The Hundred Dresses
Eleanor Estes
It is based on the theme of discrimination, judgmental attitude people have for people around us. In this story we see Wanda Petronsky being judged for her unique name and qualities. She was made fun of by Paggy, Madeline, and other girls. But Wanda never reacted to it.
Part-1
Summary
This story revolves around a girl Wanda Petronski and her classmates, mainly Peggy and Madeline who were always making fun of her. Wanda Petronski was a Polish immigrant, and she had come to America with her family. She took admission in the school of American students. Her classmates found her name to be strange and probably, the weirdest in the classroom. This is because they all had an easier and common name. Wanda was poor and always came to school wearing a faded blue dress. She was quiet and always found sitting in the corner of the classroom. Although she claimed that she had a hundred dresses and sixty shoes at her home. Two best friends, Peggy and Maddie were the most famous girl in school while anyone barely knew Wanda. The story is about the viewpoint of Maddie, who was the best friend of the main player in the daily taunting and teasing. Peggy and Maddie always wait for Wanda before school even if they were late. Maddie was a poor girl, but she herself did not like it when Peggy made fun of Wanda. She was afraid that she could be a target. She wanted Peggy not to make fun of Wanda, but could not have the courage to face her. Because she was afraid that she may lose her best friend. Though, Peggy’s purpose was never to hurt Wanda. But she was very eager to know why Wanda had to lie that she had a hundred dresses in her closet. The truth about the same hundred dresses revealed on the result day of the drawing competition. The room was having one hundred drawings representing different dresses, each extremely beautiful. That day, she truly had a hundred dresses and all lined up, but in the classroom. At that time, Peggy and Maddie, who were awestruck and realized the theory of a hundred dresses. They felt guilty about having treated her badly
Possession - wealth, money धन संपत्ति | Enduring - bearable सहनशील | Account - detail विवरण | Sensitive - having feelings भावुक | Encyclopedia - a dictionary that contains every type of information विश्व ज्ञान कोष | Treat - behave व्यवहार करना | Immigration - to go and settle out of one's country बाहर जाकर बसना | Occurred - happened होना | Migrated - to go in another country विदेश में बस जाना | Ethnicity - pertaining to race जाति संबंधी | Notable - famous प्रसिद्ध | Subrubs - outskirts of city उपनगर | Discriminated - differentiated अंतर करना | Usually - generally आमतौर पर | Corner - edge कोना | suffling of feet - noise due to dragging of feet on the ground पैरों की रगड़ द्वारा शोर | Roars - cries चीखें | Contrary - opposite crooked like - dishonest person, body bent शरीफ टेढ़ा मेढ़ा | Caked - dry सूख जाना | Track - beaten path पगडंडी | Closest - fast, near करीबी, पक्की | Faded - Colourless बदरंग | Surrounded - encircled घेर लेना | Hopscotch - name of a game एक खेल | Courteous - polite विनम्र | Nudge - a gentle push कोहनी मारना | Closet - almirah अलमारी | Hanging - dangling लटकना | Incredulous - not Believing अविश्वसनीय था | Repeat - say again पुनः कहना | Stolidly - not showing any feeling बिना भावना के | peals of laughter - laughed heartily जोर से हंसना | busting into shriek - crying at high pitch जोर से चिल्लाना | Obviously - clearly स्पष्ट रूप से | Exaggerate - speaking in an enhanced way बढ़ा चढ़ा कर कहना | Inseparable - that which cannot be separated जिसे अलग ना कर सके | every now and then - of and on कभी-कभी | Hitching - remove with jerk झटके से हटाना | Protected - saved रक्षा करना | Bullies - these who use their power to frighten दबंग | Mistreated - ill treating गलत व्यवहार करना | Bothering - troubling चिंता होना| hand me down clothes - giving old clothes पुराने कपड़े देना| Sometimes - off and on कभी-कभी | Mocking - false, making fun of झूठे, मजाक उड़ाना | Embarrassed - ashamed शर्मिंदा होना | Invented - found पाना| Teasing - bothering तंग करना | Absent mindedly - foolishly बेवकूफी से | Shuddered - trembled कांपना | Target - a person deliberately chosen for attack हमले के लिए किसी को चुनना | Disguise - conceal वेश बदलना | Trimmings - ornamentation of lace छोटा, किनारी | Recognise - identity पहचानना | blonde hair - light pale coloured hair सुनहरा रंग | Scarcely - hardly डरपोक | Brilliant - decent शानदार | Sash - scarf रुमाल| Pretended - not real बहाना करना | Admiration - praise प्रशंसा करना | Contest - debate वाक युद्ध | Announce - saying publicly घोषणा करना | Drizzling - light raining बूंदाबांदी होना| Eagerly - happily उत्सुकता से उत्सुकता से | Gasped - heaved heavily जोर से सांस लेना जोर से सांस लेना | Ledge - Latch खूंटी | window sill - lower portion of the window खिड़की की चौखट | Dazzling - of much shining चकाचौंध करने वाली | Lavish - Very grand बहुत शानदार | Wrapping - for folding लपेटने वाला | murmured - speak silently धीरे-धीरे कहना | Assembled - collected इकट्ठे होना | Sketches - pictures चित्र | Submitted - given देना | Actually - in reality वास्तव में | Worthy - suitable योग्य | Unfortunately - unluckily दुर्भाग्य से | applause - clapping तालियां | Exquisite - very decent अति शानदार | Whispered - speak silently without clear sound कानाफूसी करना |
