Class 10 || Eng R || Ch. 06. A Hundred Dresses- II
EL BSOR ESTER
WHILE the class was circling the
room, the monitor from the principal’s office brought Miss Mason a note. Miss
Mason read it several times and studied it thoughtfully for a while. Then she
clapped her hands. “Attention, class. Everyone back to their seat.” When the
shuffling of feet had stopped and the
room was still and quiet,
Miss Mason said, “I have a letter from Wanda’s father that I want to read to
you.”
Miss Mason stood there a
moment and the silence in the room grew tense and expectant. The teacher
adjusted her glasses slowly and deliberately. Her manner indicated that what
was coming — this letter from Wanda’s father — was a matter of great importance.
Everybody listened closely as Miss Mason read the brief note.
Dear Teacher:
My Wanda will not come to
your school any more. Jake also. Now we move away to big city. No more holler
‘Pollack’.
No more ask why funny name.
Plenty of funny names in the big city.
Yours truly,
Jan Petronski
A deep silence met the reading
of this letter. Miss Mason took off her glasses, blew on them and wiped them on
her soft white handkerchief. Then she put them on again and looked at the
class.
When she spoke her voice was
very low. “I am sure that none of the boys and girls in Room Thirteen would
purposely and deliberately hurt anyone’s feelings because his or her name happened
to be a long, unfamiliar one. I prefer to think that what was said was said in thoughtlessness.
I know that all of you feel the way I do, that this is a very unfortunate thing
to have happened — unfortunate and sad, both. And I want you all to think about
it.”
The first period was a study
period. Maddie tried to prepare her lessons, but she could not put her mind on
her work. She had a very sick feeling in the bottom of her stomach. True, she
had not enjoyed listening to Peggy ask Wanda how many dresses she had in her
closet, but she had said nothing. She had stood by silently, and that was just
as bad as what Peggy had done. Worse. She was a coward. At least Peggy hadn’t
considered they were being mean but she, Maddie, had thought they were doing
wrong. She could put herself in Wanda’s shoes.
Goodness! Wasn’t there
anything she could do? If only she could tell Wanda she hadn’t meant to hurt
her feelings. She turned around and stole a glance at Peggy, but Peggy did not
look up. She seemed to be studying hard. Well, whether Peggy felt badly or not,
she, Maddie, had to do something. She had to find Wanda Petronski. Maybe she
had not yet moved away. Maybe Peggy would climb the Heights with her, and they
would tell Wanda she had won the contest, that they thought she was smart and
the hundred dresses were beautiful.
Oral Comprehension Check
1. What did Mr
Petronski’s letter say?
2. Is Miss Mason angry
with the class, or is she unhappy and upset?
3. How does Maddie feel
after listening to the note from Wanda’s father?
4. What does Maddie
want to do?
When school was dismissed in
the afternoon, Peggy said, with pretended casualness, “Hey, let’s go and see if
that kid has left town or not.” So Peggy had had the same idea! Maddie glowed. Peg
was really all right.
The two girls hurried out of
the building, up the street toward
Maddie could say nothing. All
she hoped was that they would find Wanda. She wanted to tell her that they were
sorry they had picked on her, and how wonderful the whole school thought she
was, and please, not to move away and everybody would be nice.
She and Peggy would fight
anybody who was not nice. The two girls hurried on. They hoped to get to the
top of the hill before dark. “I think that’s where the Petronskis live,” said Maddie,
pointing to a little white house. Wisps of old grass stuck up here and there
along the pathway like thin kittens. The house and its sparse little yard
looked shabby but clean. It reminded Maddie of Wanda’s one dress, her faded
blue cotton dress, shabby but clean.
There was not a sign of life
about the house. Peggy knocked firmly on the door, but there was no answer. She
and Maddie went around to the back yard and knocked there. Still there was no
answer. There was no doubt about it. The Petronskis were gone. How could they
ever make amends?
They turned slowly and made
their way back down the hill. “Well, anyway,” said Peggy, “she’s gone now, so what
can we do? Besides, when I was asking her about all her dresses, she probably
was getting good ideas for her drawings. She might not even have won the
contest, otherwise.”
