The Hundred Dresses – II Question Answer – Class 10 English

Oral Comprehension Check (Page 74)

1. What did Mr Petronski's letter say?

Mr Petronski's letter said that Wanda and her brother Jake would not come to the school any more, because the family was moving to a big city. There, he wrote, nobody would "holler 'Pollack'" at them or ask why they had a funny name, since there were "plenty of funny names in the big city".

2. Is Miss Mason angry with the class, or is she unhappy and upset?

Miss Mason is unhappy and upset rather than angry. She speaks in a very low voice and says she prefers to think that what was said was said "in thoughtlessness". She calls the event "unfortunate and sad, both", and asks the children to think about it.

3. How does Maddie feel after listening to the note from Wanda's father?

Maddie feels guilty and miserable. She cannot put her mind on her work and has "a very sick feeling in the bottom of her stomach". She realises that by standing by silently she was just as bad as Peggy, even worse, because she knew it was wrong. She calls herself a coward and puts herself in Wanda's shoes.

4. What does Maddie want to do?

Maddie wants to find Wanda before she moves away and tell her that she had not meant to hurt her feelings. She hopes that Peggy will climb Boggins Heights with her so that they can tell Wanda she has won the contest, that they think she is smart, and that her hundred dresses are beautiful.

Oral Comprehension Check (Page 76)

1. What excuses does Peggy think up for her behaviour? Why?

Peggy says that she never called Wanda a foreigner or made fun of her name, and that she never thought Wanda "had the sense to know" they were making fun of her. Later she claims that her questions about the dresses probably gave Wanda ideas for her drawings, so Wanda might not have won otherwise. She makes these excuses to ease her guilty conscience and to avoid admitting that she was wrong.

2. What are Maddie's thoughts as they go to Boggins Heights?

Maddie hopes only that they will find Wanda. She wants to tell her that they are sorry they picked on her, and how wonderful the whole school thinks she is. She wants to ask her not to move away, promising that everybody will be nice, and that she and Peggy will fight anybody who is not nice.

3. Why does Wanda's house remind Maddie of Wanda's blue dress?

Wanda's little white house and its sparse yard look "shabby but clean". This reminds Maddie of Wanda's one faded blue cotton dress, which was also shabby but clean. Both show a family that is poor but neat and self-respecting.

4. What does Maddie think hard about? What important decision does she come to?

That night Maddie thinks hard about Wanda, her faded blue dress, the little house she lived in, and the glowing picture of the hundred dresses lined up in the classroom. She thinks about her own silence. She decides that she will never again stand by and say nothing. If she ever hears anybody picking on someone for being funny-looking or having a strange name, she will speak up, even if it means losing Peggy's friendship.

Oral Comprehension Check (Page 79)

1. What did the girls write to Wanda?

The girls wrote a friendly letter telling Wanda about the contest and that she had won. They told her how pretty her drawings were and asked whether she liked her new home and her new teacher. They had meant to say they were sorry, but they wrote only an ordinary friendly letter, signed with lots of X's for love, and posted it to Boggins Heights marked "Please Forward".

2. Did they get a reply? Who was more anxious for a reply, Peggy or Maddie? How do you know?

For weeks there was no reply to them directly. At Christmas, however, Wanda wrote to Miss Mason, and her letter was really a reply for the girls too. Maddie was more anxious for a reply. Peggy "had begun to forget the whole business", but Maddie put herself to sleep each night making speeches defending Wanda against girls who teased her.

3. How did the girls know that Wanda liked them even though they had teased her?

In her letter Wanda asked that Peggy be given the drawing of the green dress with the red trimming and Maddie the blue one. At home Maddie noticed that the face in her drawing looked just like her own, and the face in Peggy's drawing looked like Peggy. Wanda had drawn them specially for the two girls, which showed she liked them in spite of the teasing.

Thinking about the Text

1. 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?

