You are on page 1of 1

Sing To The Dawn - Minfong Ho (Chapter Synopsis)

Chapter One:
Dawan and Kwai sat on the rickety old bridge
above the river

Dawan asked Kwai what would he do if he got the


scholarship

Dawan felt that she would not get the scholarship


because she is a girl, instead Kwai might get the scholarship

Talked about how unfair it is that the sacks of rice


stacked up beneath the house is for the tax collector

Their parents thought that it was foolish and


wasteful to send girls to school

Chapter Two:
Teacher asked students what they saw beneath
their house in the morning

Chapter Seven:
Dawan went to the marketplace alone and met a
girl that sells lotus bud and caged sparrows
Dawan realised that the girl, Bao, was the sister of
her classmate
Chapter Eight:
Dawan went to see the old monk
Dawan's teacher and the old monk are good
friends

Old monk does not really see why Dawan should


go to the city school
Chapter Nine:
Bao allowed Dawan to free a bird for free
Bao's brother, Vichai, came to the market stall and
hit her because she freed a bird for free

Had a long discussion with the students about the


landlord taking away sacks of rice beneath their houses

Kwai stopped Vichai from hitting Bao

A student spotted the headmaster heading to their


class and the student shouted "he's coming"

Teacher and student immediately pretended that


they are having Geography lessons until the headmaster
went away

After realising that Bao knew about what


happened between Dawan and Kwai, Kwai wanted to slap
Bao

Kwai pushed Dawan away when she tried to stop


Kwai, unfortunately she landed on top of a pile of broken
bird cages, injuring herself

Teacher and student discussed what they should


do if they won the scholarship

Teacher announced that Dawan won the


scholarship

Chapter Three:
Classmates surrounded Dawan as soon as they
heard that she won the scholarship

Kwai was unhappy and sad that Dawan won the


scholarship instead of him

Dawan told her family that she got the scholarship


and that made her parents angry. Her father was especially
angry and said that she took her own brother's chance away
from him.

Dawan's grandmother however supported her

Cousin Noi helped Dawan with her wound


Chapter Ten:
Dawan and Kwai were at the river
Kwai was thinking about Dawan's words, about
him being a bully

Dawan passed Kwai her umbrella caringly as it was


raining

Kwai made a decision

Chapter Eleven:
Kwai's father heard from his teacher that he got
second in the test and was angry at Kwai for not telling him
so

Dawan and her grandmother headed to Noi's


house and halfway, Dawan's mother decided to go with
Dawan instead of her grandmother

Father spoke to both Kwai and Dawan together

Chapter Four:
Noi said that going to the city was useless

Father was very reluctant and unconvinced that


Dawan should go to the city school

After much persuasion from Dawan and Kwai,


father finally allowed Dawan to go to the city school

Army officer made deal with Noi's family in order


not to bring Ghan to the army
Chapter Five:
Kwai realised that Noi and Ghan do not support
Dawan in going to the city
Kwai came in second in the examination
If Dawan does not go to the city, Kwai gets to go
instead of her

Chapter Twelve:
Kwai will miss Dawan once she goes to the city
school, no one will be there to watch the sunrise with him

Chapter Thirteen:
At first Dawan was unsure if she wanted to leave as
she will miss everything in her village

After her grandmother talked to Dawan, she


decided to go

Chapter Six:
Dawan's father didn't want her to go to the city

When she was boarding the bus to go to the city,


Kwai was nowhere to be seen

Kwai asked his father if he had won the


scholarship, would he allow him to go to the city

Although many people in the village sent her off,


she was not happy as Kwai was not there

Kwai's dad thought that boys going to the city to


futher his studies would be better than girls

During the bus journey, she saw Kwai on the


bridge that they usually went to, he was waving at her.
Bidding goodbye

~End~

You might also like