Oral Comprehension Check
1. Where in the classroom does Wanda sit and why?
Ans: Wanda used to sit in penultimate row of benches, in room thirteen. She is from a poor family and looks untidy ,her feet were normally caked with dry mud and very dirty. So in order to avoid being laughed at by her classmates, she sat there to hide herself from the class.
2. Where does Wanda live? What kind of a place do you think it is?
Ans: Wanda lives at Boggins Heights. It seems that it is a place far away from the school and the fact that her shoes are covered in mud gives an idea that Boggins Heights is not a developed area, more likely, it could be like some unplanned colony or a slum area.
3. When and why do Peggy and Maddie notice Wanda’s absence?
Ans: Peggy and Maddie notice Wanda’s absence after three days, i.e., on Wednesday because they wanted to be with her for a lot of fun. They waited for her for a long time but she didn't turn up.
4. What do you think “to have fun with her” means?
Ans: Wanda was a quiet and shy girl .Because of her looks and dirty feet,these girls used to make fun of her. Here,"to have fun with her" means that they liked to tease Wanda .This gave them a lot of pleasure.
Oral Comprehension Check
1. In what way was Wanda different from the other children?
Ans: Wanda was different from other children. She did not have any friends. She came to school alone and went home alone. She always wore a faded blue dress that did not fit her properly. Unlike other children, she did not talk to anybody or had different dresses to wear.
2. Did Wanda have a hundred dresses? Why do you think she said she did?
Ans: No, she did not have a hundred dresses because she was poor and wore the same faded dress to school everyday. She had an inferiority complex. In order to hide the complex and impress the other girls, she always said that she had a hundred dresses.She exaggerated this , may be because she did not want others to make fun of her.
3. Why is Maddie embarrassed by the questions Peggy asks Wanda? Is she also like Wanda, or is she different?
Ans: Maddie was embarrassed by the questions Peggy asked Wanda because she too belonged to a poor family. She usually wore old and already worn clothes, which were given by some other people. She did not feel sorry for Wanda but instead, was worried for herself that perhaps later, everyone would start teasing her too. She thought she was different from Wanda in the sense that she would never claim that she had a hundred dresses. She was not as poor as Wanda. But could understand the trauma that Wanda went through when the others mocked her.
Oral Comprehension Check
1. Why didn't Maddie ask Peggie to stop teasing Wanda? What was she afraid of?
Ans: Maddie didn't ask Peggie to stop teasing Wanda because Peggie was her best friend and she had faith in Peggie that she would never do anything wrong. She was afraid that she also might be laughed at for her poor dresses.
2. Who did Maddie think would win the drawing contest? Why?
Ans: Maddie thought that Peggy would win the drawing contest because Peggy drew better than anyone else. She was a confident girl who had build a strong reputation among her classmates.She could copy a picture in a magazine, or some film star’s face so well that one could easily guess who it was.
3. Who won the drawing contest? What had the winner drawn?
Ans: Wanda won the drawing contest. The winner of drawing contest was appreciated by the judges and applauded by her fellow classmates.She made a drawing of a hundred dresses.
Thinking about the Text
1. How is Wanda seen as different by the other girls? How do they treat her?
Ans : Wanda is seen as different by the other girls.She is poor and a lonely girl. They treated her as inferior to them and always made fun of her.The girls teased her by commenting on her dress and dirty feet.
