.

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MORAL

COMPASSION

Compassion is a sympathetic pity and
concern for the sufferings or
misfortunes of others. Dawan has the
compassion in her, hence the reason
she felt uneasy to accept the
scholarship as her brother is very
eager to study too. If she was selfish,
she wouldn't care about what her
brotherwants.

MORAL

KINDNESS

Bao is a kind friend to Dawan and she
offers Dawan  a shoulder to cry
on  when Dawan is feeling down
meeting the hypocrite head monk.
She tried to make Dawan happy and
cheer her up by giving her the lotus
bud and she allows her to free the
birds, making her getting beaten by
Vichai. Bao told her that just like the
bird, she has to fly while her gate still
opens.

MORAL

BRAVERY

Dawan's father  doesnt' give Dawan
his permission to study at the city. He
wants to  “brainwash”  Dawan and
Kwai so that Dawan could  step
aside to let her brother replaced her
place. So, Dawan bravely speak up for
herself and begs her father to trust her
abilities and to support her, the way
he supports his son. Dawan’s
words touch her father’s heart and he
finallygavehispermission.

MORAL

RESPONSIBILITY

Dawan knows that she has to do a lot
more for her family and the
surrounding that she lives in once she
has finished her studies. Kwai also said
that he will improve the bad
circumstances of the villagers when he
has the chance. They both understands
that there is much changes that needs to
be done for their society and they're
willing to bring the changes for the
people.