Chapter 5: The Hundred Dresses-I

Question: 2

Where does Wanda live? What kind of a place do you think it is?

Wanda lives upon Boggins Heights, where poor people live. It is not a developed area and is covered with mud. There are no proper roads or streets and it is a kind of slum.

Question: 3

When and Why do Peggy and Maddie notice Wanda’s absence?

Wanda didn’t come to school on Monday and Tuesday but nobody noticed her absence as she did not have friends in the class. When Peggy and Maddie waited for Wanda to make fun of her after the school was off, they noticed that she was absent, otherwise nobody bothered about her there.

Question: 4

What do you think “to have fun with her” means?

“To have fun with her ” means to laugh at her as it is human tendency to make fun of others imperfections which are mostly about the appearance. Here in the story, Wanda is a source of amusement or pleasure because of her shy nature and her hundred dresses.

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Question: 1

In what way was Wanda different from the other children?

Wanda Petronski was a polish girl whose parents had settled down in America. She was a source of fun because of her last name which made her different from others, because Americans did not have such names and it was difficult to pronounce.

She came to school alone and her feet were covered with mud. She preferred to sit alone in the last in the class. She had only one blue dress which was faded but claimed of having a hundred dresses. These qualities make her different from other children.

Question: 2

Did Wanda have a hundred dresses? Why do you think she said she did?

Wanda was teased everyday by her classmates after school
hours. They used to make fun of her dress and her name. One day tired of all the teasing and taunting, she claimed of having a hundred dresses and sixty pairs of shoes, but nobody believed her.

She was a determined girl and had a great amount of self-confidence. For her number of dresses were not important but the inner talent which had the real value.

Question: 3

Why is Maddie embarrassed by the questions Peggy asks Wanda? Is she also like Wanda, or is she different?

Maddie is embarrassed by the questions Peggy asks Wanda because she is also poor and understands the mental condition of Wanda. She also wears dresses handed down by rich family. Though, she is an American but she has the same mind-set as Wanda and doesn’t want anyone to tease Wanda because of her dress or her name.

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Question: 1

Why didn’t Maddie ask Peggy to stop teasing Wanda? What was she afraid of?

Maddie didn’t ask Peggy to stop teasing Wanda because Peggy was the most popular girl in the school. She was a nice girl but when it came to Wanda she behaved differently, otherwise she helped everyone in trouble. Though, she wants Peggy to stop teasing Wanda, she didn’t ask her to do so as she was afraid of being the next target of such taunts and teasings.

Question: 2

Who did Maddie think would win the drawing contest? Why?

Maddie always believed that Peggy would win the drawing contest as she was good in drawing and everybody in the school loved her. She had a good image and impression on her teachers and classmates. No other girl in the class could draw as well as her. So, Peggy definitely had very good chances of winning the drawing contest according to Maddie.

Question: 3

Who won the drawing contest? What had the winner drawn?

Among the boys, Jack Beggles and among the girls, Wanda
Petronski won the drawing contest. To show her determination she did not attend the school for two days and had drawn a • hundred sketches of dresses of different colours.. Each of them was capable to win the contest individually.

Wanda had drawn all the dresses which she had claimed to have had in the class. Everybody was very impressed with her drawing skill and clapped for her.

Thinking about the Text

Question: 1

How is Wanda seen as different by the other girls? How do they treat her?

Wanda is a polish girl who has setded in America with her parents. She lived in Boggin’s Height. She came to school in same faded blue dress everyday with her feet always covered with mud. Her last name is quite funny and difficult to pronounce for her classmates. Her appearance was not perfect to be in a higher class so all the students made fun of her and teased her after the school hours. After being teased over her tolerance she ) claimed to have had a hundred dresses in her closet.

Question: 2

How does Wanda feel about the dresses game? Why does she say that she has a hundred dresses?

Wanda feels very embarrassed but remains silent in the class. She doesn’t talk to anyone and sits on the back bench with rough boys so that nobody can give attention to her. She is deeply hurt but never complains about it. To avoid their taunts and humiliation, Wanda says that she has a hundred dresses and sixty pairs of matching shoes in her closet. Later on, she draws all of them on paper for the drawing competition.

Question: 3

Why does Maddie stand by and does not do anything? How is she different from Peggy? or (was Peggy’s friendship important to Maddie? Why? Which lines in the text tell you this?)

Peggy is the most popular girl in the class and Maddie is her closest friend. Though, Maddie is poor, Peggy never teases her as she does with Wanda so Maddie is afraid of losing her friendship. That’s why, she does not risk to annoy Peggy and prefers to be silent. The line, “Peggy was the best-liked girl in the whole room. Peggy could not possibly do anything that was really wrong” illustrates this.

Question: 4

What does Miss Mason think of Wanda’s drawings? What do the children think of them? How do you know?

Miss Mason is very impressed with Wanda’s drawings. She considers them really beautiful and worthy of winning individually. The children are also impressed by the drawing skills of Wanda that they all applaud and whistle when she wins among the girls.

Thinking about the Language

Question: I Combine the following to make sentences.

1. This is the bus (what kind of bus?). It goes to Agra, (use which or that).
2. I would like to buy, (a) shirt (which shirt?) (The) shirt is in the shop window, (use which or that)
3. You must break your fast at a particular time (when?). You see the moon in the sky. (use when)
4. Find a word (what kind of word?). It begins with the letter Z, (use which or that)
5. Now find a person (what kind of person ?) His or her name begins with the letter Z. (use whose)
6. Then go to a place (what place?). There are no people whose name begins with Z in that place, (use where)

1. This is the bus that goes to Agra.
2. I would like to buy a shirt that is in the shop window.
3. You must break your fast at a particular time when you see the moon in the sky.
4. Find a word that begins with letter Z.
5. Now find a person whose name begins with letter Z.
6. Then go to a place where there are no people whose name begins with letter Z.

Question: II The Narrative Voice

1.Here are two other sentences from the story. Can you say whose point of view the italicised words express?

1. But on Wednesday, Peggy and Maddie, who sat down in front with other children who got good marks and who didn’t track in a whole lot of mud, did notice that Wanda wasn’t there.
2. Wanda Petronski. Most of the children in room thirteen didn’t have names like that. They had names easy to say, like Thomas, Smith or Allen.

1. The italicised words express the point of view of Peggy and Maddie.
2. These italicised words express the point of view of other children of Wandas’ class excluding Peggy and Maddie.

2. Can you find other such sentences in the story? You can do this after you read the second part of the story as well.

Answer: – To be self-attempted.

Question: III

Other such adverbs are apparently, evidently, surprisingly, possibly, hopefully, incredibly, luckily. Use these words appropriately in the blanks in the sentences below. (You may use a word more than once and more than one word may be appropriate for a given blank.)

1. ____, he finished his work on time.
2. ____, it will not rain on the day of the match.
3. ____, he had been stealing money from his employer.
4. Television is ____ to blame for the increase in violence in society,
5. The children will ____ learn from their mistakes.
6. I can’t ____ lend you that much money.
7. The thief had ____ been watching the house for many days.
8. The thief ____ escaped by bribing the jailor.
9. ____no one had suggested this before.
10. The water was ____hot.

1. Surprisingly
2. Hopefully
3. Possibly
4. evidently
5. hopefully
6. possibly
7. apparently
8. luckily
9. Incredibly
10. incredibly