FIRST FLIGHT / Class 10 cbse/ The Hundred Dresses - 1 / Study Materials by Sujeet Kumar

First Flight :  Class : 10 cbse

THE HUNDRED DRESSES - part 1

Introduction‌ / Theme / Message / Summary/
Questions Answers

     Prepared by : Sujeet Kumar

STORY
THE HUNDRED DRESSES - part 1
    By : El Bsor Ester

INTRODUCTION
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' The Hundred Dresses ' by is  a touching story of a young Polish girl named Wanda petronski who lives in America and goes in an American school for learning but is subjected to everyday humiliation by her American classmates because of her being different in terms of name, accent and ungergeous dress.

THEME
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This story is an indirect comment on the system of racial discrimination prevailing in the societies of the world where someone of different look, colour, skin, race and status has to some forms of racial discrimination which makes his / her life a hell. It is more or less so frequent and intense that the suffers have to opt for a steely settlement for survival.

MESSAGE
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The story appeals the world society to stop the practice of racial discrimination and suggests the people worldover to realise that people with different look ,race, accents and status are also human beings with similar potential and emotions.

SUMMARY
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Wanda was a poor polish girl. Her full name was Wanda Petronski. She was quiet and shy. She was  a Polish immigrant, who had come to America with her family. She lived on Boggins.  She attended school with American children. She was different from other girls of her class in ways that she had an uncommon name, she was a quiet girl and had no friends, she came to school alone and went home alone and she wore the same blue dress every day. Wanda didn't have any playmates too. She used to play hopscotch alone.

Peggy was the most liked girl of Wanda's class. She had curly hair and looked beautiful. She was rich and wore grand dresses. She used to make funny remarks on the poor with ungergeous dresses.

Maddie was a close friend of Peggy. She was herself poor and did not like the way Peggy made funny remarks on the poor ; but she didn't dare to question Peggy because she feared Peggy's remarks coming to her way if she did so.

Usually Wanda sat in the seat next to the last seat in the last row in Room Thirteen. She sat in the corner of the room where the rough boys who didn't make good marks, sat. There was a lot of dirt, mud and scuffling of feet in that area.

Since Wanda was not like those boys, no one ever understood why she sat there. There were only guesses that it was because she came from Boggins Heights and her shoes were usually dirty with all the mud of the muddy area she came from.

Students hardly took notice of Wanda during class hours. It was only before or after school hours that group of students used to wait for her to pass taunts on her poor plight.  Peggy used to wait for Wanda to satisfy her mocking attitude even at the cost of getting late for school.


Wanda's classmates frequently taunted her because of her uncommon and non - American name; but the most humiliating remarks she had to bear with was pertaining to her dresses. cl

Girls particularly Peggy frequently asked Wanda about the number of dresses Wanda had. Wanda used to reply that she had hundred dresses made of velvet and silk. All had different colours and designs. She especially mentioned her two dresses -- one pale blue with coloured trimmings and the other bright, green with red sash.

It was hard to believe what Wanda said because the only dress she was seen wearing was the blue one that was faded. No one was sure as to why she lied.They continued to  teased Wanda but Wanda never cried. She bore humiliations quietly.

Suddenly, Wanda stopped coming to school. Her absence was not noticed for two days.
Peggy and Maddie came to know about Wanda's absence on the third day when they missed to exercise their habits of teasing Wanda on way to school for fun. Both Peggy and Maddie waited for Wanda at the corner of Oliver Street where they used to meet her on their way to school. That day both arrived school late.

Maddie was secretly happy that they couldn't get a chance to make fun of Wanda. She even thought of writing a note to Peggy for not teasing Wanda but finally she put her idea off because she did not want to make Peggy unhappy ; for Peggy helped her by giving dresses to wear. Making Peggy unhappy meant losing her friendship.

Maddie thought a while about Wanda and then began to think about the drawing contest in which the boys had to design motorboats and girls had to design dresses. Since Peggy was the best artist of the room, everyone thought that Peggy would win.

It was drizzling on the day ,the results were to be announced. Peggy and Maddie reached school. Both were excited for the announcement of the results.

As soon as the class assembled, Miss Mason announced the winners. Among the boys Jack Beggles had won. He drew an outboard motor which was displayed in Room no. 12.

Among girls, Wanda won who had submitted a hundred sketches and every sketch was worth winning the best price. Miss Mason asked the students to give her a special applause.

Unfortunately Wanda was not present to enjoy it.

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WORD MEANING
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   ( 1 )
Scuffling of feet- noisy, dragging movements of the feet on the ground

Didn’t hang right- didn’t fit properly

Hopscotch- a game in which children hop into and over squares marked on the ground

    ( 2 )

Nudge- a gentle push

Incredulously-  unwillingness to believe

Courteous- polite, respectful

Stolidly- calm, dependable, and showing little emotion and animation

Shrieks- screams

( 3 )
.
Trimmings- decoration

Sash- a long strip or loop of cloth worn over one shoulder or round the waist, especially as part of a uniform or official dress

Drizzling- rain lightly

Hurried- quick

( 4 )

Gasped- catch one's breath with an open
 mouth, owing to pain or astonishment.
Ledge- shelf

Windowsill- ledge or sill forming the bottom part of a Window

Murmured- say something in a low or distinct voice


QUESTIONS ANSWERS
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Q1. Where in the classroom does Wanda sit and why?

