The Hundred Dresses-I is the fifth chapter of the class 10th English textbook First Flight. The story introduces us to the life of a young girl named Wanda. She is a Polish immigrant who settled in America along with her family. Her classmates in her new school made fun of her because she was an outsider. A detailed explanation of this story is available at the website of GharPeShiksha in the form of PDFs. The study material available at the website of GharPeShiksha has helped numerous students enhance their understanding of this chapter and its teachings. The material contains the chapter’s vocabulary with meaning, textbook exercise questions with solutions, previous year questions with solutions, important questions that may come in the exam, teachings of the chapter, model answer sheet, and many more things all compiled by expert teachers. You can download the PDFs through the website of GharPeShiksha.
CBSE Class 10 English Chapter 5 : The Hundred Dresses
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The Hundred Dresses – I Class 10 English Chapter 5 Notes
Wanda Petronski’s Seat
It was Monday. Wanda Petronski was not in her seat. Nobody including Peggy and Madeline saw her absence. They started all the fun. Wanda’ used to sit in the next to the last seat in the last row. It was in Room 13. She sat in the corner of the room. Rough boys usually sat there. There was the most noise of the feet when some fun occurred.
More about Wanda
Wanda was a very quiet girl. She rarely said something. No one had ever heard her laugh out loud. She used to sit there. No one knew why. It was because she came from Boggins Heights. Her feet had mud on them.
When they thought of Wanda
The students thought of Wanda only outside the school hours. They waited for her to have fun with her going to or coming from home. Wanda did not come to school on Tuesday also.
Of Peggy and Maddie
On Wednesday Peggy and Maddie thought of Wanda. They sat in the front. They got good marks. Peggy was the most popular in school. She was pretty and had curly hair. Maddie was her closest friend. They wanted to have fun with Wanda. So they got late. Due to this they saw that Wanda was absent.
Of other children
Most of the children in that room didn’t have names like that of Wanda. They had American names like Thomas, Smith or Allen. There was a boy named, Willie Bounce. People thought that he was funny. But he was not funny like Wanda Petronski.
Wanda and the other children in School
Wanda didn’t have any friends. She always wore a faded blue loose dress. It was clean. But it looked as if it had never been ironed. A lot of girls talked to Wanda. They surrounded her in the school yard. She stood looking at them playing hopscotch.
Girls make fun of Wanda
Peggy would make fun of Wanda. She would ask her how many dresses she had in her almirah. Wanda would say ‘A hundred’. Then all the girls would stop playing and listen. The girls would aslj if they were of silk or velvet. Wanda would reply in positive. They would further ask Wanda how many pairs of shoes she had. She would say ‘sixty pairs’. Then they would laugh and laugh.
More of Peggy
Peggy was not cruel. She protected small children from bullies. If somebody asked her if she didn’t behave cruelly with Wanda she would reply differently. She would say why Wanda had spoken of her hundred dresses. She would say that Wanda was not an ordinary person. Her name suggested that. But the girls never made Wanda cry.
Of Maddie
Maddie felt it bad that they had been bothering Wanda like that. It was because like Wanda she herself was poor. But she neither lived in Boggins Heights nor had a funny name like that of Wanda.
Maddie’s feelings about Wanda
When Peggy asked Wanda those questions, Maddie would feel bad. She would study the marbles in her hand. But she did not feel sorry for Wanda. She wished Peggy stop asking Wanda about dresses. She was Peggy’s closest friend.
Maddie’s desire for Peggy
That day both Peggy and Maddie were late to school. Maddie was glad that Wanda was not made fun of. She was working out her arithmetic problems. She lacked courage to ask Peggy stop making fun of Wanda. So she wanted to write Peggy a note about it.
Maddie pictures herself being made fun of
Maddie started writing that note to Peggy. Suddenly she shook. She pictured herself in the school yard as a new target for Peggy and the girls. Peggy might ask her about her dress. She would say that it was one of Peggy’s old ones. Her mother had trimmed it so that no one would recognise it.
Maddie’s thought
Maddie wished Peggy stopped making fun of Wanda. Maddie tore the note into pieces. She was Peggy’s best friend. Peggy was the most liked girl in the whole room. She thought Peggy would not do anything that was really wrong.
Maddie thinks of Wanda
Maddie thought of Wanda then. She hardly said anything to anybody. She only spoke of the hundred dresses. Maddie remembered her telling about one of her dresses, pale blue with coloured trimmings.
Maddie’s thought about the drawing contest
After that Maddie started thinking who would win the drawing and colour contest. She thought Peggy would win the girls’ medal. She drew better than anyone else in the room. They would all know about that the next day.
In the school the next day
The next day it drizzled. Peggy and Maddie did not wait for Wanda. They did not want to be late to school. They entered the classroom. There were drawings and drawings all over the room. They were in bright colours.
Winners announced
The class had assembled. Miss Mason announced the winners. Jack Beggles had won for the boys. He had sketched an outboard motor. The drawing was displayed in room 12. As for the girls Wanda was the winner of the girls’ medal. But Wanda was absent that day. Miss Mason asked the children to look at Wanda’s beautiful drawing.
