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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 sisters

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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 sisters 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 abbots 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

lifes difficulties.