The Teaching of Novel

The Teaching of Novel

Dear Mr. Kilmer
Written By

Anne Schraff

Chapter 1

• Pa, Gus and Richard go into the woods for hunting.
• They see a beautiful buck (male deer).
• Richard is mesmerised by the beauty of the animal. But he also doesn’t feel

like killing the animal.

• He decides to miss the shot on purpose.
• Pa is disappointed, Gus is upset.
• Richard does not show his interest in hunting.





Chapter 2

• In the classroom
• Mrs Hansen reads a poem entitled “Tree” written by Joyce Kilmer
• No one seems to be interested in the poem except Richard.
• It is the first time Richard hears a poem with simple words and tone unlike

poems from Shakespeare, Lord Byron, etc.

• Richard’s classmates give negative remarks towards the poet. However,

Richard is more interested to know the poet. So he writes a letter to the poet.



Chapter 3

• The sympathy card for the Schermers
• Their tavern has been vandalised due to racism. They were originally from

Germany.

• Mrs Hansen suggests to the kids to write a sympathy card for Hannah.

Unfortunately, most of the refuse to do so.

• Richard is the only one who signs the card. He sends the card to Hannah after

school.

• Hannah is sceptical, she gives cold treatment to Richard. Rihard tries to understand

but he is hurt as well.





Chapter 4

• Richard receives a reply letter from Joyce Kilmer. He is overjoyed.
• He tries to share his joyfulness with his family, but no one is interested and

he even gets criticism from his brother, Gus.

• Then, he tells about the letter to his teacher, Mrs Hansen. She is happy for

him

• Richard also develops friendship with Hannah. Hannah tells Richard some

of the neighbours come to help clean their tavern. Nor everyone is bad after
all.



Chapter 5

• Mrs Hansen encourages Richard to reveal to everyone that he writes good poems.

He also makes friend with the famous poet Mr.Kilmer.

• On the last day of school, Richard gathers his courage to recite the poem he has

written in front of everyone in the class.

• The poem is about soldiers going off to war.
• The poem attracts some of his classmates’ attention. It reminds them of their

family members who are in the war.

• Hannah helps Richard to correct the last line of the poem. Instead of using the

word “die”, they use the word “why”.





Chapter 6

• Richard and Mr. Kilmer keep on exchanging letters.
• Mr.Kilmer encourages and motivates Richard to write more poem.
• Richard really looks up to Mr. Kilmer. He is the role model that he always wants.
• Hannah and Richard win the essay competition. Because of that they are given the

roles of Lady Liberty and Doughboy respectively.

• Anyway, some people of Turtle Lake are not satisfied as the Lady Liberty role

shouldn’t be given to Hannah.



Chapter 7

• Hannah decides to decline the role of Lady Liberty, so does Richard. He

declines the role Doughboy. It is to show support and loyalty as friend to
Hannah.

• Richard still corresponds with Mr. Kilmer. Mr,Kilmer ensures Richard that

being afraid is normal to human being.

• He admits that he is afraid, scared and worried in the war.
• He also misses his family a lot.



Chapter 8

• Richard develops good relationship with the Schermers. They are intelligent

people who appreciate art work including poetry. Richard usually has dinners
with them and recites poetry at the fireplace in their house.

• They encourages Richard to write poems and give positive comments.
• Pa is not happy with this development. Some people of Turtle Lake also

criticise Richard due to this.

• The smell of racism is still in the air.



Chapter 9

• Gus decides to join the army despite the objection from Pa.
• Pa is furious. He wants Gus to finish school before joining the army. But

Gus is too stubborn to listen to any advice.

• One fine day, Richard is sending a letter to Mr. Kilmer. He wants to know

how does poetry can do to make the world better?

• On his way, he gets the news that Mr. Kilmer dies in a battle.
• Richard just can’t bear his sadness.



Chapter 10

• Richard never knows how does Mr.Kilmer look like until he dies. He sees a photo of Mr.

Kilmer.

• He writes a poem as a tribute to Mr. Kilmer.
• The Schermers encourage him to send the poem to the local newspaper to get the poem

published. He is reluctant but finally he sends it anyway.

• The poem is published. Pa reads it. After reading the poem, Pa starts to talk to Richard. He

tells Richard about his sorrow that he keeps himself after his brother Roland died in a war,
followed by the death of his wife, Richard’s mother. Now Richard understands why his Pa is
too quiet all the time. People of Turtle Lake start to appreciate poetry. Richard’s poems have
become regular in the local newspaper since then.