This chapter is the second part of the story “The Hundred Dresses.” The story takes an emotional turn in this part when Wanda and her family decide to move to a bigger city where no one will tease Wanda. It is an inspiring chapter to read for the students. Also, it has high weightage in the examination. Therefore, it is necessary to prepare this chapter along with its first part carefully. To study it from the perspective of examination, students can refer to the PDF Noted provided by GharPeShiksha. Students can supplement their reading with the PDF Notes provided by GharPeShiksha. 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 compiled by expert teachers. You can download the PDFs through the website of GharPeShiksha.
Animals
Animals, a poem was written by famous poet Walt Whitman talks about the evils of human beings. The poem finds its place in class 10th English textbook, First Flight. In this poem, the poet describes how animals are better than humans in various standards of a good code of conduct. This poem is to know what the poet wants us to understand. You can prepare this poem nicely using the study material provided by GharPeShiksha. The PDF Notes contain a summary of the poem in easy language, vocabulary with meaning, textbook exercise questions with solutions, previous year questions with solutions, important questions that may come in the exam, literary devices used in the poem, rhyming scheme analysis, and many more things all compiled by expert teachers of GharPeShiksha. This study material is available at the website of GharPeShiksha.
The Hundred Dresses Part 2 Class 10 – Download the PDF Notes
Here is the pdf file of this chapter notes.
The Hundred Dresses Part 2 Summary:
While the class was going on, there came a note from the Principal’s office for Miss Mason. She was troubled to read it. Then she asked the class to attend. She was looking tense. She read a letter from Wanda’s father. It gave the information about Wanda’s leaving the school since they had shifted to a big city.
The note also had an indirect complaint. It said no one would make fun of her name and call her Pollack because there would be many funny names and foreigners like her, in a big city.
The whole class was troubled at Wanda’s leaving the school. But Maddie could not focus herself in studies. She felt that it was as bad as what Peggy had done. It was worse, she was thinking if something could be done. She wanted to tell Wanda that she had never meant to hurt her feelings. She looked at Peggy but she did not lookup. She decided that she must do something and find Wanda Petronski. She might be still there at her old house. She thought that Peggy would go with her and they would tell Wanda that she had won the contest. They would say that she was smart and the hundred dresses she designed were beautiful.
The school was over in the afternoon. Both Peggy and Maddie hurried up towards the Boggins Heights. On the way, Peggy told me that she never had called her a foreigner or made fun of her name. Maddie spoke nothing in the way. All she hoped was that they would find Wanda. She would tell her that they had been sorry. They would request her not to move away and they would fight anybody who was not nice. Both were proceeding rapidly. On seeing a little white house, they thought it to be the Petronski house but there was not a sign of life. They knocked at the door but there was no answer. They thought that the Petronski had gone. They turned to go back down the hill. Peggy told that they had gone and nothing could be done. But Maddie thought if anything could be done.
That night Maddie could not sleep. She thought about Wanda and the little house she lived in. She also thought of her hundred pictures, made and all lined up in the classroom. As she was unable to sleep, she sat up in the bed and started thinking. After long she took an important decision. She was never going to stand up and say anything to anyone again. If she heard anyone treated unkindly because of her strange name, she would speak up. She would not worry if it meant losing Peggy’s friendship. She would never make anybody unhappy again.
On Saturday both Maddie and Peggy wrote a friendly letter to Wanda telling her about the contest and that she had won. They mailed it. They praised her drawings and asked how she liked the new place. In a way they were feeling sorry. They mailed it to Boggins Heights. Days and weeks passed but there was no reply. Peggy started forgetting Wanda. But Maddie went on thinking about Wanda. Christmas time arrived. The classroom was decorated with a Christmas tree. The teacher showed the letter of Wanda Petronski to the class. It stated her feelings for Room no. 13. She wrote that girls could keep all those hundred dresses because in her new house she had a hundred new ones. She wished Merry Christmas to all. On the way both the girls held their drawings carefully. The whole atmosphere smiled like Christmas. Maddie reached home but she felt that she would never see Wanda again.
After arriving home Maddie pinned her drawings at the torn places in the pink flowered wallpaper in the bedroom. The room became full of life and colours. Maddie looked at the drawings and thought that Wanda had been nice to her.
