CBSE Class 10 English The Hundred Dresses II Assignment

1. Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow:

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?”

Question. Wanda didn’t answer:
(i) Maddie’s letter
(ii) Peggy’s letter
(iii) Both Maddie and Peggy’s letter
(iv) Miss Mason’s letter
Answer. C

Question. Choose the option that lists the set of statements that are NOT TRUE according to the given extract.
1. Wanda did not answer anything.
2. Peggy could not forget anything.
3. Maddie prepared a speech for Wanda.
4. The girls asked, “How many cars have you got?”
5. Maddie imagined saving Wanda from the other girls.
6. Maddie liked to tease Wanda.
7. Peggy and Maddie did not like Wanda.
(i) 2, 3, 4
(ii) 4, 6, 7
(iii) 3, 5, 7
(iv) 1, 3, 5
Answer. B

Question. Wanda said she had _______ dresses when the girls asked her how many dresses she had.
(i) ten
(ii) twenty
(iii) hundred
(iv) uncountable
Answer. C

Question. Which of the following words means ‘protecting’?
(i) making
(ii) defending
(iii) forgetting
(iv) trying
Answer. B

2. If anybody had said to her, “Don’t you think that is a cruel way to treat Wanda?” she would have been very surprised. Cruel? Why did the girl say she had a hundred dresses? Anybody could tell that that was a lie.
Why did she want to lie? And she wasn’t just an ordinary person, else why did she have a name like that? Anyway, they never made her cry.

Question. What kind of a girl was Peggy?
(i) most popular and pretty looking girl.
(ii) kind
(iii) devious
(iv) all of these
Answer. A

Question. What shows that Peggy was not really cruel?
(i) She protected small children from bullies.
(ii) she cried for hours if she saw an animal being mistreated.
(iii) both (i) and (ii)
(iv) none of these
Answer. C

Question. Whom did Peggy made fun of?
(i) Maddie
(ii) Thomas
(iii) Wanda
(iv) Willie
Answer. C

Question. __________means atrocious.
(i) surprised
(ii) cruel
(iii) treat
(iv) ordinary
Answer. B

Question. What is the antonym of the word ‘ordinary’?
(i) normal
(ii) usual
(iii) abnormal
(iv) fake
Answer. B

3. 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.

Question. Who has written this letter and to whom? Where is the person who has received the letter at the moment?
Answer.  Jan Petronski has written the letter to his daughter Wanda’s school teacher, Miss Mason.She is currently in the classroom informing the students about where Wanda has gone.

Question. Who is Wanda? Why did the writer of the letter shift to the big city?
Answer. Wanda is a little girl who studied in Miss Mason’s school with other kids. Her father was moving away from the city as people would make fun of their names just because they sounded different. He was moving to Chicago.

4. “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 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.”

Question. Was the teacher correct in her assessment of the class’ behaviour towards Wanda? Give reasons for your answer.
Answer. The teacher was not correct in her assessment of the class as the students had made fun of Wanda’s different name. Some girls had even made fun of her and would often ask her about how many dresses she had.

Question. What was the reaction of the class after they heard the teacher’s announcement? What does it tell you about them?
Answer. The class became uncomfortable after Miss Mason’s announcement. They were upset over being informed that Wanda may have got hurt over their teasing. This tells us that they had their heart in the right place.

5. 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 had to do something.

Question. Who is “she” in the above lines? What does she want to do at the moment?
Answer. She is Maddie, Wanda’s classmate. She is best friends with Peggy. Maddie wanted to apologise  to Wanda for making fun of her over her claim of having a hundred dresses.

Question. Why do her eyes flick towards Peggy?
Answer. Maddie’s eyes flick towards Peggy because she wanted to see her reaction over the announcement that Wanda had shifted over the bullying.She also wanted to see if Peggy felt bad too as she was her best friend.

6. 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.

Question. Why was Maddie crying?
Answer. Maddie was crying because she felt guilt over making fun of Wanda along with her friend Peggy. She wanted to make things right with Wanda but she had already shifted to another city.

Question. Whose picture did she have? What was special about the picture?
Answer. She had the picture of a dress that Wanda had made. The special thing about the picture was that Wanda had drawn Maddie’s face in the picture and dressed her in a beautiful dress.

Short Answer Type Questions

Question. Why did Maddie feel sick when the teacher read out Mr. Petronski’s letter?
Answer. When Maddie learnt that Wanda would not be coming back to the school because of the teasing, she felt sick because even though she had not directly teased her ever, she had just stood by Peggy and not done anything to stop the teasing.

Question. What was the difference between Maddie’s and Peggy’s attitude when they did not receive a reply for weeks?
Answer. When they did not receive a reply for weeks, Peggy decided to forget the whole incident whereas Maddie would go to sleep making up speeches in Wanda’s defense.

Question. What was special about the drawings Wanda had gifted the girls?
Answer. The drawings Wanda had gifted the girls not only were of the dresses she had described to them but she had also given the figures their faces.

