5

Comprehension Check - I

Question 1:

1.       Where in the classroom does Wanda sit and why?

2.       Where does Wanda live? What kind of a place do you think it is?

3.       When and why do Peggy and Maddie notice Wanda 's absence?

4.       What do you think "to have fun with her" means?

Answer 1:

1.       Wanda usually sat in the seat next to the last seat, in the last row, in Room Thirteen. Nobody actually knew why she sat there unless it was because her feet were normally caked with dry mud and very dirty as she came all the way from Boggins Heights. Avoiding being laughed at by her classmates was a task that is why she sat there to hide her dirty feet. No one really thought about Wanda once she sat in the corner of that room.

2.       Wanda used to coma all the way Boggins Heights which might be her residence. It seems that it was a place far away from the school and also, where there was a lot of dry mud.

3.       Nobody noticed Wanda's absence from school. Peggie and Maddie noticed Wanda's absence after three days when they didn't track the whole lot of mud .The reason they notice her absence was because they waited for her for a long time and made them late for school. Peggie and Maddie wanted to have some fun with her but she didn't turn up.

4.       Wanda was a quiet and shy girl. She was afraid that other would make fun of her mud caked feet. The girls used to make fun of her. This gave them a lot of pleasure. They wanted to have fun with her.

Comprehension Check -        II

 Question 1:

1.       In what way was Wanda different from the other children?

2.       Did Wanda have a hundred dresses? Why do you think she said she did?

3.       Why is Maddie embarrassed by the Questions Peggy asks Wanda? Is she also like Wanda, or is she different?

Answer 1:

1.       Wanda was all alone as she did not have any friends. She came to school alone and went home alone. She was different from other children. She always wore a faded blue dress that did not fit her properly. Her dress looked clean but was never ironed properly. She did not talk to anybody.

2.       No, Wanda did not have a hundred dresses because she was poor. She wore the same faded blue dress to school every day. It looked clean but was never ironed properly. She always said that she had a hundred dresses to hide her inferiority complex and impress other girls so that they did not make fun of her again.

3.       Maddie was embarrassed by the Questions Peggy asked Wanda because she was poor herself. She usually wore old clothes, which were handed down to her by someone else. She did not feel sorry for Wanda but worried that later, everyone would start teasing her too. She thought she was different from Wanda in the sense that she would never claimed that she had a hundred dresses and did not live in Boggi ns Heights. She was not as poor as Wanda. Yet she was afraid that the others might mock her too.

Comprehension Check -        III

 Question 1:

1. Why didn't Maddie ask Peggie to stop teasing Wanda? What was she afraid of? 2. Who did Maddie think would win the drawing contest? Why?

3. Who won the drawing contest? What had the winner drawn?

Answer:

1.       Maddie was herself did not belong to a rich background. She couldn't ask Peggie to stop teasing Wanda because Peggie was her best friend and she had faith in Peggie that she would never do anything wrong. Peggie never insulted anyone and never did anything that would hurt one's feeling. Maddie was afraid of being laughed at for her poor dresses.

2.       Maddie though t that Peggy would win the drawing contest. Because Peggy drew better than anyone else. She could copy a picture in a magazine, or some film star's face so well that one could tell who it was.

3.       It was Wanda, who won the drawing competition. When the students entered the classroom it was full of sketches of dresses. There were hundreds of dresses on the walls of the room. All the students wanted to know who made them. Wanda was appreciated by the judges and applauded by her fellow classmates.

Thinking about the Text

 Question 1:

1.       How is Wanda seen as different by the other girls? How do they treat her?

2.       How does Wanda feel about the dresses game? Why does she say that she has a hundred dresses?

3.       Why does Maddie stand by and not do anything? How is she different from Peggy? (Was Peggy's friendship important to Maddie? Why? Which lines in the text tell you this?)

4.       What does Miss Mason think of Wanda's drawings? What do the children think of them? How do

You know?

Answer 1:

1.       Wanda was poor and lonely girl. She was seen differently by the other girls. Girls used to tease her by commenting on her dress. Wanda used to sit in the corner to avoid being laughed at because her feet were covered in dry mud.

2.       Wanda did not show any feelings regarding the dresses game. She did not have hundred dresses in her closet. She could not afford new dresses as her family was poor. This could be one of the reasons why her family left the place and moved to the city. Wanda was a girl who was very poor. She lived in Boggins Heights which was far away. Her feet were dirty as she walked down to school. She wanted attention of her friends. So, she felt very happy whenever she told her friend that she had hundred dresses without realizing that they were making fun of her.

3.       Maddie always stood by and never did anything as she was afraid that if she did, she would be the next target of the children. She herself was poor and therefore, felt that if she spoke against the others, they would target her next. Unlike her, Peggy was a rich girl. This was also the reason why Maddie could think from Wanda's point of view, but Peggy could not. Maddie was Peggy's best friend. It seemed as if she was in awe of Peggy. She admired her quite a lot as she said that Peggy was the most liked girl in the room and that she drew better than anyone else. She did not have the courage to go against her. Some of the lines from the e text which show that Peggy's friendship was important to Maddie are as follows.

