NOVEL: SING TO THE DAWN

Based on the novel sing to the dawn by Minfong Ho, it is true that one has to face many
challenges in her life before reaching his or her goal. Based on one of the novels that
you have studied, describe how far this is true and support your answer with textual
evidence.

Based on the novel sing to the dawn by Minfong Ho, it is true that one has to face
many challenges in life before reaching his or her goal. An obvious example is the main
character, Dawan, who has faced many obstacles in her way to catch her dream to study in
city school.

One of the obstacles faced by Dawan is facing her brother, Kwais initially jealousy
that leads to a rift between the two previously-close siblings. They had stop talking nicely to
each other for sometimes. It started right after the bell ring at school in the first day she knew
the result. Dawan called out for Kwai who was standing alone in the doorway but he just
turned away and stalked out abruptly. In my opinion, one should not feel jealous of their
siblings success, instead, they should be proud of them.
The misunderstanding got worst when Dawan told her family about the scholarship
result. Her father was very angry and did not want Dawan to pursue her study in city school.
In chapter three, at first Dawan asked his permission to study at the city, he even accused
Dawan for stealing her brothers only opportunity to study in city school. Her father thinks
that proper study in the city is no place for a girl. He thinks even if Dawan success, she still
could not make any changes to their village. I think her father should not mind about the
gender discrimination. He should not stop Dawan from being successful in her life just
because she is a girl. He should give her an opportunity to shoe what she is capable of.

Lastly, Dawan face another problem when she and her mother went to see her cousin,
Noi, and his husband, Ghan. However, they do not want to help her to convince her father to
let her study in the city school. In the meantime a truth was discovered when they actually
tells Dawan and her mother about how the city actually are. In chapter four, Noi has
described the city as cruel and ugly. She also added that the city is not suitable for a young,
healthy girl. In my opinion, Noi should help Dawan as her family member. Besides, she has
to think positive about Dawan.
The conclusion is, Dawan is a very determined and ambitious girl. Even though she had
faced a lot of obstacles, she still wanted to study in the city school. Dawan was nervous and
worried at the start but she became calmer and more confident towards the end. She
overcame her fears by presenting a logical and sensible appeal to her father. Her sincere and
calm appeal helped her father to realize that Dawan too had a dream that her father could
appreciate.