Reaction of Peggy and Maddie to Wanda’s drawings
Seeing the drawing, the children clapped their hands in joy. The boys whistled with fingers in their mouths. They were not interested in dresses. Maddie whispered to Peggy to look at the blue dress. Wanda had told them about it earlier. Peggy referred to the green one also. She added that she had thought she could draw.
Passages For Comprehension
- READ THE FOLLOWING PASSAGE AND ANSWER THE QUESTIONS THAT FOLLOWS:
But nobody, not even Peggy and Madeline, the girls who started all the fun, noticed her absence. 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 did not make good marks sat, the corner of the room where there was most scuffling of feet, most roars of laughter when anything funny was said, and most mud and dirt on the floor.
Questions:
1. What did Peggy and Madeline not notice?
2. What kind of boys sat there in the corner?
3. Which word in the passage means the same as ‘noisy dragging movements’?
II. READ THE FOLLOWING PASSAGE AND ANSWER THE QUESTIONS THAT FOLLOWS:
Wanda did not sit there because she was rough and noisy. On the contrary, she was very quiet and rarely said anything at all. And nobody had ever heard her laugh out loud. Sometimes she twisted her mouth into a crooked sort of smile, but that was all. Nobody knew exactly why Wanda sat in that seat, unless it was because she came all the way from Boggins Heights and her feet were usually caked with dry mud. But no one really thought much about Wanda Petronski, once she sat in the corner of the room.
Questions:
1. Where did Wanda sit?
2. What type of girl was she?
3. Find a word from the passage which means same as ‘strangely’.
- READ THE FOLLOWING PASSAGE AND ANSWER THE QUESTIONS THAT FOLLOWS:
The minute they entered the classroom, they stopped short and gasped. There were drawings all over the room, on every ledge and windowsill, dazzling colours and brilliant, lavish designs, all drawn on great sheets of wrapping paper. There must have been a hundred of them, all lined up. These must be the drawings for the contest. They were! Everybody stopped and whistled or murmured admiringly.
Questions:
1. Who entered the classroom?
2. What was there all over the room?
3. Find a word in the passage which means same as ‘grand’.
Suggested Answers Of Passages
Comprehension Passage I – Answers
1. Peggy and Madeline did not notice Wanda’s absence.
2. In the corner, there sat the rough boys.
3. Scuffling.
Comprehension Passage II – Answers
1. Wanda sat in the corner of the room.
2. She was too quiet to say anything to others.
3. Unusually.
Comprehension Passage III – Answers
1. Maddie and Peggy entered the classroom.
2. There were decent and dazzling drawings all over the room.
3. Lavish.
NCERT Solutions for Class 10 English First Flight Chapter 5 The Hundred Dresses – I
Oral Comprehension Check
Page 65
Question 1.Where in the classroom does Wanda sit and why?
Answer:
Wanda Petronski used to sit on the corner most benches, lost in her world, where rough boys usually sat. She was a very poor, shy and quiet girl and did not want to mess with others so she preferred to sit in isolation.
Question 2. Where does Wanda live? What kind of a place do you think it is?
Answer:
Wanda lives upon Boggins Heights, where poor people live. It is not a developed area and is covered with mud. There are no proper roads or streets and it is a kind of slum.
Question 3. When and Why do Peggy and Maddie notice Wanda’s absence?
Answer:
Wanda didn’t come to school on Monday and Tuesday but nobody noticed her absence as she did not have friends in the class. When Peggy and Maddie waited for Wanda to make fun of her after the school was off, they noticed that she was absent, otherwise nobody bothered about her there.
Question 4. What do you think “to have fun with her” means?
Answer:
“To have fun with her ” means to laugh at her as it is human tendency to make fun of others imperfections which are mostly about the appearance. Here in the story, Wanda is a source of amusement or pleasure because of her shy nature and her hundred dresses.
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Question 5. In what way was Wanda different from the other children?
Answer:
Wanda Petronski was a polish girl whose parents had settled down in America. She was a source of fun because of her last name which made her different from others, because Americans did not have such names and it was difficult to pronounce.
She came to school alone and her feet were covered with mud. She preferred to sit alone in the last in the class. She had only one blue dress which was faded but claimed of having a hundred dresses. These qualities make her different from other children.
Question 6. Did Wanda have a hundred dresses? Why do you think she said she did?
Answer:
Wanda was teased everyday by her classmates after school
hours. They used to make fun of her dress and her name. One day tired of all the teasing and taunting, she claimed of having a hundred dresses and sixty pairs of shoes, but nobody believed her.
She was a determined girl and had a great amount of self-confidence. For her number of dresses were not important but the inner talent which had the 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 is embarrassed by the questions Peggy asks Wanda because she is also poor and understands the mental condition of Wanda. She also wears dresses handed down by rich family. Though, she is an American but she has the same mind-set as Wanda and doesn’t want anyone to tease Wanda because of her dress or her name.
