Chapter-5 The hundred dresses part 1

Question 1:

Where in the classroom does Wanda sit and why?

Explanation:


Wanda Petronski used to occupy the last seat in the back row of Room 13, next to the corner where the rowdy boys with poor grades sat. Being a timid and impoverished girl, she preferred to sit there since her feet were often caked in dry mud, and she feared being mocked for her appearance. As a result, she chose to sit alone in the corner to avoid any unwanted attention.

Question 2:

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

Explanation:


Wanda resided in Perkins Heights, a location distant from her school and characterized by muddy terrain, indicating a lack of conventional roads. The inhabitants of this area were mostly impoverished, as reflected by their living conditions.

Question 3:

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

Explanation:


Wanda was absent from school on Monday and Tuesday, and nobody took notice of her prolonged absence since she was an isolated figure without any friends in class. On Wednesday, when Peggy and Maddie were waiting to harass her after school, they realized that Wanda was nowhere to be found, despite waiting for a significant amount of time.

Question 4:

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

Explanation:


The act of "having fun with" Wanda involved ridiculing her imperfections and shortcomings. Due to her introverted and meek nature, her classmates frequently targeted her with taunts regarding her name and physical appearance. Additionally, they found it amusing when Wanda boasted of owning one hundred dresses and sixty pairs of shoes

Question 5:

In what way was Wanda different from the other children?

Explanation:


Wanda Petronski hailed from a Polish background, with her parents having migrated to the United States from Poland. Her unique name, which was unfamiliar to her classmates, garnered significant attention, and they struggled to pronounce it correctly since such names were uncommon among Americans. Consequently, Wanda was subjected to differential treatment from her peers. Wanda would arrive at school unaccompanied, and her feet would be caked in mud. Her lack of friends in class caused her to prefer sitting alone since she feared being ridiculed. Despite having only one faded blue dress, Wanda claimed to possess one hundred dresses and sixty pairs of shoes when questioned by Peggy and Maddie. These factors were responsible for setting Wanda apart from the other children in her class.

Question 6.

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

Explanation:


Every day after school, Wanda is subjected to teasing by her classmates, who relentlessly mock her appearance, name, and the single, worn-out blue dress she frequently wears. The constant taunting and jeering have left her frustrated, and she repeatedly claims to have one hundred dresses and sixty pairs of shoes in her closet. However, her classmates refuse to believe her.

Overall, Wanda is a resolute and determined individual, for whom the quantity of dresses she possesses is of little significance. She values inner talent and personal qualities more highly.

Question 7.

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

Explanation:


Peggy's question to Wanda caused Maddie to feel embarrassed since she could relate to Wanda's impoverished background and empathized with her emotional state. Maddie herself was still wearing hand-me-down clothes due to her family's financial struggles, which allowed her to understand Wanda's perspective. Despite her sympathy towards Wanda, Maddie did not believe the claim of her possessing one hundred dresses. Nonetheless, she hoped that Peggy would cease ridiculing Wanda's name and appearance.

Question 8.

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

Explanation:


Maddie refrains from asking Peggy to stop teasing Wanda due to their close friendship, and because Peggy holds a position of popularity in their school. Although Maddie considers Peggy a good person, she maintains a distinct viewpoint regarding Wanda. Moreover, Maddie's decision not to intervene is also pragmatic in nature. While she wishes for Peggy to desist from mocking Wanda, Maddie refrains from doing so, fearing that if she were to object, Peggy might turn her into the next target of ridicule.

Question 9.

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

Explanation:


Maddie had a strong belief that Peggy would emerge victorious in the drawing competition. Peggy's exceptional drawing skills and popularity among her peers and teachers made her a favorite candidate. Peggy's talent in replicating pictures from magazines and effortlessly sketching the faces of famous personalities added to her charm. Considering all these factors, Maddie was convinced that Peggy had a high probability of winning the coloring contest for girls.

Question 10.

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

Explanation:


In the competition, Jack Beggles emerged as the winner among the boys, with his outboard motor design displayed in room twelve. Meanwhile, Wanda Petronski was the winner of the raffle among the girls. She drew one hundred sketches of stunning, colorful dresses, impressing everyone with her remarkable talent. Miss Mason noted that each of Wanda's paintings could have easily won the competition on their own. When a classmate asked to see her sketches, Wanda obliged and drew all one hundred dresses, receiving a round of applause and admiration from the audience.

Question 11.

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

Explanation:


Wanda Petronski is a young girl of Polish descent who relocated to the United States with her family. She resides in Perkins Heights, an area without proper roads. Despite having to travel a considerable distance to attend school, Wanda would always wear the same worn-out blue dress, with her feet often covered in mud. Unfortunately, her classmates found her name difficult to pronounce and would often mock her for it, as well as her appearance. These teasing sessions would occur after school, and Wanda's endurance was often tested as she struggled to cope with the constant ridicule. In an attempt to fit in, she once claimed to have a closet filled with 100 skirts and 60 pairs of shoes.

Question 12.