Maddie turned this idea
carefully over in her head, for if there were anything in it she would not have
to feel so badly. But that night she could not get to sleep. She thought about
Wanda and her faded blue dress and the little house she had lived in. And she thought
of the glowing picture those hundred dresses made — all lined up in the
classroom. At last Maddie sat up in bed and pressed her forehead tight in her
hands and really thought. This was the hardest thinking she had ever done.
After a long, long time, she reached an important conclusion. 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’d speak up. Even if it meant losing Peggy’s friendship. She had no
way of making things right with Wanda, but from now on she would never make
anybody else that unhappy again.
Oral Comprehension Check
1. What excuses does
Peggy think up for her behaviour? Why?
2. What are Maddie’s
thoughts as they go to
3. Why does Wanda’s
house remind Maddie of Wanda’s blue dress?
4. What does Maddie
think hard about? What important decision does she come to?
On Saturday Maddie spent the
afternoon with Peggy. They were writing a letter to Wanda Petronski. It was
just a friendly letter telling about the contest and telling Wanda she had won.
They told her how pretty her drawings were. And they asked her if she liked
where she was living and if she liked her new teacher. They had meant to say
they were sorry, but it ended up with their just writing a friendly letter, the
kind they would have written to any good friend, and they signed it with lots
of X’s for love. They mailed the letter to
Days passed and there was no
answer, but the letter did not come back, so maybe Wanda had received it.
Perhaps she was so hurt and angry she was not going to answer. You could not
blame her. Weeks went by and still Wanda did not answer. Peggy had begun to
forget the whole business, and Maddie put herself to sleep at night making
speeches about Wanda, defending her from great crowds of girls who were trying
to tease her with, “How many dresses have you got?” And before Wanda could
press her lips together in a tight line, the way she did before answering,
Maddie would cry out, “Stop!” Then everybody would feel ashamed the way she used
to feel.
Now it was Christmas time and
there was snow on the ground. Christmas bells and a small tree decorated the
classroom. On the last day of school before the holidays, the teacher showed
the class a letter she had received that morning. “You remember Wanda
Petronski, the gifted little artist who won the drawing contest? Well, she has written
me, and I am glad to know where she lives, because now I can send her medal. I
want to read her letter to you.”
The class sat up with a
sudden interest and listened intently.
Dear Miss Mason,
How are you and Room
Thirteen? Please tell the girls they can keep those hundred dresses, because in
my new house
I have a hundred new ones,
all lined up in my closet. I’d like that girl Peggy to have the drawing of the
green dress with the red trimming, and her friend Maddie to have the blue one.
For Christmas, I miss that school and my new
teacher does not equalise
with you. Merry Christmas to you and everybody.
Yours truly,
Wanda Petronski
On the way home from school
Maddie and Peggy held their drawings very carefully. All the houses had wreaths
and holly in the windows. Outside the grocery store, hundreds of Christmas
trees were stacked, and in the window, candy peppermint sticks and cornucopias
of shiny transparent paper were strung. The air smelled like Christmas and
light shining everywhere reflected different colours on the snow. “Boy!” said
Peggy, “this shows she really likes us. It shows she got our letter and this is
her way of saying that everything’s all right. And that’s that.” “I hope so,”
said Maddie sadly. She felt sad because she knew she would never see the little
tight-lipped Polish girl again and couldn’t ever really make things right
between them.
She went home and she pinned
her drawing over a torn place in the pink-flowered wallpaper in the bedroom.
The shabby room came alive from the brilliancy of the colours. Maddie sat down
on her bed and looked at the drawing. She had stood by and said nothing, but
Wanda had been nice to her, anyway. Tears blurred her eyes and she gazed for a
long time at the picture. Then hastily she rubbed her eyes and studied it
intently. The colours in the dress were so vivid that she had scarcely noticed
the face and head of the drawing. But it looked like her, Maddie! It really
looked like her own mouth. Why it really looked like her own self! Wanda had
really drawn this for her. Excitedly, she ran over to Peggy’s. “Peg!” she said,
“let me see your picture.” “What’s the matter?” asked Peggy, as they clattered up
to her room where Wanda’s drawing was lying face down on the bed. Maddie
carefully raised it. “Look! She drew you. That’s you!” she exclaimed. And the
head and face of this picture did look like Peggy.
