The Hundred Dresses (Part 1 & 2)

The Hundred Dresses (Part 1 & 2)
1. Where in the classroom does Wanda sit and why? Ans. Wanda sits in the seat next to the last seat in the last row in Room Thirteen. She sat there because her feet were always covered with dust and mud.

2. Where does Wanda live? What kind of a place do you think it is? Ans. Wanda was a poor girl. She lives at Boggins Heights, a place far from the school. Her feet were always covered with dust and mud. This showed that it was a place where there was a lot of dry mud. Perhaps this was a refugee camp or slum area.

3. When and why do Peggy and Maddie notice Wanda's absence? Ans. Peggy and Maddie noticed Wanda's absence on Wednesday when they did not find her in the classroom. They became late as they waited for her in the way. They could not have fun that day.

4. What do you think "to have fun with her” means? Ans. Wanda was a quiet and shy girl who was ashamed of dust laden feet. The girls used to make fun of her. This gave them a lot of pleasure therefore, they wanted to have fun with her.

5. In what way was Wanda different from the other children? Ans. Wanda was different from the other children. She was a poor girl. She was an immigrant. She did not have many dresses. She was very quiet and rarely laughed. She wore the same faded blue dress every day.

6. What was unusual about the dress of Wanda ? [Board Term I, NCT-2014] Ans. Wanda always wore a faded blue dress that didn’t fit her well. It was neat but it was wrinkled all over and required a good ironing. She always wore the same dress.

7. Did Wanda have a hundred dresses? Why do you think she said she did? Ans. No, Wanda did not have a hundred dresses. She had only one dress. Wanda was a creative girl. She had hundred designs of different dresses in her mind. She said that she had a hundred dresses to arouse creativity among the girls who asked her questions mockingly.

8. Why is Maddie embarrassed by the questions Peggy asks Wanda? Is she also like Wanda, or is she different? Ans. Maddie is a poor girl. She usually wears clothes given by others. That is why she feels embarrassed when Peggy asks questions about her dresses. She was not like Wanda. The only difference between anda and her is that she does not have a funny name and she does not live on Boggins Height.

9. What shows that Peggy was not really cruel ? [Board Term I, 2012; Set-EL2 – 024] Ans. Peggy was not really cruel. She protected small children from bullies. Not only this, she cried for hours if she saw an animal being mistreated.

10. What kind of a girl was Peggy ? [Board Term I, 2016-17; Set-4G1ZMWA] Ans. Peggy was most popular and pretty looking girl. She was hypocrite could be kind at one time and make fun of someone at other. She was a good artist, she protected children from bullies, cried when animals were ill treated, but made fun of Wanda.

11. Why didn't Maddie ask Peggy to stop teasing Wanda? What was she afraid of? Ans. Maddie always wanted Peggy to stop teasing Wanda but she did not muster courage to do so. Maddie herself was very poor. She used to wear old clothes given by others. She thought she could be the next target of fun by Peggy.

12. Who did Maddie think would win the drawing contest? Why? Ans. Maddie thought that Peggy would win the drawing contest because she was very good in drawing. She could draw the faces of film stars. She could copy a picture from a magazine with complete perfection.

13. Who won the drawing contest? What had the winner drawn? Ans. Wanda won the drawing contest. She had drawn a hundred designs of beautiful different dresses in bright and lovely colours. Each dress looked different from the other.

14. How is Wanda seen as different by the other girls? How do they treat her? Ans. Wanda is a Polish girl. She is quite different from other girls like Maddie and Peggy. She remains quiet and rarely says anything. She lives in Boggins Heights. Other girls find her name funny. They make fun of her when she tells that she had a hundred dresses.

15. How does Wanda feel about the dresses game? Why does she say that she has a hundred dresses? Ans. Peggy made fun of Wanda by asking how many dresses she had. She did not like the game of dresses. She always replied that she had a hundred dresses in her closet. She said so to play the other girls in their own coin.

16. Why does Maddie stand by and not do anything? How is she different from Peggy? Ans. Maddie did not like Peggy making fun of Wanda. She always wanted that Peggy should stop doing all that. But she could never muster courage to stop Peggy. Maddie was different from Peggy. Maddie was not rich like her. She was poor and wore old dresses given by others. Maddie always gave more importance to Peggy's friendship than Wanda.

17. What does Miss Mason think of Wanda's drawings? What do the children think of them? How do you know? Ans. Miss Mason appreciated Wanda's drawings wholeheartedly. She called them exquisite drawings. She told that each drawing out of one hundred deserved a prize. All the children admired her drawings. When they entered the classroom, they stopped short and gasped. They whistled or murmured admiringly. They burst into applause and even the boys admired the drawings.

PART - 2
1. What did Mr Petronski's letter say? Ans. Mr. Petronski wrote a letter informing the school that his daughter, Wanda Petronski would not come to school any more. They were moving to a big city where no one would make fun of her name.

2. Is Miss Mason angry with the class, or is she unhappy and upset? Ans. When Miss Mason came to know that the class had been making fun of Wanda Petronski's name, she was both unhappy and upset. She was not angry but she was troubled to know the incident.

3. How does Maddie feel after listening to the note from Wanda's father? Ans. Maddie had a very sick feeling in the bottom of her stomach. She could not put her mind in her work. She thought that she was as bad as Peggy because she never stopped Paggy from asking insulting questions from Wanda about her dresses though she did not like.