Wanda's family moved because they were tired of being insulted for being Polish and for having an unusual name. Mr Petronski's letter says, "No more holler 'Pollack'. No more ask why funny name." The teasing of Wanda at school was part of this hurt. They hoped that in a big city, with "plenty of funny names", they would not stand out.

Life there probably would be better in some ways, since a big city has people from many countries and they would be less noticed. But it may not be perfect. Wanda's letter says she misses her old school and that her new teacher "does not equalise" with Miss Mason, so she still feels the loss of what she left behind.

2. Maddie thought her silence was as bad as Peggy's teasing. Was she right?

Yes, Maddie was right. She knew the dresses game was cruel and wished it would stop, yet she said nothing and stood by while Wanda was hurt every day. Her silence gave the teasing her silent approval. In one way she was even worse than Peggy, because Peggy did not realise she was being mean, while Maddie "had thought they were doing wrong". A person who watches wrong being done and does nothing out of fear shares the blame. Maddie honestly faced this truth and called herself "a coward".

3. 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?

Peggy thought Wanda was dumb because Wanda was very quiet and rarely spoke. She answered the teasing questions "stolidly", without showing any feeling, and kept repeating the obvious untruth about a hundred dresses. She was poor, came from Boggins Heights, and sat in the corner with the boys who did not get good marks. All this made Peggy think she did not understand that she was being mocked.

Yes, Peggy changed her opinion. When she saw the hundred drawings, she exclaimed, "Boy, and I thought I could draw," and admitted, "look how she can draw!" She went to Boggins Heights to find Wanda and helped write her a friendly letter. Yet she never fully admitted her fault and soon forgot the whole business.

4. What important decision did Maddie make? Why did she have to think hard to do so?

Maddie decided that she would never again stand by and say nothing. If she heard anyone picking on someone because they looked funny or had a strange name, she would speak up, "even if it meant losing Peggy's friendship".

She had to think hard because the decision was not easy. Peggy was her best friend and the most popular girl in the class, and Maddie, being poor herself, feared becoming the next target. She also had to admit to herself that she had been a coward. Facing her own fault and accepting the risk of losing her friend made it "the hardest thinking she had ever done".

5. Why do you think Wanda gave Maddie and Peggy the drawings of the dresses? Why are they surprised?

Wanda gave them the drawings as a sign of forgiveness and friendship. She had received their friendly letter, and at Christmas she wanted to show that she bore them no ill will. The gift was her way of saying that everything was all right. It also shows her generous nature, since she gave her best work to the very girls who had teased her.

They are surprised because they had expected Wanda to be hurt and angry, and they had got no reply for weeks. They are even more surprised to discover that the faces in the drawings are their own. Wanda had drawn them with Peggy and Maddie in mind, which means she had liked them all along.

6. Do you think Wanda really thought the girls were teasing her? Why or why not?

Yes, I think Wanda knew the girls were teasing her. Her "eyes dull", her closed mouth and the way her lips "drew together in silence" show that she felt hurt. Her father's letter also shows that the family felt insulted and mocked. She was quiet, but she was not "dumb", as Peggy thought.

Still, Wanda did not hold it against them. Perhaps she was glad that the popular girls at least spoke to her, and perhaps she hoped to win their friendship. By drawing their faces in her designs and giving them the drawings, she showed that she forgave them and wanted to be their friend. Her kindness makes their thoughtlessness look even smaller.

Thinking about Language

I. Here are thirty adjectives describing human qualities. Discuss them with your partner and put them in the two word webs (given below) according to whether you think they show positive or negative qualities. You can consult a dictionary if you are not sure of the meanings of some of the words. You may also add to the list the positive or negative 'pair' of a given word.

Positive qualities (15): kind, courteous, placid, zealous, intrepid, sensitive, compassionate, cheerful, contented, friendly, fashionable, generous, talented, determined, creative

Negative qualities (15): sarcastic, arrogant, insipid, timid, cruel, haughty, proud, introverted, stolid, thoughtless, vain, unforgiving, lonely, miserable, complacent

Note: some words depend on context. "Proud" can be positive (proud of one's country), and "introverted" or "lonely" describe a state rather than a fault, but here they are placed with the negative qualities.