She went on looking at the pictures with tears in her eyes. She noticed the head and the face of the drawings. It was exactly Maddie. She thought that Wanda had drawn for her and she ran to Peggy to show her picture. They went where Wanda’s drawing was lying. Maddie raised it and said ‘look’, she drew you. Peggy said, “She must have liked us.” Hearing these words, tears were coming for Wanda. Thus, both the girls realized that, Wanda liked them very much even though they had teased her. We should never hurt the feelings of others. Nobody can say what may happen.
The Hundred Dresses II Questions and Answers
Q1. What did Mr Petronski’s letter say?
A. The letter began with a salutation to Miss Mason. Wanda’s father conveyed his intention of not sending both of his children, Wanda and Jake, to school anymore. He mentioned that they were now being shifted to another city, a big one where no one would care enough about their strange name, a big city with a lot of people having weird names.
Q2. Is Miss Mason angry with the class, or is she unhappy and upset?
A. Miss Mason is amazed after reading the letter. She is upset about the fact that her students have treated someone badly because they came from a different place and had an unusual name. Even though she was unhappy, she gave the children benefit of the doubt that whatever happened must have happened in thoughtlessness.
Q3. How does Maddie feel after listening to the note from Wanda’s father?
A. Maddie gets sad and feels extremely bad after listening to the note from Wanda’s father. She felt like a coward for not standing up against other girls who were teasing Wanda. All she could think about is how they made Wanda feel and hoped for a chance to make amends.
Q4. What does Maddie want to do?
A. Maddie, who is sad wanted to make everything right with Wanda. She hoped for one last chance to make amends and tell her how sorry she was.
Q5. What excuses does Peggy think up for her behaviour? Why?
A. In order to free herself of the guilt, Peggy exclaims that she is thankful that she never made fun of her because she was a Polish immigrant and had an unfamiliar name. She only asked her about the number of dresses she had. Peggy said that Wanda should not have lied that she had a hundred dresses and sixty pairs of shoes.
Q6. What are Maddie’s thoughts as they go to Boggins Heights?
A. Maddie could only think about making amends with Wanda. She hoped the Petronski’s hadn’t left the town. All she could think of was a chance to meet her and stop her from moving. She wanted to tell her that everyone at the school admired her and her drawings.
Q7. Why does Wanda’s house remind Maddie of Wanda’s blue dress?
A. Wanda’s house was a little one up on the hill. There were dry grasses all around it but no sign of life could be seen near it. The surroundings looked shabby but clean. This reminded Maddie of Wanda’s faded blue dress which looked clean but shabby as if it was never ironed.
Q8. What does Maddie think hard about? What important decision does she come to?
A. When they learned that the Petronski’s have finally moved away, Maddie couldn’t stop thinking about never being able to say sorry. She couldn’t sleep that night as she was thinking too deeply. As a result of deep thinking, she came to a conclusion that she will never let anyone tease someone because they have an unfamiliar and long name. She decided to stand against all the wrongs.
Q9. What did the girls write to Wanda?
A. Peggy and Maddie decided to write an apology letter to Wanda but somehow, they ended up writing a friendly note telling her that she won the contest, asking her how is she liking the new place and that they missed her a lot.
Q10. Did they get a reply? Who was more anxious for a reply, Peggy or Maddie? How do you know?
A. No, they didn’t get a reply but the letter didn’t come back also, so they concluded that she must have received it but was too furious to have replied to it. Out of the two girls, Maddie was more curious for a reply. She desperately wanted to make everything right with Wanda. This is evident as weeks after sending the letter, Peggy almost forget about the business while Maddie used to make scenarios in her head where she would defend Wanda from the mean girls.
Q11. How did the girls know that Wanda liked them even though they had teased her?
A. During Christmas time, Miss Mason received a note from Wanda saying how much she missed everyone. She asked the teacher to give the drawing of the blue dress to Maddie and the one with a green dress to Peggy. This implied that Wanda liked them even after they teased her.
Q12. 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?
A. Wanda’s family moved to a different city because in a big city there were many Polish immigrants. So, the natives would not find them strange and would not make fun of them. Wanda and her brother Jake could attend school without feeling bad. Yes, life in the big city would be different for the family because there would be more people of their community over there. They would feel comfortable there.
Q13. Maddie thought her silence was as bad as Peggy’s teasing. Was she right?
A. Yes, Maddie was right when she realized that remaining silent while Peggy teased Wanda was a mistake. She too was a part of it because she remained silent and let Peggy tease Wanda.
Q14. 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?
A. As Wanda remained silent when Peggy teased her, Peggy thought that she was too dumb to realize that she was being mocked at. When she saw the beautiful drawings made by Wanda, she changed her mind and realized that Wanda was a talented girl.