“What did I say!” said Peggy,
“She must have really liked us, anyway.”
“Yes, she must have,” agreed
Maddie, and she blinked away the tears that came every time she thought of
Wanda standing alone in that sunny spot in the school yard, looking stolidly
over at the group of laughing girls after she had walked off, after she had
said, “Sure, a hundred of them, all lined up.”
Oral Comprehension Check
1. What did the girls
write to Wanda?
2. Did they get a
reply? Who was more anxious for a reply, Peggy or Maddie? How do you know?
3. How did the girls
know that Wanda liked them even though they hadteased her?
Q.
Ans. ‘A hundred dress – II’
Wanda’s
Father John Petronski wrote a letter
informing that Wanda and her brother Jack would not comes to school any more.
They and moved to a big city where nobody would make fun of their names. Miss
Mason was very unhappy to read this. She said, that it was very unfortunate and
thing to have happened Maddie felt guilty because Peggy used to make fun of
Wanda but she could not stop her. After school Peggy and Maddie went to Bogging
Heights. Maddie hoped to find Wanda and fell sorry for what they and done. She
wante4d to tell her not top go as everybody would be nice to her. They knocked
at the door but there was no response. That night Maddie could not sleep. She
thought about Wand, her faded blue dress and the pictures of hundred dresses.
She reached a conclusion that she could lose Peggy’s’ friendship but would
never make anybody else unhappy.
Maddie and Peggy wrote a letter to Wanda telling her
that she had won the contest. They felt sorry and wanted to know where she
lived. They mailed the letter to Boggin Height written “Please forward”. But
Wanda did not answer the letter.
It was Christmas time. One the last day of school
before the holidays the teacher showed the letter she had received that day.
Wanda had written that girls could keep those hundred dresses. She would like
Peggy to have the drawing of green dress and Maddie to have a drawing of the
blue dress. She wished Marry Christmas to Miss Mason and everybody.
On their way home Peggy and Maddie held their drawing
very carefully. Peggy said that Wanda really liked them. They reached home
Maddie looked at the drawing her eyes were filled with tears. She went to
Peggy’s house Peggy said that she really liked them.
IMPORTANT LONG
QUESTIONS
‘A
hundred dress – I’
Q. Write the
Main Theme of the lesson ‘A hundred dress part one’
Ans. Wanda Petronski
was a young Polish girl. She was studying with American children in an American
town. Her name was unfamiliar to the American students. She came from Bogging
Heights. It was a shabby place where poor children lived. Her feet were usually
coved with mud. She always wore faded blue dress that didn’t hang right. The
students made fun of her. Wanda was sensitive girl she felt very bad about the
dressing games. She said that she had hundred dresses because she did not want
to feel small before the quotations.
So she used to sit in the next to the last seat in the
last row in room thirteen. She would sit in the corner of the room where there were
noisy dragging movements of the feet on the ground. She sat there because she
came from Bogging Heights the Poor’s colony with muddy foot.
Wanda did not have friend. She came to school alone
and went home alone. She always wore a faded blue dress that did not fit her
properly. Peggy was the most popular girl of the school she would ask Wanda how
many dresses she had hanging up in her closet and how many pairs of shoes she
had.
Wanda would tell her that she had hundred dresses and
she had sixty pair of shoes all lined up in hers closet. They would laugh at
her
Maddie did not like it. She herself was poor. Maddie
wished that Peggy should stop teasing Petronski. But she could not muster up
courage to ask Peggy not to do so. She was afraid that once the teasing
students stop making fun of Wands, they might ask her the similar question.
Peggy was here best friend and she was the best liked girl in the class. So she
stood by Peggy and did nothing.