Adding the 'pair' of each word:

II. What adjectives can we use to describe Peggy, Wanda and Maddie? You can choose adjectives from the list above. You can also add some of your own.

1. Peggy

Popular, pretty, fashionable, confident, thoughtless, insensitive, proud, sarcastic (in her mocking politeness), and kind to small children and animals.

2. Wanda

Poor, quiet, introverted, lonely, sensitive, stolid (outwardly), talented, creative, imaginative, generous and forgiving.

3. Maddie

Poor, sensitive, timid, thoughtful, compassionate, guilt-ridden, honest with herself, and finally determined.

III. Phrasal verbs

1. Find the sentences in the story with the following phrasal verbs: lined up, thought up, took off, stood by.

(a) lined up: "Yeah, a hundred, all lined up," said Wanda. (Also: "There must have been a hundred of them, all lined up.")

(b) thought up: Peggy, who had thought up this game, and Maddie, her inseparable friend, were always the last to leave.

(c) took off: Miss Mason took off her glasses, blew on them and wiped them on her soft white handkerchief.

(d) stood by: She had stood by silently, and that was just as bad as what Peggy had done. (Also: She was never going to stand by and say nothing again.)

2. Look up these phrasal verbs in a dictionary to find out if they can be used in some other way. (Look at the entries for line, think, take and stand in the dictionary.) Find out what other prepositions can go with these verbs. What does each of these phrasal verbs mean?

3. Use at least five such phrasal verbs in sentences of your own.

1. The students lined up in the school field for the morning assembly.
2. Please think over my offer before you give me an answer.
3. Rina takes after her grandmother, who was also a fine singer.
4. My father has taken up gardening after his retirement.
5. A true friend will always stand by you in difficult times.
6. Ravi stood out from the other candidates because of his confidence.
7. We must stand up for anyone who is being bullied.

IV. Colours are used to describe feelings, moods and emotions. Match the following 'colour expressions' with a suggested paraphrase.

Speaking

Role Play: The story of Wanda Petronski presents many characters engaged in many kinds of behaviour (teasing, playing, sitting in class…). Form groups. Choose an episode or episodes from the story. Assign roles to each member of the group from that episode, and try to act it out like a play, using the words in the story.

A sample script based on the dresses game in the school yard.

Characters: Peggy, Maddie, Wanda, two girls, Narrator

Narrator: Morning, outside the school yard. Little girls are playing hopscotch. Wanda stands alone, watching. Peggy and her friends come up and surround her.

Peggy: (very politely, nudging a friend) Wanda, tell us. How many dresses did you say you had hanging up in your closet?

Wanda: A hundred.

Girls: (together, unbelievingly) A hundred!

Wanda: Yeah, a hundred, all lined up. (She presses her lips together.)

Peggy: What are they like? All silk, I bet.

Wanda: Yeah, all silk, all colours.

First girl: Velvet, too?

Wanda: (stolidly) Yeah, velvet too. A hundred dresses. All lined up in my closet.

Second girl: How many shoes did you say you had?

Wanda: Sixty pairs. All lined up in my closet.

Peggy: (with exaggerated politeness) All alike?

Wanda: Oh, no. Every pair is different. All colours. All lined up.

Narrator: Wanda walks away slowly, hitching her left shoulder. The girls burst into shrieks of laughter. Maddie looks down at the marbles in her hand and rolls them around, saying nothing.

Maddie: (to herself) I wish Peggy would stop teasing Wanda Petronski. But what if they start on me next?

Tip: You may also act out the scene in which Miss Mason announces the winners, or the scene in which Peggy and Maddie climb Boggins Heights to find Wanda.

Writing

1. Look again at the letter which Wanda's father writes to Miss Mason, Wanda's teacher. Mr Petronski is not quite aware how to write a formal letter in English. Can you rewrite it more appropriately? Discuss the following with your partner before you do so. The format of a formal letter: How to begin the letter and how to end it; the language of the letter needs to be formal. (Avoid informal words like "holler" and fragments like "No more ask why funny name.") Write complete sentences.

