Chapter 5 The Hundred Dresses - 1

Wanda Petronski used to sit on the corner last most benches, lost in her world where rough boys used to sit. She was a very poor, shy and quiet girl who did not want to mess with others so she preferred to sit in isolation or alone.

Wanda lives upon Boggins Heights, where the poor people lives. It is not an developed area and is covered with the mud. There are no proper roads or streets and is also a kind of slum.

Wanda didn’t come to school on Monday and Tuesday but none of her classmates noticed her absence as she didn't have friends in the classroom. When Peggy and Maddie waited for Wanda to make fun of her after the school was off, then they noticed that she was absent, otherwise nobody bothered about her there.

“To have fun with her” means to laugh at her as it's an human tendency to make fun of other's imperfections which are probably about the appearance. Here in this story, Wanda is a source of amusement or pleasure because of her shy nature and her hundred dresses which she claimed in the class.

Wanda Petronski was a polish girl whose parents had settled down in America. She was a source of fun cause of her last name that made her different from others, because Americans did not have such names which was difficult to pronounce. She came to school alone and her feet were covered with the mud. She preferred to sit alone in last in the classroom. She had only one blue dress which was faded but she claimed of having hundred dresses. These qualities make her different from other children in the classroom.

Wanda was teased everyday by her classmates after the school hours. They used to make fun of her dress and her name too. One day tired of all these teasing and taunting, she claimed of having a hundred dresses and  having sixty pairs of shoes, but none of them believed her. She was a determined girl and had a great amount of self-confidence. For her, so many dresses were not important but the inner talent was important which had the real value.

Maddie was so embarrassed by the questions Peggy asks Wanda because she is also poor and understands the mental condition of Wanda. She also wears dresses that is handed down by some rich families. Though, she is an American but she has the same mindset as Wanda and doesn’t want anyone to tease Wanda cause of her dress or her name.

Maddie didn’t ask Peggy to stop teasing Wanda because she 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 the trouble. Though, she wants Peggy to stop teasing Wanda but she didn’t ask her to do so because she was afraid of being the next target of such taunts and teasings.

Maddie always believed that Peggy would win the drawing contest cause she was very good in drawing and everybody in the school loved her for this. She had a good image and impression on her teachers and the classmates too. No other girl in the classroom could draw like her. So, Peggy definitely had very well chances of winning the drawing contest according to Maddie.

Among all the boys, Jack Beggles and among all of the girls, Wanda Petronski had 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 each different colours.. Each of them was capable to win the drawing contest. Wanda had drawn all the dresses which she had claimed to have had in the classroom. Everybody was very impressed with her drawing skills and clapped for her.

Wanda is a polish girl who has settled in America with her parents. She lived in Boggin’s Height. She came to school in same blue faded dress everyday and her feet was always covered with the mud. Her last name is funny and difficult to pronounce for her classmates. Her appearance was not so perfect to be in a higher class so all the classmates made fun of her and teased her after the school hours. After being teased over her tolerance she claimed to have hundred dresses in her closet.

Wanda feels very embarrassed but remains silent in the classroom. She doesn’t talk to none of the classmates and sits on the last bench with rough boys so that nobody can give attention to her. She is deeply hurt but never does complain about it. To avoid their taunts and humiliation, Wanda says that she has hundred dresses and sixty pairs of matching shoes in her closet. Later on, she draws each of hundred dresses on paper for the drawing competition.

Peggy is the most popular girl in the classroom and Maddie is her closest friend in the class. Though, Maddie is poor, Peggy never teases her as she does with Wanda so Maddie is afraid of losing friendship with her. That’s why, she doesn't risk to annoy Peggy and prefers to remain silent. The line illustrates that, “Peggy was the best-liked girl in the whole room, Peggy could not possibly do anything that was really wrong”.

Miss Mason is very impressed with Wanda’s drawings. She considers those drawings really beautiful and worthy of winning individually. Children are also impressed by the drawing skills of her, they all applaud and whistle for her when she wins among all the girls.

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.

1. The italicised words expresses the point of view of Peggy and Maddie.

2. These italicised words expresses the point of view of other children of Wandas’ class excluding Peggy and Maddie.

1. Surprisingly
2. Hopefully
3. Possibly
4. evidendy
5. hopefully
6. possibly
7. apparendy
8. luckily
9. Incredibly
10. incredibly