Maddie began to wonder who was going to win the
drawing and colouring contest for girls this contest considered of designing
dresses and for boys of designing motor boats. Maddie was sure that Peggy would
win the contest because her drawing was better than anybody else in the class.
Wanda had not been coming to school for a few days Miss Masson announced the result. Jack Beggles had won for boys. Wanda had submitted one hundred designs all different and all beautiful. She announced that Wanda Petronski was the winner of the girl’s medal. Students clapped hands and put their fingers in their moth and whistle.
Mix Part I and Part 2
Question 1:
Where in the classroom does Wanda sit and why?
Answer: Wanda used to sit in the penultimate
row of benches. She was from an immigrant colony and was from a poor family.
Moreover, she seems to be a quiet person engrossed in her own world. She
doesn’t like to mess with anybody. That is why she sits isolated from the main
group of girls.
Question 2:
Where does Wanda live? What kind of a place do you think it is?
Answer: Wanda lives on Boggins Heights. The
fact that her shoes are covered in mud gives an idea that Boggins Heights is
not a developed area. That can be like unplanned colonies or slums in present
day India. You may notice that most of the new residential areas in Indian
cities develop in unplanned ways. Especially slum areas don’t have proper roads
or drainage system. This leads to waterlogging and creates unhygienic
conditions.
The fact that
Wanda was from Polish immigrant community gives an idea of the level of
underdevelopment of Boggins Heights.
Question 3:
When and why do Peggy and Maddie notice Wanda’s absence?
Answer: On a Wednesday when Peggy and Maddie
waited for Wanda to have fun with her, they got late to school. Because they
got late to school so they noticed Wanda’s absence.
Wanda was a
non-entity for students from the mainstream section of society. This happens
everywhere. You tend to notice street urchin only if there is some problem with
him. Otherwise we seldom notice millions of destitutes roaming our street.
Question 4:
What do you think “to have fun with her” means?
Answer: It is a human tendency to make fun of
other’s imperfections. These imperfections are mostly in the appearance or in
the way we make an image of our world.
Wanda was sort
of an outcaste as she was an immigrant, so other students loved to mock at her.
In India also,
people from one region make fun of people from other region. We have jokes
based on states from where a certain person comes.
Question 5: In
what way was Wanda different from the other children?
Answer: To start with Wanda’s name sounded
weird. Suppose an English cricket commentator has to pronounce the full name of
VVS Laxman. For him it will be a difficult task. For a person from north India,
south Indian names may sound strange. Our ears are tuned to the way we hear a
certain accent and any variation in that gives us a strange feeling.
Wanda used to
come alone to school and she had no friends. Unlike other students she had just
one faded blue dress. She could not afford newer dresses. She was not stylish
in the normal sense.
Question 6: Did
Wanda have a hundred dresses? Why do you think she said she did?
Answer: Wanda seems to be a determined girl.
She is having a great amount of self confidence. She has guts to dream that is
why she tells of having a hundred dresses. For her number of dresses is not
important. It is the inner talent which is of real value.
Question 7: Why
is Maddie embarrassed by the questions Peggy asks Wanda? Is she also like
Wanda, or is she different?
Answer: Maddie too belongs to a poor family.
She too is not having many dresses. She is afraid of being on the receiving
end. Additionally she can understand the trauma which Wanda may be undergoing
while being rebuked.
Probably school
dresses were introduced to imbibe a sense of equality among students
irrespective of their socio-economic background. Dresses; apart from covering
our body; also add ornamental value, which is having its own importance. But in
school, your main goal is learning and focus on dress sense can act like
distraction.
Question 8: Why
didn’t Maddie ask peggy to stop teasing Wanda? What was she afraid of?
Answer: peggy was the most popular girl.
Moreover, she is a nice girl deep inside. She doesn’t hurt anybody and she
cries even at the sight of some animal under pain. From Maddie’s perspective
making fun at Wanda is simply a harmless fun. And given other virtues of peggy
she deserves a little bit of leeway. Maddie does not want to annoy peggy; her
best friend. She is also afraid of coming under the firing line if she stops
other girls from teasing Wanda.