Q15. What important decision did Maddie make? Why did she have to think hard to do so?
A. When they learned that the Petronski’s had finally moved away, Maddie couldn’t stop thinking about never being able to say sorry. She couldn’t sleep that night as she was thinking too deeply. As a result of deep thinking, she came to a conclusion that she will never let anyone tease someone because they have an unfamiliar and long name. She decided to stand against all the wrongs.
Q16. Why do you think Wanda gave Maddie and Peggy the drawings of the dresses? Why are they surprised?
A. Wanda gave the drawings of the dresses to Maddie and Peggy because she had drawn their faces on them. The girls are surprised when they discover that the faces on the drawings were their. The also realize that Wanda liked them although they made fun of her.
Q17. Do you think Wanda really thought the girls were teasing her? Why or Why not?
A. Yes, Wanda thought that the girls were teasing her. The note from her father indicated that the students made fun of her name.
The Hundred Dresses II- Grammar Exercises
Here are thirty adjectives describing human qualities. Discuss them with your partner and put them in the two word webs (given below) according to whether you think they show positive or negative qualities. You can consult a dictionary if you are not sure of the meanings of some of the words. You may also add to the list the positive or negative ‘pair’ of a given word.
| kind, sarcastic, courteous, arrogant, insipid, timid, placid, cruel, haughty, proud, zealous, intrepid, sensitive, compassionate, introverted, stolid, cheerful, contented, thoughtless, vain, friendly, unforgiving, fashionable, generous, talented, lonely, determined, creative, miserable, complacent |
Answers
Positive-
| Kind, sarcastic, courteous, placid, zealous, intrepid, sensitive, compassionate, cheerful, contended, friendly, fashionable, generous, talented, determined, creative |
Negative–
| Miserable, complacent, arrogant, insipid, timid, cruel, haughty, proud, introverted, stolid, thoughtless, vain, unforgiving, lonely |
1. What adjectives can we use to describe Peggy, Wanda and Maddie? You can choose adjectives from the list above. You can also add some of your own.
i. Peggy
ii. Wanda
iii. Maddie
Answers-
i. Peggy- cheerful, contended, talented, fashionable
ii. Wanda- kind, timid, introverted, generous, talented, lonely, creative, stolid
iii. Maddie- timid, sensitive, miserable, kind, generous
2. Find the sentences in the story with the following phrasal verbs.
lined up thought up took off stood by
Answers-
- lined up – And she thought of the glowing picture those hundred dresses made — all lined up in the classroom.
- thought up – Peggy, who had thought up this game, and Maddie, her inseparable friend, were always the last to leave.
- took off – Miss Mason took off her glasses, blew on them and wiped them on her soft white handkerchief.
- stood by – She had stood by silently, and that was just as bad as what Peggy had done.
3. Colours are used to describe feelings, moods and emotions. Match the following ‘colour expressions’ with a suggested paraphrase.
| The Monday morning blues | Feel angry/ embarrassed/ ashamed |
| Go red in the face | Feel very sick, as if about to vomit |
| Look green | Sadness or depression after a weekend of fun |
| The red carpet | The sign or permission to begin action |
| Blue blooded | A sign of surrender or acceptance of defeat; a wish to stop fighting |
| A green belt | In an unlawful act; while doing something wrong |
| A blackguard | A photographic print of building plans; a detailed plan or scheme |
| A grey area | Land around a town or city where construction is prohibited by law |
| A white flag | An area of a subject or a situation where matters are not very clear |
| A blueprint | A dishonest person with no sense of right or wrong |
| Red-handed | A special welcome |
| The green light | A noble birth or from a royal family |
Answers–
| The Monday morning blues | Sadness or depression after a weekend of fun |
| Go red in the face | Feel angry/ embarrassed/ ashamed |
| Look green | Feel very sick, as if about to vomit |
| The red carpet | A special welcome |
| Blue blooded | A noble birth or from a royal family |
| A green belt | Land around a town or city where construction is prohibited by law |
| A blackguard | A dishonest person with no sense of right or wrong |
| A grey area | An area of a subject or a situation where matters are not very clear |
| A white flag | A sign of surrender or acceptance of defeat; a wish to stop fighting |
| A blueprint | A photographic print of building plans; a detailed plan or scheme |
| Red-handed | In an unlawful act; while doing something wrong |
| The green light | The sign or permission to begin action |