Question. What had Wanda’s father written in his letter addressed to the school? Why?
Answer. Wanda’s father was angry because Wanda was insulted by other American girls. He had written that Wanda and Jake won’t come to the school anymore. They were moving away to a big city where the people won’t be making funny of Wanda’s funny name and their poor financial status. Clearly, they weren’t happy with Wanda’s insults by the American boys and girls, so they would to and her city.

Question. What did Miss Mason say to the class after she read the letter of Wanda’s father?
Answer. Miss Mason read the letter of Wanda’s father and told the class that none of the boys and girls should hurt anyone’s feelings due to a funny name or their poor status. She said that even in thoughtlessness, or negligence, such things should never happen. What had happened with Wanda was unfortunate and sad. She asked all the students to think about this kind of bad behaviour. She instructed that it shouldn’t be repeated.

Question. What did Maddie decide to do to repair the damage done to Wanda?
Answer. Maddie felt that she should do something to repair the damage. They had damaged Wanda mentally. She thought perhaps Wanda had not moved away but was hiding to avoid them. She felt she should meet Wanda in person. She felt that Peggy would go to the Boggin Heights with her. They would tell Wanda that she had won the contest and that she was very talented and smart. Her dresses were beautiful.

Question. What did Peggy say about teasing Wanda when she didn’t find anyone in the house?
Answer. Peggy and Maddie reached Wanda’s house. There was a complete silence all around. They didn’t find anyone in the house. They wanted to make amends with Wanda but suddenly, Peggy boasted in front of Maddie that because she taunted Wanda about these dresses and asked questions about it, Wanda got good ideas for her drawings. Otherwise, she might not have won the contest. She had put those ideas into her dresses to win the contest.

Question. How was the town decorated on the Christmas eve?
Answer. On Christmas eve, there was a celebration all round. All the houses had wreaths in the windows and on the doors. Hundreds of Christmas trees were stacked outside the grocery stonier. Candy peppermint sticks and gifting things hung everywhere. The air smelled like Christmas. There was joy in the form of these decorations. Light reflected different colours on the snow making it even more beautiful.

Question. What did Maddie tell Peggy about her drawing?
Answer. Maddie went to Peggy’s house. Then she asked Peggy to show her drawing. Maddie carefully held it and when they looked at it closely, they saw some figure. The head and face of that picture looked like Peggy’s. Peggy got an idea from it. She said that these drawings showed that Wanda must have really liked them both.

Question. Why was Maddie upset after listening to the teacher’s views on teasing the fellow students?
Answer. Maddie was a conscientious student who did not enjoy hurting others but she had been a mute spectator when Peggy was made fun of Wanda’s hundred dresses. Now she realised that she had been a party to all the insults and humiliations which Wanda suffered quietly. So she was disturbed after listening to the teacher’s views on teasing the fellow student.

Question. How did the memories of Wanda haunt Maddie?
Answer. The memories about Wanda haunted Maddie because she realised her mistake that she should not have kept quiet when Peggy was making fun of Wanda. She felt that it was very cruel of her to be a witness to an innocent girl being insulted.

Question. Where in the classroom does Wanda sit and why?
Answer. Wanda sits in the seat next to the last seat in the last row in Room 13. She belongs to a poor family. Her feet are usually caked with dry mud and the corner of the classroom in which she sits is also very dirty. In order to avoid the embarrassment and being laughed at by her classmates, Wanda sits there to hide herself.

Question. Why did Maddie write a note to Peggi and then tore it? 
Answer. Maddie wrote a note to Peggy to make her stop making fun of Wanda. But she tore it because she thought that it could annoy Peggy and she could make fun of Maddie instead.

Question. A person who turns a blind eye to a wrong deed is as bad as the one who does it. Discuss in context of the story ‘The Hundred Dresses.’
Answer. Maddie would be around when Wanda was being teased by Peggy and the other girls but she never stopped them from doing so. She did feel uncomfortable watching Wanda but she just stood by and did not take a stand due to the fear of being the next target. Most often, people who do such things like teasing and insulting others, do it due to the support of the others. These supporting people are equally responsible for bullying. So, although she was not a part of the wrong doing, she was supporting it because she did not stop it. This puts her equally at fault. If someone sees a robbery taking place and does nothing about it, then he or she is as bad as the thief. Hence, a person who turns a blind eye is also to blame.

Question. Around the world, a lot of immigrants move to developed nations. They face ridicule on various counts. Do you think it happens in our country too?
Or do you think Indians too face such issues when they go abroad? Discuss with Wanda’s story as an example.
Answer. Yes, I think such discrimination happens all over the world including our country. We have a lot of Bangladeshi immigrants in our country and they too undergo such injustices. Even Indians who go abroad are sometimes ridiculed for their accents, dresses and even names. Wanda came from Poland and so was made fun of for her long and funny name. However, when people are exposed to different cultures and nationalities they learn to accept others more easily and that is why Wanda’s family moves to a bigger city where more such people lived. In bigger cities, the people are more tolerant and accepting as compared to smaller towns. In smaller town, people are more or less similar to each other. Hence, when anyone with slight difference, comes in their midst, they consider him as strange and weird.