Question 9: Who
did Maddie think would win the drawing contest? Why?
Answer: Maddie thinks that peggy would win the
contest. This is about lasting impression some people have on our lives. Some
students in class give an appearance of a very confident self. This gives them
a very good image in the eyes of all, be it teachers or fellow students. Some
of them, most of the time, prove their ability as well. There can be some cases
of impressions being deceptive and the person may not be able to prove his or
her ability.
Question 10:
Who won the drawing contest? What had the winner drawn?
Answer: Maddie won the drawing contest. She may
have made a determination to prove her worth through that contest. To complete
her drawings she didn’t attend school for some days, this shows her
determination to win.
Her drawings of
a hundred dresses was a way to send a strong message to peggy and her team that
she may not be having a single dress in her wardrobe but deep inside her
imagination she had hundreds of dresses. That she was also like them, a normal
girl who fancies of having fancy and frilly dresses and wants to indulge in
pleasures of life.
Question 11:
How is Wanda seen as different by the other girls? How do they treat her?
Answer: Wanda is seen as someone with a funny
name and accent. In totality, other girls see Wanda as a strange creature which
is entirely different and inferior from them. They treat Wanda as someone who
should be made fun of.
Question 12:
How does Wanda feel about the dresses game? Why does she say that she has a
hundred dresses?
Answer: It is difficult to guess because of
stoic face which Wanda maintains during the dresses game. But it can be assumed
that like all normal people, Wanda may not be feeling good at being humiliated.
Her reply is a way to tell other girls that she is made of tough nerves and can
withstand such stupidity.
Question 13:
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?)
Answer: Peggy is the most popular girl in the
class and Maddie is her close friend. Maddie is afraid of losing Peggy’s
friendship. That is why, Maddie does not want to take risk of annoying peggy
and prefers to be a mute spectator. The line, “Peggy was the best-liked girl…….
and could do no wrong” illustrates this.
Question 14:
What does Miss Mason think of Wanda’s drawings? What do the children think of
them? How do you know?
Answer: Miss Mason thinks that all the drawings
made by Wanda were really beautiful and were worthy of winning the medal. The
children were also impressed by Wanda’s drawings. This was evident by the loud
applause and whistling even by the boys who were least interested in dresses.
Part II
Question 1:
What did Mr Petronski’s letter say?
Answer: Mr. Petronski was shifting to a bigger
city. As bigger cities had more cosmopolitan population, so, there were lesser
chances of getting funny glances from others. He was not happy with the
treatment his children were getting in the school.
As people of
cities get to see and interact with people from a wider geographies and
ethnicities so they become more resilient at dealing with them.
Question 2: Is
Miss Mason angry with the class, or is she unhappy and upset?
Answer: Miss Mason seems to be upset rather
than angry. She hopes that all the misbehaviour was part of normal childhood
pranks. She hopes that kids will derive a lesson from Wanda’s episode.
Her calm
manners of reading the letter and reprimanding the students tells that she is
upset and wants and hopes the kids would mend their ways.
Question 3: How
does Maddie feel after listening to the note from Wanda’s father?
Answer: Maddie feels let down by herself. She
feels that her behaviour was of a coward. There is an old saying that to
tolerate injustices on others is also like being a part of the injustice.
Maddie feels
that in stead of being a mute spectator she should have protested the mental
torture of Wanda.
Question 4:
What does Maddie want to do?
Answer: Maddie wants to meet Wanda to show her
true feelings towards Wanda. She wants to say sorry and to convey that all was
part of childhood prank and people really love Wanda.
Question 5:
What excuses does Peggy think up for her behaviour? Why?
Answer: Peggy thinks that she was the person
who gave inspiration for Wanda’s wonderful drawings. Had she not asked
questions about number of dresses Wanda had, Wanda could not have made
beautiful drawings.
There can be
two views on Peggy’s real feelings. First view can be of a stubborn child who
refuses to accept her mistakes. And another view can be accepting the mistake
deep inside but for fear of being subjected to fun not accepting the mistake
openly.
