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QUESTION 1 “Sibling relationships would be valued and not taken for granted.” With close reference to the text describe how the siblings in the novel portray this statement. Model Answer 1 The story, “Sing to the Dawn” by Minfong Ho, tells us the frustrations and prejudice a young Thai village girl, Dawan faces when she wants to further her education in the City. She has her early education in the village school and then wins a scholarship and has a chance for further schooling in the City school. The story portrays two pairs of siblings – Dawan and her brother, Kwai; and Bao and her brother, Vichai. These two pairs of siblings have different approaches of sibling relationship. Dawan and Kwai enjoy doing things together and are in the same school. They enjoy getting up early before the break of dawn and go to the old wooden bridge to watch the sunrise. They sit in easy companionship and talk about ideas, aspirations and plans on how to improve the lives of the villagers. Both are interested in furthering their education in the City but need to get the scholarship to be able to do that. There seem to be a silent agreement that each will support the other irrespective of who wins the scholarship. Dawan and Kwai show that they value their relationship as shown by a few incidents. Kwai encourages Dawan to speak out during his meetings with the teacher and class discussions. When Dawan wins the scholarship, Kwai feels a deep disappointment but in his own silent brotherly way, he is happy about it. Confident that he acted well as a brother, Kwai is confused and upset when Bao, the flower girl accused him of bullying Dawan over the scholarship. He is touched that Dawan does not blame him for the incident of hurting her ankle although he is directly responsible for it. She leaves the umbrella to him and walks home on her injured foot in the heavy rain. Sure of his convictions that he should not stand in the way of his sister’s
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future, he convinces Father that he should permit Dawan to take up the scholarship. This is the essence of their siblings’ relationship – trust and faith in each other. On the last morning before she leaves for the City, Dawan and Kwai realise things will not be the same for them after this. They know they will miss being together at the bridge on misty mornings and both feel teary. However, when the bus Dawan travels in passes the rice fields, Kwai waves goodbye to her while singing their favourite song from the old bridge. On the other hand, Bao and her brother, Vichai have a rather strained sibling relationship. The brother is not sensitive to the sister’s needs and emotions. While Vichai attends school, Bao does not. He makes no attempt to tell her about school and his schoolmates. Bao sells flowers and pigeons at the market and Vichai checks the money she collects to make sure she has the correct amount. This is all he is concerned about showing that he takes for granted that she must always follow his orders. When there is a discrepancy in the money collected with the number of empty cages, he lashes out at Bao physically giving her stinging slaps and kicks. The story does portray that sibling relationships should be valued and not taken for granted. There should be mutual support and love between and among siblings.
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QUESTION 2 “Courage is an important value to help us overcome difficulties in life.” With close reference to the text, how far is this true of the novel you have read? Recommended outline
State the novel you have studied and the author
Describe the difficulties faced by the main character
Describe how the main character faced up to his/her problems with courage.
Explain how courage helps the main character overcome difficulties.
Model Answer 2 The novel “Sing to the Dawn” by Minfong Ho is about a young Thai girl who won the government scholarship to study in a city school. This good news however, causes Dawan many difficulties. First, her brother Kwai, becomes resentful of her success. He wants the scholarship himself. He avoids Dawan and would not wish her well. When he discovers that he is second in place for the scholarship, he threatens to tell their father. Their father poses another problem for Dawan. He is angry with Dawan for depriving Kwai of the scholarship. He thinks that it useless for a girl to study so much. He does not want Dawan to study anymore. Dawan is a timid girl but she gathers up her courage and thinks of ways to fulfill her dream. First, she asks her cousin,Noi who has lived in the city before, to speak to her father. When that does not work, this young girl bravely goes to the temple by herself to seek the head abbot’s help. She dares to speak up for her rights to the old monk. She stands up to Kwai and insists on pursuing her dream. Finally, she even gathers up enough courage to speak up to her father for her rights. In the end, Dawan successfully overcomes all the problems that prevent her from pursuing her dream. She shows us that courage is important in overcoming life’s difficulties.
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