4. What does Maddie want to do? Ans. Maddie wants to tell Wanda that she never meant to insult her. She was sorry for everything. She did not want Wanda to leave that place. She wants to tell her that she was very much troubled over the incident.

5. What excuses does Peggy think up for her behaviour? Why? Ans. Peggy was also upset over the incident. She said that she had never called her a foreigner. She had never made fun of her name. She had never thought that she had the sense to know that they were making fun of her. She thought she was too dumb.

6. What are Maddie's thoughts as they go to Boggins Heights? Ans. Maddie thought that she would find Wanda and on meeting her she would tell her nobody would make fun of her name. The whole school thought that she was a wonderful. If anyone made fun of Peggy and Maddie would fight with them. She would feel sorry and request her not to move from there.

7. Why does Wanda's house remind Maddie of Wanda's blue dress? Ans. Maddie and Peggy reached Wanda's little house at Boggins Heights. The house little yard looked shabby but clean. It reminded Maddie of Wanda's one dress, her blue cotton dress, shabby but clean.

8. What does Maddie think hard about? What important decision does she come to? Ans. Maddie was upset over the incident. She could not meet Wanda. She came back but could not sleep that night. She thought about Wanda, her faded blue dress, the little house she was living in and the glowing pictures of hundred dresses. After the hardest thinking of her life, Maddie reached an important conclusion. She decided that she was never going to stand by and say nothing again. If she ever heard anybody picking on someone because they were funny looking or because they had strange names, she would speak up. She would never make anybody else unhappy again.

9. What did the girls write to Wanda? Ans. The girls wrote to Wanda about the contest and told her that she had won it. They appreciated her drawings. It was a friendly letter. They asked if she liked her new place and the teachers. They closed the letter with lots of love and wishes for Wanda.

10. Did they get a reply? Who was more anxious for a reply, Peggy or Maddie? How do you know? Ans. Weeks went by and still Wanda did not answer to Peggy and Maddie. After a long period of time, the reply was received by the school. Maddie was more anxious for a reply. Peggy had begun to forget the whole business. But Maddie did not forget Wanda. She used to make speeches about Wanda before going to bed.

11. How did the girls know that Wanda liked them even though they had teased her? Ans. In her letter to school, Wanda wished all the girls Merry Christmas. She offered all the hundred dresses for the girls. She gave the blue one to Maddie and the green one to Peggy. This shows that Wanda liked all of them though they always teased her.

12. Why do you think Wanda's family moved to a different city? Do you think life there was going to be different for their family? Ans. Wanda’s family could not tolerate the mockery that their daughter was subjected to by the other girls at the school. The other girls would laugh at her on her unusual long name and her faded blue dress. So the family decided to move a different city. We don’t know if it was different there, but we do hope it must have been.

13. Maddie thought her silence was as bad as Peggy's teasing. Was she right? Ans. Yes, Maddie was absolutely right. Peggy’s teasing of Wanda was bad, but Maddie’s remaining silent over it was equally bad. Remaining silent over injustice is as bad as doing injustice.

14. Peggy says, “I never thought she had the sense to know we were making fun of her anyway. I thought she was too dumb. And gee, look how she can draw !" What led Peggy to believe that Wanda was dumb? Did she change her opinion later? Ans. Peggy used to tease Wanda, but Wanda would never react. She always remained stolid. Thus Peggy came to think that Wanda was too dumb. But later she had to change her opinion when Wanda won the drawing contest.

15. What important decision did Maddie make? Why did she have to think hard to do so? Ans. Maddie decided that she would no longer remain silent when someone was being teased. She would at once speak up, even if it meant losing Peggy's friendship. She had to think hard because she had always valued Peggy's friendship and did not want to lose it.

16. Why do you think Wanda gave Maddie and Peggy the drawings of the dresses? Why are they surprised? Ans. Wanda had a heart of gold. In spite of their teasing, Wanda did not dislike Maddie and Peggy. She wanted to tell them she had no ill-feelings against them. That was why she left her two drawings for them. It surprised the two girls because they could never think that Wanda could have liked them.

17. Do you think Wanda really thought the girls were teasing her? Why or why not? Ans. Yes, Wanda did think that the girls were teasing her. But, she never spoke out because she disliked to be unpleasant. However, she reported everything to her parents. That is why they decided to go to another town.

18. How can you say that Maddie was different from Peggy ? [Board Term I, 2012; Set-EL2 – 021] Ans. Maddie belonged to a poor family. She always wore old clothes. She also kept sympathy with Wanda. Maddie did not like Peggy when she made fun of Wanda.

19. Why did Maddie feel guilty of herself ? [Board Term I, 2012; Set-EL2 – 018] Ans. Maddie felt guilty of herself because she always supported Peggy for fun. She never stopped Peggy for making fun of Wanda. Later, she was remorseful to see the beautiful dresses gifted by Wanda.

20. How did Wanda win the drawing competition? Did anyone expect her victory ? [Board Term I, DDE-2014] Ans. Wanda won the drawing competition as she had drawn hundred dresses-all different, colourful and exquisite. All of them deserved a prize though nobody expected her victory because in routine, she used to wear the same wrinkled dress.