Question 6:
What are Maddie’s thoughts as they go to Boggins Heights?
Answer: Maddie is feeling bad about Wanda and
herself. She is feeling very sad for not even getting a chance to say sorry to
Wanda.
Question 7: Why
does Wanda’s house remind Maddie of Wanda’s blue dress?
Answer: 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 was 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.
Question 8:
What does Maddie think hard about? What important decision does she come to?
Answer: Wanda thinks about not letting
injustice happen to anyone. She makes vow that she would protest if anybody
misbehaves with anybody. She won’t be a mute spectator the way she did earlier.
In a way the
episode of Wanda’s family leaving that city works as major change agent for
Maddie’s personality.
Quesiton 9:
What did the girls write to Wanda?
Answer: The girls planned to write their true
feelings but ended up writing a formal letter. Most of us have this inbuilt
ability of fear of truth. We don’t want to show our shortcomings to the world.
Every time we talk about ourselves we talk about positives only. It takes lots
of courage to talk about our negative aspects. To develop this level of courage
requires years. But those who learn to admit mistakes learn to take lessons
from their mistakes.
Question 10:
Did they get a reply? Who was more anxious for a reply, Peggy or Maddie? How do
you know?
Answer: They got the reply. Maddie seems to be
more anxious. The way Maddie rues the fact of not getting a chance to say sorry
to Wanda gives one clue. Another clue to this is the fact that she was the
first person to notice her face on Wanda’s drawing. Had she been as arrogant as
peggy she would not have noticed her face on the drawing.
Question 11:
How did the girls know that Wanda liked them even though they had teased her?
Answer: An act of making a portrait requires
lots of observation of the face. Until and unless an artist likes a subject, it
will not be motivating enough for the artist. The way Wanda made everyone’s
faces on drawings shows she liked them in spite of being teased by them.
Question 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?
Answer: Wanda’s family had had enough of
differential treatment from the people of that city. Hence, they decided to
move to a different and bigger city. The statement, “Plenty of funny names in
the big city” indicates towards certain characters of big cities. Most of the
big cities are cosmopolitan in composition. People in such circumstances are
usually attuned to seeing people from all regions and races. They usually have
a better sense of cross cultural sensibilities which normally is absent in
people in small cities. It can be hoped that life would be better in the new
environment.
Question 13:
Maddie thought her silence was as bad as Peggy’s teasing. Was she right?
Answer: It is often said that turning a blind
eye to a crime is worse than committing a crime. By being a mute spectator of
Peggy’s crime, Maddie was indirectly encouraging the crime. Hence, she was
right in thinking that her silence was as bad as Peggy’s teasing.
Question 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?
Answer: 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 was quite stoic while suffering
all that. Her expressionless face may have led Peggy to think that Wanda did
not understand anything. After the drawing contest, Peggy appears to be in a
denial mode. But after seeing her own face in one of Wanda’s drawings; she
appears to have change her perception about Wanda.
Question 15:
What important decision did Maddie make? Why did she have to think hard to do
so?
Answer: Maddie realized that see was coward and
it was not good to be a coward. Earlier, she was torn between her loyalty to Peggy
and her sense of right and wrong. But after the Petronsky’s decision to leave
the town, she mustered the courage to fight for justice instead of suffering
the ignominy of being a mute spectator of racial discrimination.
Question 16:
Why do you think Wanda gave Maddie and Peggy the drawings of the dresses? Why
are they surprised?
Answer: It can be assumed that Wanda may have
developed some inclination towards Maddie and Peggy. While suffering the
humiliation of the dresses game; she must have closely observed these two
girls. She may have planned to give a parting gift to these two girls to teach
them an important lesson of life, i.e. of respect for individuals.
Question 17: Do
you think Wanda really thought the girls were teasing her? Why or Why not?
Answer: Wanda appears to be smart enough to
understand what was going on around her. But she was mentally conditioned to
withstand such incidents, because she must had had been through pains which are
associated with migration.
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