“ Determination will get you through everything “

Write about one character who has such determination in the novel you have read.
Support your answer with close reference to the text .

Dear Mr. Kilmer written by Anne Schraff is one of my favourite novels. The story was
about war and its effects on people and community. It tells the story of a young man named
Richard Knight and about the challenges he had to face in his small farming community. He was
so different from other people that they perceived Richard as weird. Amidst the World War and
the pressure from his peers, Richard made friends with a very famous Poet named Joyce
Kilmer. Based on this novel, one character who has such determination is Richard Knight.

Firstly, determination is shown when Richard is determined to stand up for what’s right.
He is determined to sign and send the card when no one wants to. Richard was the only one
who signed the card and did not budge when he was threatened by Abner, Harry, Peggy and
Blanche. This can be seen when Mrs. Hansen asks her whole class to sign the card for the
Schemers because someone has vandalised the tavern owned by Hannah’s parents. Richard is
determined to stand up for Hannah while the rest choose not to do so. He bravely asked Mrs.
Hansen’s permission to give the card. Mrs. Hansen was disappointed as her students could not
be like Richard. Richard went all the way to Hannah’s house to give the card even though he is
threatened and blocked by Abner and Harry. Hannah was reluctant to receive the card but
Richard urged Hannah to take it even though she might see it as pointless, at least it might
relieve a little pain of her parents. In my opinion, in life, determination is the key to achieve
success. Others' opinion doesn't matter as it will only bring us down and astray from our goals.
Determination shown by Richard is a lesson for us to have courage in standing for what’s right.

Next, Richard is determined to support his friend because Hannah has been treated
unfairly. This is shown when Mrs. Hansen asks the class to write an essay as it is one of the
activities for the patriotic programme. Mrs. Hansen announced that Richard and Hannah were
the winners of the best essay and won the roles as a Doughboy and Lady Liberty.
Unfortunately, many students and parents disagree because they regard Hannah as an
unpatriotic German although she is an American citizen. Hannah turned down the role of Lady
Liberty because she did not want to make any situation worse. Richard thought this was unfair
for Hannah so he made a decision to turn down his role as a Doughboy. When he arrived home,
Pa questioned his decision of turning down as he received many complaints. Pa reminded
Richard that whatever happens, he must prioritise his roots that Hannah is still German. Richard
is still determined that he is on the right side. Richard did not budge even though Pa was
disappointed and doesn’t support him. In my opinion, we must be good friends who have been
treated unfairly especially friends who are close to us. We must be determined in what we
believe in and must be brave enough to oppose anyone who doesn’t side with us. Determination
shown by Richard to support Hannah’s decision taught us a lot about it is important to keep a
good friendship with other people.
 Lastly, Richard is determined to be a famous poet. This can be seen when he wrote his
first poem when he was eight years old. It started when he went hunting with Pa,Gus and his
Grandpa. He saw a deer was killed by Grandpa. Richard, who has a soft heart, felt sorry for the
animals because they are beautiful creatures that are innocent and should not be killed. So he
decided to write a poem. He felt that when he wrote a poem, it was almost as if his poem took
away some of that sadness. Since then, he always wrote poems and it turned out to be his
hobby. When Mrs. Hansen read a poem in her class called Trees by Joyce Kilmer, Richard was
mesmerized by the poem as he thought his own poetry was worth something too. Richard
admired Mr. Joyce Kilmer because he was a poet who felt the way he did about nature and was
also brave enough to fight for his country. After that, he decided to exchange letters with Mr.
Kilmer and shared one of his poem and told his class about it. He told his class that he wrote a
poetry read the letter that Mr. Kilmer sent to him to everyone in the class. Richard felt relieved
now that everyone knew he wrote poetry. In my opinion, we must set goals in our life and have
the will and determination to achieve them. We must have courage and do whatever it takes to
reach the stars. Determination shown by Richard to achieve his dream is proof that nothing is
impossible in life when we strive for it.

In conclusion, Richard is truly the best character who has such determination in his life.
He teaches us the teenagers to never give up on your dreams and never be afraid of being
different from others if that means to stand on your principle upholding the truth.