Jan Petronski
Boggins Heights
(Town)

12 November 20XX

Miss Mason
Class Teacher, Room Thirteen
(Name of School)
(Town)

Subject: Withdrawal of my children from school

Dear Madam,

I wish to inform you that my daughter Wanda and my son Jake will not be attending your school any longer, as our family is moving to a big city.

I am sorry to say that my children have often been called "Pollack" and teased about their unusual name. This has caused them a great deal of hurt. We hope that in the big city, where there are people with many different names, they will not face such treatment.

Thank you for all that you have done for my children. Kindly arrange to send their school records to us.

Yours faithfully,
Jan Petronski

2. Are you interested in drawing and painting? Ritu Kumar, one of India's best known dress designers, has no formal training in designing. She started by sketching ideas for her own dresses, and getting them stitched by a tailor. Ritu's friends liked her dresses so much that they asked her to design clothes for them, and even paid her for it! Imagine you are going to make a career out of your hobby. What sort of things will you need to learn? Write a paragraph or two on this topic after consulting an expert or doing reference work on your chosen area.

From Hobby to Career: Becoming a Dress Designer

Ever since I was small I have loved drawing clothes for my dolls, and now I dream of becoming a dress designer, like Ritu Kumar. A talk with a tailor in our town and some reading have shown me that talent alone is not enough. I will need to learn sketching and fashion illustration, the use of colour, and the qualities of different fabrics such as cotton, silk and wool. I must also learn pattern-making, cutting and stitching, so that my designs can actually be made and worn comfortably.

Besides these skills, a designer has to understand what people want. I should study fashion trends and also our own rich traditions, like the mekhela sador and the weaving of muga and eri silk in Assam. Learning computer design software, and the basics of business, pricing and marketing, would help me sell my work. A course at a fashion institute such as NIFT would give me formal training, but I can begin right now by keeping a sketchbook, stitching simple clothes and showing my work to friends for honest advice.

Tip: You may also write about painting, photography, cooking, music, gardening or any hobby you enjoy.

3. Rewrite a part of the story as if Wanda is telling us her own story.

My name is Wanda Petronski. I live up on Boggins Heights, under the railroad tracks and up the hill, and every morning I walk all the way to school alone. My shoes are always muddy by the time I reach, so I sit in the corner of Room Thirteen with the rough boys. I do not mind. I do not talk much anyway.

I have only one dress, a blue one. Mother washes it carefully, but it has faded and it never hangs quite right. The other girls wear pretty clothes, especially Peggy, who has curly hair and is liked by everyone. One morning Peggy and her friends gathered around me in the school yard. "Wanda," Peggy said very politely, "how many dresses did you say you had hanging up in your closet?"

"A hundred," I said. And it was true, in a way. At home I had drawn a hundred dresses, all different, all colours, all lined up. Silk ones, velvet ones, a pale blue one with coloured trimmings and a jungle-green one with a red sash. When I said so, they laughed. I pressed my lips together and walked away, but I heard their laughter behind me. I told myself it did not matter. Some day, I thought, they would see my dresses.

In This Lesson: What You Can Do

Class talent survey: Conduct a survey in your class to find out about the different talents your classmates possess, from cooking to painting to singing to gardening. Divide the class into two equal sections, A and B. Each student from Section A talks with one student from Section B, and they interview each other for five or ten minutes. Then some students from each section talk about the talents of the person they interviewed.

A sample report: I interviewed my classmate Pranjal Bora. Pranjal is very quiet in class, so few of us knew that he plays the dhol beautifully and has performed at the Bihu function in his village for three years. He learnt from his uncle and practises every evening. He also enjoys growing vegetables in his family's kitchen garden. Pranjal says he would like to play at our school's annual function. I learnt that every person has a hidden talent, and we should never judge anyone only by how they look or how much they speak.