Chapter 6 - The Hundred Dresses - II
Writer of the story: Eleanor EstesThinking about the text:
Question 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?
Answer: Wanda’s family moved to a different city due to the racist and insulting behaviour of students towards Wanda and her brother. They were teased by other students for their funny name and blue dress that Wanda wore day in and day out to school. Life there in a big city was going to be different because people there did not have such a narrow – minded attitude and would not tease them because of their names or status.
Question 2: Maddie thought her silence was as bad as Peggy’s teasing. Was she right?
Answer: Maddie was right to think that her silence was as bad as Peggy’s teasing because it is often said that turning a blind eye to crime is worse than committing the crime itself. So, it meant that by being silent to the way Wanda was being treated by Peggy, Maddie indirectly encouraged her to do so. She was undoubtedly right in thinking that way.
Question 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?
Answer: When being treated in the wrong way by Peggy and her friends, Wanda Petronski never retorted. She face them in a very neutral manner and never went beyond replying their questions in a very unusual manner. These things made Peggy think that Wanda was a dumb child. When Wanda added the description of the hundred dresses she had in her closet, it added fuel to the taunting as she wore the same faded blue dress to school everyday. We come to know that later, after looking at Wanda’s drawing of the 100 dresses and her intention of gifting them with the drawings, Peggy changed her opinion about Wanda Petronski in a positive way.
Question 4: What important decision did Maddie make? Why did she have to think hard to do so?
Answer: Maddie decided to go to Wanda’s house with Peggy to apologise and amend for all that had happened, but Wanda had left her house with her family. She felt bad because she thought of herself as a coward who did not stop Peggy from insulting Wanda. So, she decided to raise her voice against injustice and bullying. She was firm of not being a mute spectator anymore.
Question 5: Why do you think Wanda gave Maddie and Peggy the drawings of the dresses? Why are they surprised?
Answer: When Maddie and Peggy wrote a letter to Wanda, she might have understood their intention and feelings behind the letter and during the dresses game. She had observed both of them. So, she requested Miss. Mason to give two of her drawings to them and had taught them a lesson of life. Maddie and Peggy were surprised as Wanda gifted them the dresses with their faces as well.
Question 6: Do you think Wanda really thought the girls were teasing her? Why or Why not?
Answer: Wanda was aware of the girls’ misbehaviour as they teased her every day, but she remained calm. To keep them mum she fabricated a story of having a hundred dresses and sixty pairs of matching shoes all lined up in her closet. She taught them a lesson of life through the drawings of the hundred dresses she claimed to have.
Additional questions:
Question 1: What did Maddie and Peggy write in the letter to Wanda Petronski?
Answer: Maddie and Peggy wanted to apologise for what had happened but ended up writing a friendly letter to Wanda Petronski. They ended up asking her whether she liked her new school and teacher. They informed her about her sketches winning the drawing contest. They praised her drawing skills and also told how much other students liked her art. The letter was just a usual letter one may write to a good friend.
Question 2: How did the girls know that Wanda liked them even though they had teased her?
Answer: Both Maddie (silent spectator) and Peggy teased Wanda for she appeared funny with her single faded blue dress she wore to school every day and how she claimed to have a hundred dresses all lined up in her closet. They realized that Wanda liked them despite their wrong- doing because she had gifted them two of her beautiful designs of dresses, a green one with red trimmings to Peggy and the blue one to Maddie. She had even drawn their faces in the design of the dresses they got. This came in as a surprise to both of them as they never thought that the girl, Wanda Petronski had observed them to the core details of their face.
Question 3: After the incident of the letter from Wanda’s father, what does Maddie think hard about? What important decision does she take?
Answer: Wanda’s father wrote a letter to Miss.Mason explaining the reason behind Wanda leaving town and joining a new school in the big city. After the letter was read in the classroom, Maddie felt the burden of her guilt weighing her down. She thought hard about it and came to a conclusion that she would not be mute to the wrong doings of anybody around her. She decided strongly that she would not allow any other child to feel so desolate like how Wanda felt every time she was teased. She promised herself about not letting any injustice happen to anyone even if it meant to lose a friend (Peggy).
Question 4: What excuses does Peggy think of giving in justification of her behaviour? Why?
Answer: Peggy had teased Wanda about her hundred dresses game which, in the due course of time, evolved into the dresses game. She tried to defend herself by saying that her behaviour towards Wanda inspired her to explore her drawing skills as she sketched a hundred dresses and that made her win the contest. She tried to put her questioning as the reason behind Wanda’s success.
Question 5: Do you think Miss.Mason was unhappy or angry with the class? Why do you think so?
Answer: Miss.Mason received a letter from Wanda’s Father, Jan Petronski, regarding their moving to a bigger city. She seemed rather upset than angry because she had never expected such behaviour, as mentioned in the letter, from her students. She wanted everyone to think about it and asked them not to look down on anyone in class. We know this because she did not raise her voice in anger but lowered it and spoke in a rather stern tone.
Question 6: Did Maddie and Peggy receive a reply from Wanda? What did they think the reason was? Who was more anxious for a reply? How do you know?
Answer: Peggy and Maddie did not get a reply from Wanda Petronski. They thought that Wanda was really mad at them for having treated her the way they had. They felt it was natural for her to react in such a manner as to ignore their letter. Maddie was more anxious than Peggy because she was very upset and feeling sad for Wanda. She had assumed that Wanda was deeply hurt and so she wasn’t replying to their letter. Maddie blamed herself for everything that had happened. She had sleepless nights and had frightful dreams about Wanda Petronski being teased in the school yard.
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