2. How does Wanda feel about the dresses game? Why does she say that she has a hundred dresses?
Ans: Wanda did not show any feelings regarding the dresses game. It is most likely that she was deeply hurt.But she maintained a stoic face and showed that she was made of tough nerves. .She was a girl who was very poor and came form a long distance which made her feet dirty. She wanted to draw attention of her friends. So, she felt very happy whenever she told her friend that she had hundred dresses without realizing that they were making fun of her.
3. 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?)
Ans: Maddie always stood by and never did anything as she was afraid that if she did, she would loose Peggy's friendship. She was a poor girl and therefore, felt that if she spoke against the others, they would target her next. Unlike her, Peggy was a rich girl. This was also the reason why Maddie could think from Wanda’s point of view, but Peggy could not. Maddie was Peggy’s best friend. It seemed as if she was in awe of Peggy. She admired her quite a lot as she said that Peggy was the most liked girl in the room and that she drew better than anyone else. She did not have the courage to go against her. Some of the lines from the text which show that Peggy’s friendship was important to Maddie are as follows. (i) Peggy, who had thought up this game, and Maddie, her inseparable friend, were always the last to leave. (ii) She was Peggy’s best friend, and Peggy was the best-liked girl in the whole room. (iii) Peggy could not possibly do anything that was really wrong, she thought. (iv) Oh, Maddie was sure Peggy would win.
4. What does Miss Mason think of Wanda’s drawings? What do the children think of them? How do you know?
Ans: Miss mason appreciated the paintings of Wanda. She was impressed at the creativity of the girl because she had painted hundred paintings which were in wide range of variety and worthy of winning a medal.The children also admired the drawings. Everybody stopped and whistled or murmured admiringly. After Miss Mason had announced that Wanda was the winner, they burst into applause, and even the boys were glad to have a chance to stamp on the floor and whistle. Also, just as Peggy and Maddie entered the room, they stopped short and gasped. Later they recognized the designs as those which Wanda had described to them. And in the end, Peggy exclaimed, “…and I thought I could draw.” This shows that she also realized how good Wanda’s drawings were.
Part 2
One of the important themes which the story "The Hundred Dresses" conveys is racial discrimination. It is one of the ills of the society which has an adverse impact on the people. The story is about a Polish girl who faces discrimination when she goes to school.
Summary
“The Hundred Dresses II” discloses the fact that why Wanda Petronski had been absent from the school. The Petronski family decided to shift to a big city where no one would care about their uncommon name. The whole class along with the teacher got shocked by this news. On hearing the note, Maddie and Peggy both were worried as they understood that they would never get a chance to apologize for all the teasing that they had done. Both the girls got to know that Wanda liked them a lot. Due to this Wanda had dedicated one of the hundred dresses based on drawings to each one of them. “The Hundred Dresses II” discloses the fact that why Wanda Petronski had been absent from the school. The Petronski family decided to shift to a big city where no one would care about their uncommon name. The whole class along with the teacher got shocked by this news. On hearing the note, Maddie and Peggy both were worried as they understood that they would never get a chance to apologize for all the teasing that they had done. Both the girls got to know that Wanda liked them a lot. Due to this Wanda had dedicated one of the hundred dresses based on drawings to each one of them.