·        Peggy, who had though t up this game, and Maddie, her inseparable friend, were always the last to leave.

·        She was Peggy's best friend, and Peggy was the best-liked girl in the whole room.

·        Peggy could not possibly do anything that was really wrong, she though t.

·        Maddie was sure Peggy would win.

4.       Miss Mason appreciated the paintings of wanda. She was impressed at the creativity of the girl because  she   had   painted   hundred   paintings   which   were   in   wide   range   of   variety. The children also admired the drawings. Everybody stopped and whistled or murmured admiringly. After Miss Mason had announced that Wanda was the winner, they burst into applause, and even the boys were glad to have a chance to stamp on the floor and whistle. Also, just as Peggy and Maddie entered the room, they stopped short and gasped. Later they recognized the designs as those which Wanda had described to them. And in the end, Peggy exclaimed, "...and I thought I could draw." This shows that she also realized how good Wanda's drawings were.

Thinking about Language

Question I: Look at these sentences

(a)     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,

(b)     The time when they thought about Wanda was outside of school hours...

These italicized clauses help us to identify a set of boys, a place, and a time. They are Answers to the Questions 'What kind of rough boys?' 'Which corner did she sit in?' and 'What particular time outside of school hours?' They are 'defining' or 'restrictive' relative clauses. (Compare them with the 'no defining' relative clauses discussed in Unit 1.)

Combine the following to make sentences like those above.

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?). I t 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)

Answer I:

1.       This is the bus which goes to Agra.

2.       I would like to buy the shirt that is in the shop window.

3.       You must break your fast when you see the moon in the sky.

4.       Fin d a word which begins with the letter Z.

5.       Now find a person whose name begins with the letter Z.

6.       Then go to a place where there are no people whose name begins with Z.

Question II: The Narrative Voice

This story is in the 'third person' that is, the narrator is not a participant in the story. But the narrator often seems to tell the story from the point of view of one of the characters in the story. For example, look at the italicized words in this sentence

Thank goodness, she did not live up on Boggins Heights or have a funny name.

Whose thoughts do the words 'Thank goodness' express? Maddie's, who is grateful that although she is poor, she is yet not as poor as Wanda, or as 'different'. (So she does not get teased; she is thankful about that.)

1.       Here are two other sentences from the story. Can you say whose point of view the italicized words express?

(I)      But on Wednesday, Peggy and Maddie, who sat down 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.

(ii)     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.

2.       Can you find other such sentences in the story? You can do this after you read the second part of the story as well.

Answer II:

1.

(I)      in the given sentence, the italicized words express the point of view of Peggy and Maddie.

(ii)     In the given sentence, the italicized words express the point of view of the narrator.

2. Some of such sentences are as follows:

>       Peggy was not really cruel. She protected small children from bullies.

>       Peggy was most popular girl in school. She was pretty, had pretty clothes and her hair was curly.

>       Wanda did not sit there because she was rough and noisy.

Question III: Look at this sentence. The italicized adverb expresses an opinion or point of view.

Obviously, the only dress Wanda had was the blue one she wore every day. (This was obvious to the speaker.)

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 jail or.

9.       …………………no one had suggested this before. 10. The water was hot.

Answer III:

1.       Surprisingly, he finished his work on time.

2.       Hopefully, it will not rain on the day of the match.

3.       Evidently, he had been stealing money from his employer.

4.       Television is evidently to blame for the increase in violence in society.

5.       The children will hopefully learn from their mistakes.

6.       I can't possibly lend you that much money.

7.       The thief had apparently been watching the house for many days.

8.       The thief possibly escaped by bribing the jailor.

9.       Surprisingly, no one had suggested this before. 10. The water was incredibly hot.

Summary

Chapter 5: The Hundred Dresses-I

The story is about a quiet and shy girl named Wanda Petronski who was a Polish immigrant and had come to America with her family. She attended the school with America n children who found her name to be weird in the classroom because they all had easier names. She was a poor girl and was always seen wearing a faded blue dress. Her classmates used to tease her because she claimed to have a hundred dresses "all lined up" in her closet although she was always seen wearing only one. The ones who mostly teased her were her two best friends, Peggy and Maddie. Peggy was the most famous girl in school while anyone barely knew Wanda.

Peggy and Maddie used to wait for Wanda before school even they used to get late. Maddie, a poor girl herself did not like it when Peggy made fun of Wanda. She was afraid that she could be the next. She wanted Peggy to stop making fun of Wanda, but could not collect the courage to face her as she was afraid that she would lose her best friend. However, Peggy's aim was not to hurt Wanda but she was interested to know as to why Wanda had to speak a lie that she had a hundred dresses in her closet. Truth about the same hundred dresses opened on the result day of the drawing competition. The room was lined with one hundred drawings showing different dresses, each so beautiful. That day, she actually had "a hundred dresses all lined up", but in the classroom. At that moment, Peggy and Maddie, who were enthralled realized the theory of a hundred dresses and felt at fault about having treated her badly.