Question. Read the extracts given below and comment on the difference in thinking of the students with regard to a situation.
(a) Miss Mason stood there for 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.
Answer. In the above extract, students are awaiting a letter to be read from Miss Watson, their teacher. The students are in a tense mood as they did not behave well with Wanda and the letter was from Wanda’s father. Wanda’s father had mentioned about unusual things that had happened in the school, such as the students mocking Wanda’s name, which made them go for a change of school. So, all of the students were in a guilty state of mind.

Question. What did Peggy and Maddie speak about when they went to Wanda’s house?
Answer. Peggy and Maddie went to Wanda’s house. They spoke only of Wanda and how they never meant to hurt her feelings. Peggy said that she never meant to call her a foreigner. She never knew that Wanda had the sense to know that she was being mocked at. Maddie said nothing but she hoped to find Wanda. She wanted to tell her that they were sorry. They would plead before Wanda to not to move away from there. They would all be nice to her. She and Peggy would fight anybody who wouldn’t be nice towards her. They reached her house. But no one was there. the Petronskis had already gone.

Question. How did Maddie and Peggy find Wanda’s drawings which she had given to them? What were their reactions?
Answer. Both Maddie and Peggy heard the letter read by Miss Mason. Days after, they received the drawings from Wanda. Maddie pinned her drawing in the bedroom. The dirty bedroom came alive due to the colours of the drawing. She looked at the drawing and said nothing but felt that Wanda had been very nice to her. She gazed at the drawing for a long time. The colours were very clear. She hardly saw the face and head of the drawing. The drawing looked like her own face, her own self. She ran to Peggy’s house to tell this to her. Peggy also saw that Wanda had drawn her face in the picture. Peggy said that meant Wanda had forgiven them.

Question. Who is a better human being—Maddie or Peggy?
What attributes in the personality of Maddie make her different from Peggy?
Answer. Peggy and Maddie both were good friends. They studied in the same school and the same class. They were American girls. Peggy was a rich, pretty girl with blonde hair. Maddie was also a pretty girl but she was poor. Both, Maddie and Peggy used to make fun of Wanda. Peggy never missed any opportunity of teasing Wanda. Maddie was always with Peggy but she had sympathy for Wanda too. She did not like Peggy making fun of Wanda. She wanted to stop Peggy but could never muster the courage for the same. Maddie had a different temperament than Peggy. In the end when they came to know that Wanda was leaving the school, Maddie was affected the most. She came out as a better human being by the end of the story.

The Hundred Dresses II

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 pay attention. 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 look up. 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.

School was over in the afternoon. Both Peggy and Maddie hurried up towards the Boggins Heights. On the way, Peggy told that she never had called her a foreigner or made fun of her name. Maddie spoke nothing on the way. All she hoped was that they would find Wanda. She would tell her that they were 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 no 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 wondered 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 being 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. The 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 wall paper 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 come for Maddie. 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.

Extract Based Questions 

Read the passage given below and answer the questions that follow : 

2.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.

Question. Who is ‘she’ in the paragraph?
a. Maddie
b. Peggy
c. Wanda
d. their friend
Answer.a. Maddie

Question. The face and hand of the picture was very much like _____________ .
a. Peggy
b. their teacher
c. Wanda
d. her own
Answer.d. her own

Question. Find out a word from the passage which means the same as ‘carefully‘.
a. gazed
b. intently
c. hastily
d. excitedly
Answer.b. intently

Question. The colours in the dress were ____________.
a. bright
b. dull
c. colourful
d. vivid
Answer.d. vivid

Short Answer Type Questions 

Question. In what way was Wanda different from the other children ?
Answer. Wanda was an immigrant. She did not talk much. She was very serene and laughed rarely. She was a talented, patient and skilled girl. She used to wear a dull and faded dress.

Question. Why did Wanda’s house remind Maddie of Wanda’s blue dress ? 
Answer. Maddie was reminded of Wanda’s blue dress after looking at her house because the house and the sparse little yard looked shabby but it was clean like Wanda’s blue dress. The dress Wanda wore was always clean but not ironed yet simple and humble.

Long Answer Type Questions 

Question. ‘Wanda Petronski’ liked Maddie and Peggy very much. Give reason for your answer.
Answer. Wanda wrote a letter to Miss Mason on the occasion of Christmas. She suggested that Peggy should have the drawing of the green dress with red trimmings. For Maddie, she offered the blue dress. Maddie was missing Wanda very much. There were tears in her eyes. She felt sad to think that she would never see Wanda again. She felt that Wanda had been nice to her. She gazed at her drawing for a long time. Suddenly, she noticed the face and head in the drawing. It looked like her own head and face. She was excited to find that Wanda had made that drawing especially for her. She ran to Peggy and told her that Wanda had drawn the drawing for her. There was Peggy’s face in her drawing. Peggy too was happy to see that face in the drawing looked like her. They realized that Wanda really liked them. There were tears in Maddie’s eyes. So, she knew that Wanda liked them and had forgiven them.