1.Sibling relationships would be valued and not taken for granted.

With close
reference to the text describe how the siblings in the novel potray this statement.
Model Answer 1
The story,Sing to the Dawn, tells of the frustations 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 potrays two pairs of siblings Dawan and her brother, Kawai and
Bao and her brother,Vichai. These two pairs of siblings have different approaches of
sibling relationship. Dawan and Kwai enjoys doing things together and are in the
same school. They enjoy getting up early before 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 scolarhsip.
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 her hurt ankle although he is directly responsible for
it. She leaves the umbrella to him and walks home on her hurt foot in the heavy rain.
Sure of his convictions that he should not stand in the way of his sisters 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 on the bridge on mistry mornings and both feel teary. However, then the bus
Dawan travels in passes the rice fields, Kwai waves goodbye to her 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 need and emotions. While
Vichai attends school, Bao does not. He makes no attempt to tell her about school
and his school mates. 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.
This bullying bothers Kwai and Dawan as they attempt to protect Bao. Vichai does
not even see the agony Bao feels when one of the sparrows is crushed to death.
The story does potray that sibling relationships should be valued and not
taken for granted. There should be mutual support and love between and among
siblings.

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.