Sing to the Dawn module

Meet Min Fong Ho

There is so much, so much beauty and so much pain around me which I want to write about
– because I want to share it.

• Minfong Ho writes about the people and the places she knows well and cares about.
‘There is so much, so much beauty and so much pain around me which I want to
write about – because I want to share it.’

• She is born in 1951

• Spends her childhood in Singapore and Thailand and became fluent in 3 languages:
Chinese, Thai and English.

• Ho wrote short story ‘Sing to Dawn’ while studying in Cornell University (history and
economics)

• She wrote it because she missed Thailand.

• She entered it into a short story contest and won an award and was asked to turn
the story into a novel which was published in 1975.

• Ho used the money earned from the publication of ‘Sing to the Dawn’ to set up
scholarship funds for girls in Thailand.

• In 1980 Ho saw images of Cambodian war refugees on television.

• She took leave of absence from her teaching job and work as a nutritionist and relief
worker for Catholic Relief Service on the Thai-Cambodian border.

• This experience helped her to write ‘The Clay Marble (1991)

• Minfong Ho has a purpose in writing about life in Southeast Asia.

• She wants to increase understanding between cultures and provide realistic
descriptions of what life is like for people in different countries.

• Her work features young people as protagonist or main characters.

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Sing To The Dawn - Minfong Ho (Synopsis)

Chapter One:
Dawan and Kwai sat on the rickety old bridge above the river
Dawan asked Kwai what would he do if he got the scholarship
Dawan felt that she would not get the scholarship because she is a girl, instead Kwai might
get the scholarship
Talked about how unfair it is that the sacks of rice stacked up beneath the house is for the
tax collector
Their parents thought that it was foolish and wasteful to send girls to school

Chapter Two:
Teacher asked students what they saw beneath their house in the morning
Had a long discussion with the students about the landlord taking away sacks of rice
beneath their houses
A student spotted the headmaster heading to their class and the student shouted "he's
coming"
Teacher and student immediately pretended that they are having Geography lessons until
the headmaster went away
Teacher and student discussed what they should do if they won the scholarship
Teacher announced that Dawan won the scholarship

Chapter Three:
Classmates surrounded Dawan as soon as they heard that she won the scholarship
Kwai was unhappy and sad that Dawan won the scholarship instead of him
Dawan told her family that she got the scholarship and that made her parents angry. Her
father was especially angry and said that she took her own brother's chance away from him.
Dawan's grandmother however supported her
Dawan and her grandmother headed to Noi's house and halfway, Dawan's mother decided
to go with Dawan instead of her grandmother

Chapter Four:
Noi said that going to the city was useless
Army officer made deal with Noi's family in order not to bring Ghan to the army

Chapter Five:
Kwai realised that Noi and Ghan do not support Dawan in going to the city
Kwai came in second in the examination
If Dawan does not go to the city, Kwai gets to go instead of her

Chapter Six:
Dawan's father didn't want her to go to the city

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Kwai asked his father if he had won the scholarship, would he allow him to go to the city
Kwai's dad thought that boys going to the city to further his studies would be better than
girls

Part 1
"I'm a girl" Gender bias against herself, did not think that she would win the scholarship.
Part 2
Scholarship results announced Kwai runs off.
Part 3
Family reaction
-Father- Angry Kwai didn't win
-Grandmother-Happy for Dawan
-Mother-Not my place to say anything
Part 4
Grandmother convinces mother to visit Noi with Dawan.
Part 5
Dwan: I want to go
Noi: "The city is ugly and cruel"
-village better for girls.
-Theme: social injustice
Part 6
Kwai reveals he got 2nd will go if Dwan doesn't go.

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Plot – Events
Chapter 1

1. Where does Dawan live?

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2. a) How old is Dawan?

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b) How old is Kwai?

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3. How are their parents gender biased?

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4. Did Dawan get to go to school? Why?

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5. When does Dawan wake up?

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6. What do Dawan and Kwai do at Dawn?

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7. Why do we remember Dawn in the first chapter?

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8. Why are both Dawan and Kwai so excited that morning?

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9. What is the expectation of both of them?

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10. What are Kwai’s plans if he wins the scholarship?

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11. Why is their father and other villages suffering?

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12. Why does Dawan feel she will not get the scholarship?

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13. What are your views about education for girls in Thailand in Chapter 1?

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Literary Devices from Chapter 1
Minfong Ho has a very simple but descriptive style.
She uses a lot of adjectives:

• ____cool_____ night rain
• ____________ silence of the after rain
• ____________ sobbing
• ____________ rattan mat
• ____________ moonlight
• ____________ banana leaves
• ____________ gossip of the leaves
• ____________ thatched hut
• ____________ croaks of bullfrogs
• ____________ shutters of the windows
• ____________ stilness

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Imagery

Detailed description of

Dawn – see, hear, touch, smell, feel.

Hear - drizzling of the rain
- deep croaking of the bullfrogs
- baby’s quiet sobbing

Symbolism
Dawan = almost same sound as Dawn – Homophone
Dawn = beginning of a new day, end of darkness.
What does Sing to Dawn symbolises?

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Chapter 1 – Dawan Character

Character Traits Textual Evidence
Creative ‘ She started singing softly. It was her own
song, one which she had made up herself (pg
Early riser 4)

Dawn like this part of the day – best of all ….
It was beginning to dawn.

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Setting

Dawan’s home - a little
thatched hut

Setting

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Social Setting – Backdrop

- People’s way of life
- Struggles
- Values
- Dreams
1. An unjust system

2. Gender Bias

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Themes

Importance of Education
Themes

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