Ans: Wanda used to sit in that corner of the classroom occupied mostly by the boys who got the lowest marks and whose primary business inside the classroom was to be noisy rather than study.
No one exactly knew why Wanda sat there. But there were guesses that Wanda did so because she didn't want the class to take direct notice of her dirty shoes and poor dresses.

 Q2. Where does Wanda live? What kind of a place do you think it is?

Ans: Wanda lived in Boggins Heights.

It was that part of the city or town where poor people lived. The place was undeveloped mostly filled with mud which is where Wanda got the dirt on her shoes from.
There were no proper roads. It was in fact an area inhabited without any proper planning.

 Q3. When and why do Peggy and Maddie notice Wanda’s absence?

Ans: On Wednesday, Peggy and Maddie noticed that Wanda was missing. They had been waiting for her outside school at the corner of Oliver Street where they used to meet her on their way to school. They kept waiting but Wanda didn't come. Their arrival at school was delayed.
It was then that they realized Wanda's absence from school.



Q4. What do you think “to have fun with her” means?

Ans: “To have fun with her” means to tease her about the hundred dresses she claimed to have which is contradictory to the fact that she always wore the same faded blue dress.



Q5. In what way was Wanda different from the other children ?

And: Wanda was different from the other children in the sense that:
~. Unlike other children ,she was quiet and preferred to live alone. Therefore, she didn't have friends;

~ Her name was not easy to say .Most of the children in the class had simple names . particularly her title ' Petronski ' was funny for the class because most of the American children find the title part of her name different to pronounce.



Q6. Did Wanda have a hundred dresses? Why do you think she said she did?

Ans:  No, Wanda did not actually have a hundred dresses.

 But she said she had because she wanted to avoid the teasing and tauntings of the children who went on asking her about hundred dresses.

She also said she had because she had actually drawn hundred dresses in order to represent herself in the drawing contest as a contestant.



Q7. Why is Maddie embarrassed by the questions Peggy asks Wanda? Is she also like Wanda, or is she different?

Ans: Maddie is embarrassed by how Peggy deals with Wanda not because she cares about Wanda, but because she was herself poor. She wears dresses mostly given by Peggy or rich person like her.
She had fear that one day, they would treat her the same way they treat Wanda.

Maddie is also a poor girl but she is different from Wanda in the sense that she is not as exposed to poverty as Wanda and like Wanda, she is not introvert rather she has friends to talk and enjoy life with..


Q8. Why didn’t Maddie ask Peggie to stop teasing Wanda? What was she afraid of?

Ans:. Maddie did not ask Peggy to stop teasing Wanda because as she was also poor and  she feared that she could be the next object of fun for the girls.
As Maddie wore hands down clothes given by Peggy, she was afraid that if they did not tease Wanda, then probably, they would start teasing her compelled by their aristocratic nature.



Q9. Who did Maddie think would win the drawing contest? Why?

Ans:. Maddie ; because she was the best artist in the room.

 Q10. Who won the drawing contest? What had the winner drawn?

Ans: Wanda  won the drawing contest.
She had  sketched a hundred drawings of bright and beautiful and differently designed dresses.


Q11. How is Wanda seen as different by the other girls? How do they treat her?

Ans: Other girls see  Wanda as poor and introvert.
They find Wanda different from themselves in terms of the following:

~ Wanda had  non  - American name which was not easy for them to say;
~ Wanda was shy and she didn't have any friends;  she remained quiet and alone;

~ Wanda didn't sit with any one of them in the class ; rather she sat in the noisy corner of the class where non - performers sat;

~ Unlike other girls , Wanda wore the same dress and came from a place full of mud on the roads.

The other girls treated her badly. They mocked her; passed taunts and devalued her
person and status.



Q12. How does Wanda feel about the dresses game? Why does she say that she has a hundred dresses?

Ans: Wanda didn't feel good about the dresses game.In fact , she felt  embarrassed and humiliated when other girls played the dresses game on her.

The said games were played so frequently that her life in school became too difficult. She didn't want to leave school. The only way she could survive there was to minimise the playing of dresses games on her.

That's Why she accepted to have a hundred dresses in order to put those insults and jokes away.

Actually, she had drawings of a hundred dresses for the drawing competition.



Q13. 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: Peggy was rich as well as the most influential student of the class. Moreover, she gave Maddie her discarded dresses to wear which saved Maddie from the direct exposure to poverty.

Maddie stood quietly and didn't stop Peggy from humiliating  Wanda because she felt that it could go against her friendship with   high and mighty Peggy and she could be the next target for the girls to mock at.

Maddie was different from Peggy in the sense that she herself never taunted Wanda the way Peggy did.

Yes, Peggy’s friendship was important to Maddie. There are many lines in the text to support the given fact. A few lines that indicate the fact are as given under:
“Peggy was the most popular girl in school. She was pretty, she had many pretty clothes and her hair was curly. Maddie was her closest friend.”



Q14. What does Miss Mason think of Wanda’s drawings? What do the children think of them? How do you know?

Ans: Miss Mason held high opinion about Wanda's drawings. She described Wanda's creations as wonderful. Wanda's drawings were full of innovations. According to Miss Manson they were so attractive that even the judges appreciated and rated them worthy of winning.

When the children saw Wanda's creations, they marvelled at Wanda's art. The boys who had no interest in drawings of dresses could not help saying words of praises. They whistled to express their likeness. Peggy's artistic pride had a fall and she recognised talent and accepted that Wanda’s drawings were matchless.

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