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

Explanation:


Wanda was a timid and introverted girl who felt ashamed of her looks but remained silent during classes. Her classmates, especially the girls, would frequently tease her, yet she never spoke up about it. To try and put a stop to their incessant mockery and humiliation, Wanda once made the false claim that she owned one hundred dresses and sixty pairs of shoes. However, things took a positive turn for her when she decided to enter a drawing competition. Her submission was a picture of a hundred skirts, and her talent won her first prize among the girls.

Question 13.

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

Explanation:


In the class, Peggy is the most well-liked girl and also happens to be Maddie's closest friend. Despite Maddie's financial situation, Peggy never bullies her, unlike Wanda, who is ridiculed by Peggy and her friends for boasting about owning a large number of dresses. Tracy is very anxious about losing Peggy's companionship and always supports her, even when Peggy teases Wanda. Tracy chooses to remain silent instead of speaking up against Peggy's behavior. The statement "Peggy is the most popular girl in the whole room. Peggy can't do anything really wrong" implies that Maddie is always in favor of Peggy.

Question 14.

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

Explanation:


Miss Mason was deeply moved by the quality of Wanda's painting. She believed that every dress had been painted beautifully and deserved recognition. The other children in the competition also admired Wanda's artistic abilities and provided her with encouragement. Even the boys, who may not have been as familiar with skirts, expressed their admiration for Wanda's victory in the girls' drawing competition by whistling.

Question 15.

Look at these sentences.


  1. She sat in the corner of the room where the rough boys who did not make good marks sat, the corner of the room where there was most scuffling of feet, …

  1. The time when they thought about Wanda was outside of school hours …


These italicized clauses help us to identify a set of boys, a place, and a time. They are Explanations to the questions ‘What kind of rough boys?’ ‘Which corner did she sit in?’ and ‘What particular time outside of school hours?’ They are ‘defining’ or ‘restrictive’ relative clauses. (Compare them with the ‘nondefining’ relative clauses discussed in Unit 1.) Combine the following to make sentences like those above.

  1. This is the bus (what kind of bus?). It goes to Agra. (use which or that)

  1. I would like to buy (a) shirt (which shirt?). (The) shirt is in the shop window. (use which or that)

  1. You must break your fast at a particular time (when?). You see the moon in the sky. (use when)

  1. Find a word (what kind of word?). It begins with the letter Z. (use which or that)

  1. Now find a person (what kind of person). His or her name begins with the letter Z. (use whose)


Then go to a place (what place?). There are no people whose name begins with Z in that place. (use where)

Explanation:


  1. This is the bus that goes to Agra.

  1. I would like to buy the shirt which is in the shop window.

  1. You must break your fast at a particular time when you see the moon in the sky.

  1. Find a word which begins with letter Z.

  1. Now find a person whose name begins with letter Z.


Then go to a place where there are no people whose name begins with letter Z.

Question 16.

The Narrative Voice


This story is in the ‘third person’. That is, the narrator is not a participant in the story. But the narrator often seems to tell the story from the point of view of one of the characters in the story. For example, look at the italicized words in this sentence.

Thank goodness, she did not live up on Boggins Heights or have a funny name.

Whose thoughts do the words ‘Thank goodness’ express? Maddie’s, who is grateful that although she is poor, she is yet not as poor as Wanda, or as ‘different’. (So she does not get teased; she is thankful about that.)


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

  1. But on Wednesday, Peggy and Maddie, who sat down 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.

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

Explanation:


(i) Words in italics in a given sentence indicate the opinions of Peggy and Maddie.

(ii) The italicized words in the given sentence express the narrator's opinion of the names of the other children in Wanda's class.


2. Other sentences of this kind are found in the second part of the story. Like "God! Isn't there anything she can do? If only she could tell Wanda she didn't mean to hurt her."

Question 17.

Look at this sentence. The italicized adverb expresses an opinion or point of view.


Obviously, the only dress Wanda had was the blue one she wore every day. (This was obvious to the speaker.)


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.

  1. __________________________________________, it will not rain on the day of the match.

  1. _____________________________________, he had been stealing money from his employer.

  1. Television is ____________________________to blame for the increase in violence in society.

  1. The children will ________________________________________learn from their mistakes.

  1. I can’t _____________________________________________ lend you that much money.

  1. The thief had ________________________________been watching the house for many days.

  1. The thief __________________________________________ escaped by bribing the jailor.

  1. _____________________________________________, no one had suggested this before.

  1. The water was _______________________________________________________ hot.

Explanation:


  1. Surprisingly, he finished his work on time.

  1. Hopefully, it will not rain on the day of the match.

  1. Possibly, he had been stealing money from his employer.

  1. Television is evidently to blame for the increase in violence in society.

  1. The children will hopefully learn from their mistakes.

  1. I can’t possibly lend you that much money.

  1. The thief had apparently been watching the house for many days.

  1. The thief luckily escaped by bribing the jailor.

  1. Surprisingly, no one had suggested this before.

10. The water was incredibly hot.