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Question 8. Why didn’t Maddie ask Peggy to stop teasing Wanda? What was she afraid of?
Answer:
Maddie didn’t ask Peggy to stop teasing Wanda because Peggy was the most popular girl in the school. She was a nice girl but when it came to Wanda she behaved differently, otherwise she helped everyone in trouble. Though, she wants Peggy to stop teasing Wanda, she didn’t ask her to do so as she was afraid of being the next target of such taunts and teasings.
Question 9. Who did Maddie think would win the drawing contest? Why?
Answer:
Maddie always believed that Peggy would win the drawing contest as she was good in drawing and everybody in the school loved her. She had a good image and impression on her teachers and classmates. No other girl in the class could draw as well as her. So, Peggy definitely had very good chances of winning the drawing contest according to Maddie.
Question 10. Who won the drawing contest? What had the winner drawn?
Answer:
Among the boys, Jack Beggles and among the girls, Wanda
Petronski won the drawing contest. To show her determination she did not attend the school for two days and had drawn a • hundred sketches of dresses of different colours.. Each of them was capable to win the contest individually.
Wanda had drawn all the dresses which she had claimed to have had in the class. Everybody was very impressed with her drawing skill and clapped for her.
Thinking about the Text
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Question 11. How is Wanda seen as different by the other girls? How do they treat her?
Answer:
Wanda is a polish girl who has setded in America with her parents. She lived in Boggin’s Height. She came to school in same faded blue dress everyday with her feet always covered with mud. Her last name is quite funny and difficult to pronounce for her classmates. Her appearance was not perfect to be in a higher class so all the students made fun of her and teased her after the school hours. After being teased over her tolerance she ) claimed to have had a hundred dresses in her closet.
Question 12. How does Wanda feel about the dresses game? Why does she say that she has a hundred dresses?
Answer:
Wanda feels very embarrassed but remains silent in the class. She doesn’t talk to anyone and sits on the back bench with rough boys so that nobody can give attention to her. She is deeply hurt but never complains about it. To avoid their taunts and humiliation, Wanda says that she has a hundred dresses and sixty pairs of matching shoes in her closet. Later on, she draws all of them on paper for the drawing competition.
Question 13. Why does Maddie stand by and does not do anything? How is she different from Peggy? or (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 closest friend. Though, Maddie is poor, Peggy never teases her as she does with Wanda so Maddie is afraid of losing her friendship. That’s why, she does not risk to annoy Peggy and prefers to be silent. The line, “Peggy was the best-liked girl in the whole room. Peggy could not possibly do anything that was really 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 is very impressed with Wanda’s drawings. She considers them really beautiful and worthy of winning individually. The children are also impressed by the drawing skills of Wanda that they all applaud and whistle when she wins among the girls.
Thinking about Language
Page 71
Question 1. Combine the following to make sentences.
1. This is the bus (what kind of bus?). It goes to Agra, (use which or that).
2. I would like to buy, (a) shirt (which shirt?) (The) shirt is in the shop window, (use which or that)
3. You must break your fast at a particular time (when?). You see the moon in the sky. (use when)
4. Find a word (what kind of word?). It begins with the letter Z, (use which or that)
5. Now find a person (what kind of person ?) His or her name begins with the letter Z. (use whose)
6. Then go to a place (what place?). There are no people whose name begins with Z in that place, (use where)
Answers:
1. This is the bus that goes to Agra.
2. I would like to buy a shirt that is in the shop window.
3. You must break your fast at a particular time when you see the moon in the sky.
4. Find a word that begins with letter Z.
5. Now find a person whose name begins with letter Z.
6. Then go to a place where there are no people whose name begins with letter Z.
Question 2. The Narrative Voice Here are two other sentences from the story. Can you say whose point of view the italicised words express?
1. But on Wednesday, Peggy and Maddie, who sat down in front with other children who got good marks and who didn’t track in a whole lot of mud, did notice that Wanda wasn’t there.
2. Wanda Petronski. Most of the children in room thirteen didn’t have names like that. They had names easy to say, like Thomas, Smith or Allen.
Answer:
1. The italicised words express the point of view of Peggy and Maddie.
2. These italicised words express the point of view of other children of Wandas’ class excluding Peggy and Maddie.
Question 3. Other such adverbs are apparently, evidently, surprisingly, possibly, hopefully, incredibly, luckily. Use these words appropriately in the blanks in the sentences below. (You may use a word more than once and more than one word may be appropriate for a given blank.)
1. ____, he finished his work on time.
2. ____, it will not rain on the day of the match.
3. ____, he had been stealing money from his
employer.
4. Television is ____ to blame for the increase in violence in society,
5. The children will ____ learn from their mistakes.
6. I can’t ____ lend you that much money.
7. The thief had ____ been watching the house for many days.
8. The thief ____ escaped by bribing the jailor.
9. ____no one had suggested this before.
10. The water was ____hot.
Answers:
1. Surprisingly
2. Hopefully
3. Possibly
4. evidendy
5. hopefully
6. possibly
7. apparendy
8. luckily
9. Incredibly
10. incredibly