Word Meaning
Studied - read thoughtfully पढ़ना | Thoughtfully - with mind ध्यान से | Attention - with mind ध्यान | Shuffling - movement, rubbing and dragging हिलना | Grew tense - became serious गंभीर होना | Deliberately - intentionally जानबूझकर | Indicated - pointed out इशारा किया | Listened - heard सुनना | Closely - nearly समीप से | Move away - go जाना | Holler - cry loudly जोर से बोलना | Pollack - a kind of fish एक प्रकार की मछली | Plenty - more than enough अधिकता | Took off - kept उतारना , रखना | Purposely - with purpose उद्देश्य से | Happened - occured होना | Unfamiliar - unknown अनजान | Prefer - to feel good अच्छा लगना | Thoughtlessness - without mind बिना सोचे समझे | Unfortunate - unlucky भाग्यशाली | Bottom of her stomach - in the mind मन में | Closet - almirah अलमारी | Stood by - support साथ देना | Worse - very bad बहुत बुरा | Coward - not brave डरपोक | Mean - wretch मनहूस | Dismissed - closed बंद होना | Kid - small child छोटा बच्चा | Pretended casualness - showing excuse बहाना दिखाते हुए | Glowed - Brighten रोशनी आना | Drizzling - showering हल्की-हल्की बूंदे गिरना | Damp - wet गीली | Dismil - sad दुखी | Gruffly - harshly कठोरता से | Dump - unable to speak गूंगी | Gee - move forward आगे बढ़ना | Picked on - troubled परेशान करना | wisps - small bundle छोटी पोटली | Pathway - Footpath पगडंडी | stuck up - come forward आगे निकलना | Sparsh - thin पतला, हल्का | Shabby - unclear गंदा , धुंधला | Faded - discoloured धुंधला | Conclusion - decision निष्कर्ष, निर्णय| Defending - saving बचाव करना | Tease - trouble तंग करना | to feel ashamed - to feel shy लज्जित होना | Decorated - adorned सजाना | Intently - with attention ध्यान से | trimming - decorating with certain items like Gota,etc. गोटा किनारी से सजाना | Wreaths - garland मालाएं | Holly - evergreen plant सदाबहारझाड़ियां | Grocery - Provision Store किराना स्टोर | Stacked - fastened बांधना, लगाना | Candy - crystallized sugar मिस्त्री | Cornucopias - decorated containers सजावटी कंटेनर | Reflected - shone चमकना | Pinned - using the drawing pins पिन लगाना | Alive - full of life सजीव | Blurred - appeared in great quantity धुंधला | Hastily - hurriedly जल्दी से | Intently - seriously ध्यान से, गंभीरता से | Vivid - clear साफ | Scarcely - hardly मुश्किल से | Excitedly - with courage जोश से | Clattered - a sound while moving चलते समय की आवाज | Exclaimed - said with surprise हैरानी से | Blinked away - winked away झपकी | Sunny - rays of sun falling सूर्य की किरणें पढ़ना | Spot - place स्थान | Stolidly - foolishly मूर्खता से |
Oral Comprehension Check
1.What did Mr Petronski’s letter say?
Ans: Mr Petronski’s letter said that Wanda would not come to school anymore as they were shifting to another city. He was hurt at the treatment meted out to his children in the school .He also said that in another city, nobody would ask them why they had funny names because bigger cities have cosmopolitan population.
2. Is Miss Mason angry with the class, or is she unhappy and upset?
Ans: Yes, Miss Mason is unhappy and upset rather than being angry.She was was disturbed by the ill treatment to Wanda by the students of her class. At the same time ,she believed that whatever the children did was just out of childish thoughtlessness. She didn't approve of the humiliation of a child just because of her name, looks or to where she belonged.She also hoped that children will learn a lesson from this episode.
3. How does Maddie feel after listening to the note from Wanda’s father?
Ans: After listening to the note from Wanda’s father, Maddie has a very sick and guilty feeling in the bottom of her stomach. She could not concentrate when she tried to prepare her lessons. She had not at all enjoyed listening to Peggy ask Wanda how many dresses she had in her closet.She felt bad on being a mute spectator and treated her behavior as of a coward.
4. What does Maddie want to do?
Ans: Maddie wants to tell Wanda that she didn't want to hurt her feelings and also that whatever fun they made of her was a childish prank and they didn't really mean to humiliate her.
Oral Comprehension Check
1. What excuses does Peggy think up for her behavior? Why?
Ans: Peggy thinks of different excuses for her behavior. She was satisfied that she never called Wanda a foreigner or made fun of her name. Peggy thinks that she was the inspiration behind Wanda's drawings.Had she not asked Wanda about how many dresses she had,she would not have drawn so beautifully.Peggy realized that she had made a mistake of making fun of Wanda but she did not want to confess openly .So she tried making such excuses.
2. What are Maddie’s thoughts as they go to Boggins Heights?
Ans: Maddie is feeling bad about Wanda and herself. She is feeling very sad for not even getting a chance to say sorry to Wanda.She is also thinking to tell her that the whole school thought how wonderful she was and that she must not leave the school because of their behavior.
3. Why does Wanda’s house remind Maddie of Wanda’s blue dress?
Ans: Wanda’s blue dress was old, faded but used to be neat and clean. Similarly her house was small and makeshift but clean. Wanda was a poor girl but she was sober and probably more mature than other kids of her age. May be her hardships had taught her great lessons in the life, which is evident in the way she used to keep her dress or her house.
