by El Bsor Ester
A Polish immigrant girl gets bullied at school. Is she telling the truth about the hundred dresses or is it all a lie?
“A hundred dresses... all lined up in my closet.”
Answer the following questions:
1) Where in the classroom does Wanda sit and why?
Wanda sits in the seat next to the last seat in the last row of the classroom where the rough boys who did not get good marks sit. It is not clear why she sits there, but some think that it is because she comes from Boggins Heights and her feet are usually caked with dry mud. The last benches are the part of class where there is usually a lot of dirt and mud on the floor.
2) Where does Wanda live? What kind of a place do you think it is?
Wanda lives at Boggins Heights. It seems to be a place for a community of poor people or where the immigrants from Poland live.
3) When and why do Peggy and Maddie notice Wanda’s absence?
Peggy and Maddie notice Wanda’s absence on Wednesday, her third day of absence. They were waiting for her so that they could make fun of her. But she did not come, and in the process, the girls got late.
4) How was Wanda different from the other children?
Wanda did not talk a lot. She rarely said anything. The only time she spoke was when Peggy asked her about the dresses. She did not even laugh a lot. She only had this crooked sort of smile sometimes.
5) How do the other girls treat Wanda?
The other girls did not treat her nicely. First of all, they thought that her name was funny. Then they even made fun of her by asking almost every day how many dresses she had or how many pairs of shoes she had or how many hats she had.
6) How does Wanda feel about the dresses game? Why does she say that she has a hundred dresses?
Wanda did not like the dresses game. Although she never said anything to anyone, but at times she sealed her lips into silence when they were making fun of her. Further, her eyes seemed dull and she would walk to school alone after they made fun of her. However, she did not react to or oppose these incidents.
She actually might have said that she had a hundred dresses to draw everyone’s attention away from her name. By doing so, she thought they would ask further and appreciate her talent, but they started making fun in another way. When Wanda said that she had a hundred dresses, sixty pairs of shoes and various hats, she actually meant the designs of them, not real ones.
7) Why is Maddie embarrassed by the questions Peggy asks Wanda? Is she also like Wanda or is she different? Is Peggy’s friendship important to her? Why?
Maddie is also poor like Wanda. She also wears hand-me-down clothes. Therefore, she did not like Peggy and other girls making fun of Wanda about the dresses.
In the beginning, Peggy’s friendship is very important to Maddie. Her friendship with Peggy is the only way how other students know her and talk to her. She was herself poor, and therefore nobody would have become friends with her if she was not with Peggy. However, towards the end, when she is feeling regret and guilt, she is ready to give up her friendship with Peggy if she has to in the process of stopping everyone from making fun of any other student.
8) Why didn’t Maddie ask Peggy to stop teasing Wanda? What was she afraid of?
Maddie thought that if she spoke up, then Peggy and other girls would stop teasing Wanda and start teasing her. As she was also poor and wore hand-me-down clothes, she was afraid that she would be the next victim of this game.
9) Who did Maddie think would win the drawing contest? Why?
Maddie thought that Peggy would win the drawing contest as Peggy was the best drawing artist she knew. She could copy a picture in a magazine or some film star’s head so accurately that you could almost tell who it was.
10) Who won the drawing contest? What had the winner drawn?
Wanda Petronski won the drawing contest. She had drawn the designs of a hundred dresses. All of them were unique designs with different colors. Each one of them deserved to win the first prize.
11) What does Miss Mason think of Wanda’s drawings? What do the other children think of them?
Miss Mason said that the drawings were exquisite (extremely beautiful and well-made). She agreed with the judges that each of the designs was worthy of winning the first prize.
Other students also burst into applause. All the students, including Peggy and Maddie, admired all the drawings.
12) What did Mr. Petronski’s letter say?
Mr. Petronski said in his letter that his children Wanda and Jake would not come to school anymore. They were fed up of the people making fun of their names. Therefore, they were moving to a bigger city where there would be many people with such names, and nobody would bother about it.
13) Was Miss Mason angry with the class, or is she unhappy and upset?
Miss Mason was not angry, but she was certainly unhappy and upset. She told the class that whatever had happened was really sad and unfortunate. She liked to think that this did not happen purposely, but out of thoughtlessness.
14) How does Maddie feel after listening to the note from Wanda’s father?
After listening to the note from Wanda’s father, Maddie is filled with regret and guilt. She feels extremely sorry for what happened. She was also upset with herself that she did nothing to stop all these things, and she just stood there saying nothing.
15) What excuses does Peggy think up for her behavior? Why?
First of all, Peggy said that she never made fun of her name. She only made fun of her about the dresses because she thought Wanda was lying. Secondly, she gave excuse that she did not think Wanda realized they were making fun of her. Later, Peggy also claims that probably Wanda was getting good ideas for the designs when she was asking her about the dresses. She even thought Wanda would not have won the contest otherwise.
Both the girls feel extreme guilt and regret after the Petronskis have left the town. After they discover that they have left, they are left with no chance to set everything right with Wanda face to face. Therefore, this guilt deepens, and they try to comfort themselves with such excuses.
16) What does Maddie think hard about? What important decision does she come to?
Maddie stayed up whole night and thought about Wanda, her blue dress and her little house she had lived in. She even thought about the glowing pictures of those hundred dresses she had made all lined up in the classroom.
Maddie came to an important decision that if she ever heard anybody picking on someone because of their funny looks or strange names, she would speak up. She would not remain silent and would help the victim. She was even ready to sacrifice Peggy’s friendship for this.
17) What did the girls write to Wanda?
The girls actually wanted to write and apologize to her. But they started with something casual and the letter remained casual throughout. They told her that she had won the contest and that everybody liked her designs. They asked her about her new place and new teacher.
18) Did they get a reply? Who was more anxious for the reply, Peggy or Maddie? How do you know?
They did not get any reply till the last day before the holidays for Christmas.
Of the two girls, Maddie was more anxious for the reply. As we have seen in the text, Peggy had started to forget about the whole thing slowly. However, Maddie could not sleep at nights. So, before going to bed, she was used to make speeches about Wanda, defending her from great crowds of girls who were trying to tease her.
19) How did the girls know that Wanda liked them even though they had teased her?
They received the much-awaited reply from Wanda. Although it was addressed to Miss Mason, Wanda did actually mention the two girls in it. Not only that, she also allowed them to keep the designs of two special dresses. Later, the girls discovered that the faces of the girls who were wearing those dresses in the drawings were none other than themselves. They concluded that Wanda had not just given them the drawings, but she had made them specially for them. This way they knew that Wanda liked them and had forgiven them even though they had teased her.
Value-based questions:
Nobody is completely bad or good. In the story ‘The Hundred Dresses’, Peggy and Maddie are making fun of Wanda, but they are not entirely cruel. Discuss this in relation to the story including your thoughts as well.
To err is human. To forgive, divine. Forgiveness is the attribute of the strong. Discuss the above quotes with reference to what you have learned in the story ‘The Hundred Dresses’.
Allowing injustice to happen is as bad as doing injustice to someone. Explain the statement with reference to Maddie’s silence when Peggy was teasing Wanda. Focus your answer on why she remained silent, and the regret she felt afterwards.
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