Short Questions and Answers
Question 1 : Describe the reaction of Wanda Petronski to Peggy and Maddie.
Answer : Wanda was a poor Polish girl who had no American friend. In her school, her classmates Peggy and Maddie made fun of her funny name and her blue dress that she wore every day. But, she did not respond to them and remained silent and serious. She walked alone with dull eyes and hitched her shoulders in a funny way.
Question 2 : Do you think Peggy meant to bully Wanda?
Answer : Peggy did not realise she was being mean to bully Wanda; she actually thought that Wanda was telling lies about how many dresses she owned and was trying to point out to her how ridiculous her grand claims were. The fact that she felt guilty after Wanda had left school also indicates that her actions were simple teasing rather than calculated bullying.
Question 3 : Given their teasing, how was Wand able to still see Peggy and Maddie as friends?
Answer : Wanda was able to still see Peggy and Maddie as friends because she seems to have taken their teasing as a sign of friendship, and not as an intentionally, unkind act. She felt that at least she was getting attention from the other girls in her class; otherwise she was largely ignored by them.
Question 4 : What was the competition about in the school and who won this?
Answer : There was drawing competition in the school. In the competition, all boys had to draw a motorboat and all girls had to make sketches of a dress.
The class teacher Miss Mason announced the winners of the contest and Jack Beggles who drew a motorboat won in the boys’ category and Wanda Petronski who drew two beautiful dresses won the girl’s medal in the drawing competition.
Question 5 : Explain two dresses of Wanda Petronski in brief?
Answer : When the result of drawing competition was declared, the class teacher Miss Mason announced the winners and Wanda Petronski was the winner among the girls. Miss Mason showed her drawings to all the students. Each dress of Wanda was different fro other as one of the dresses was pale blue with coloured trimmings and another was brilliant jungle green with a red sash.
Question 6 : What lessons does this chapter teach children about how to treat others?
Answer : This chapter teaches children and adults alike to stand up for what is right and not be swayed by others. It teaches that although standing up for the right thing might be difficult , standing by and watching whilst others are bullied or treated badly is definitely the wrong thing to do. It also will be something that plays on your mind for a lot longer than doing the right thing would have done. The main lesson in the book is “be nice to others”.
Long Questions and Answers
Question 1 : Pen down the character sketch of Wanda Petronski.
Answer : Wanda Petronski is a Polish girl who has shifted in America from Poland with her parents. She is very poor and lives up on Boggins Heights. She is very shy and quiet. She does not talk to anyone. She as no friends and sits in the last row of the class with some naughty boys so that nobody notices her. She wears the same faded blue dress everyday which is not ironed but clean.
Everybody teases her in her class. In anger, she claims of having a hundred dresses and sixty pairs of shoes at home. She is very determined and shows her determination in the drawing competition by displaying the hundred sketches of dresses she claims to own. Each of them was so beautiful, that she wins the competition and surpasses Peggy. Everybody in the class claps for her in joy. They find all her dresses she used to describe are there in her drawings. Even Peggy who teases her, wishes to draw the same like Wanda.
Question 2 : ‘The Hundred Dresses-I’ is about teasing Wanda. It also borders on ragging and racism indirectly. Describe how does it affect you and how do you evaluate it?
Answer : The story ‘The Hundred Dresses-I’ is really all about teasing of Wanda being Polish and having a strange name. They made fun of Wanda for being Polish and having a strange name. They made fun of Wanda and made her feel inferior by asking her about her dresses. Their behaviour towards Wanda was completely undesirable as it shows racism and ragging.
These are totally condemnable issues in the society which cannot be accepted. Peggy and Maddie never thought of Wanda’s feelings and continued teasing her but her selection as a winner shows that colour, prejudice or racism are not the parameters of talent as everybody clapped for her drawings. It is very disturbing to see her being teased for her financial condition. As it is every changing but the skills and talent never go in vain.
Question 3 : It disturbs you that Peggy and Maddie make fun of Wanda. You don’t like it. you decide to speak about this as weak, ugly or poor. Write a speech to express your thoughts.
Answer : Dear friends, today I would like to express my thoughts about the issue of making fun of the students who are weak, ugly or poor by those who are bit superior to them in those aspects. But I would like to fetch your attention that being ugly or poor is not a personal choice or fault. God creates us with different qualities and we should see those qualities in others too. One may be poor or physically unattractive but he/she may have better qualities or skill than us. As in the story, Wanda Petronski is better than Peggy and Maddie in her creativity or drawing.
I hope we all give respect to one another and do not judge anyone on the basis of his/her monetary status or physical colour. Let us all be encouraging human beings helping and uplifting other human beings.