Oral Comprehension Check
4. What does Maddie think hard about? What important decision does she come to? Ans: Wanda thinks about not letting anything wrong happen to anyone. She makes a vow that she would protest against injustice. She won’t be a mute spectator the way she was in Wanda's case. In a way, the episode of Wanda’s family leaving that city works as major turn of heart that completely changed Maddie’s personality.
Oral Comprehension Check
1. What did the girls write to Wanda?
Ans: The girls actually wanted to write a letter stating their true feelings and that they felt sorry for making fun of her but landed up writing a formal letter telling her that she had won the contest. They also wrote how pretty her drawings were. They asked her if she liked the place where she was living and if she liked her new teacher. They wanted to say that they were sorry.However, they could not gather the courage to write what they actually felt and ended up just writing a friendly letter. They signed it with lots of X’s for love.
2.Did they get a reply? Who was more anxious for a reply, Peggy or Maddie? How do you know?
Ans: No, they did not get a reply. Maddie was more anxious for a reply as she thought a lot about it and felt connected to Wanda as she was also from a poor family. She was getting anxious of not getting a chance to say sorry to Wanda.It was Maddie who first noticed her face on Wanda's drawing. Peggy, on the other hand, had begun to forget about the whole affair. This shows that Maddie was more anxious for a reply than Peggy.
3. How did the girls know that Wanda liked them even though they had teased her? Ans: The girls came to know that Wanda liked them even though they had teased her as she had asked Miss Mason to give the green dress with red trimming to Peggy and the blue one to Maddie. Later, when Maddie looked at the drawings very carefully, she realized that the dress had a face and a head, which looked very much like her own self. The other drawing had Peggy's face. This clearly indicated Wanda's liking for them.
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?
Ans: Wanda's family moved to different city because her father felt hurt when the children teased Wanda.He had an opinion that bigger cities have cosmopolitan population and they are attuned to seeing people from different cultures and races and have a better sense of cultural sensibilities.He hoped to have a better life in big city.
2. Maddie thought her silence was as bad as Peggy’s teasing. Was she right?
Ans: Yes, Maddie was right when she thought that her silence was as bad as Peggy’s teasing because her silence encouraged Peggy to tease her more. A person who partners the offense is equally responsible for the wrong doing. Maddie was too afraid to say anything because she did not want to lose Peggy’s friendship. Also, she was poor herself, so she feared that everybody would make fun of her too.
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?
Ans: Peggy believed that Wanda was dumb as she could not understand why Wanda said she had a hundred dresses, even when everybody knew that she was poor.Wanda’s unusual behavior led Peggy to believe that Wanda was dumb. Wanda never reacted to all the pranks and misbehavior which she had to suffer every day. She knew everybody was laughing at her. Even then, she kept giving the same answer. Peggy changed her opinion later when she saw the hundred dresses Wanda had talked about. She saw the drawings and was highly impressed by their beauty. She realized that Wanda was a very good artist.
4. What important decision did Maddie make? Why did she have to think hard to do so?
Ans: The important decision that Maddie made was that she would never stand by and be a mute spectator of racial discrimination. Earlier, she was torn between her loyalty to Peggy and her sense of right and wrong. But now, she had mustered the courage to fight for injustice, even if she loses her dear friend Peggy. She knew she could not make things right with Wanda. However, she had decided that in future, she would never make anybody else unhappy again.She was disappointed that she could not find Wanda at her home. She could not sleep that night. She thought about Wanda, her faded blue dress, and the little house she lived in. She also thought about the hundred glowing pictures, which were all lined up in the classroom. She was feeling guilty of not having said anything when everybody else was teasing Wanda. It was her guilt that made her think very hard and arrive at the important decision.
5. Why do you think Wanda gave Maddie and Peggy the drawings of the dresses? Why are they surprised?
Ans: Maddie and Peggy wrote a friendly letter to Wanda but she did not reply for a long time.Wanda requested Mrs Mason to give two of her drawing to Maddie and Peggy ,perhaps this way she wanted to show both of them that she has forgiven and forgotten their behavior. They both were surprised because they always made fun of here dresses and insulted her, but she had gifted them with those beautiful designs. 6. Do you think Wanda really thought the girls were teasing her? Why or why not? Ans : Yes, Wanda knew that girls were teasing her .She appears to be a smart enough to understand her surroundings well. She knew that the children intended to make fun of her poverty and laughed at her. Though she seems mentally conditioned but this could have been the reason for her exaggerating everything whenever she answered them.
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