The Hundred Dresses 1

Q1 RTC

Cries of exaggerated politeness greeted this. " All alike?" "Oh,

no. Every pair is different. All colours. All lined up.

a) Who would speak with exaggerated politeness? To whom

and why?

Peggy, Maddie and other girls at school would speak with

'exaggerated politeness' to Wanda because they enjoyed
mocking that simple Polish girl.

b) what does 'this' refer to here?

'This' refers to Wanda's answer to Peggy's question, that she
had 60 pairs of shoes all lined up in her closet.

c) What does 'all' refer to?

The word 'all' refers to all the pair of shoes that Wanda owns.

d) Find the word in the lines above which means the same as
'overemphasised'.

The word which means the same as 'overemphasized' is

'exaggerated'.

Q2 answer the following questions in 30 to 40 words

a) what do you think 'to have fun with her' means?

'to have fun with her' means to ridicule and mock. It is a sadistic
way to draw pleasure by deriding someone. Wanda's
classmates Peggy and Maddie in particular had fun with her by
mocking her simple, single blue dress that she wears every day
in school.

b) Peggy was not a cruel girl, still she teased Wanda. Why?
 Peggy did not think that it was cruel on her part to tease
Wanda because she did not like Wanda's false claim of
possessing hundred dresses and 60 pairs of shoes in her
closet. She did not feel guilty mocking at a person who told lies.

c) Maddie was poor like Wanda, still her classmates did not
tease her. Why?

Although Maddie was poor like Wanda, her poverty was not
obvious as she did not wear the same dress everyday like
Wanda did. She did not claim to have a hundred dresses like
Wanda. The dresses of Maddie were old 'hand-me-down' ones,
but her mother modified them in such a way that nobody could
know that they were old ones. Moreover she did not live in a
poor locality like Boggins Height and also did not have an
unfamiliar name like Wanda.

d) How did Wanda prove that she was 'humble and rich'?

Wanda proved that though financially poor, she was richer than
any other student of her class. She had the wealth of talent to
create lavish designs. Although she wore the same faded dress
to school everyday, she was gifted with a rich imagination with
which she could create and colour her designs.

Q3. Answer the following in 120 to 150 words

a) What theme and message is being conveyed in the story

'The hundred dresses'?

The hundred dresses is a story that criticizes materialism. The

author is convinced that judging people on the basis of their
riches and worldly possessions is wrong . Moreover
appearances can be deceptive. the appearance of an individual
may have a shabby look but that does not reflect his/her inner
self. A genius is always quietly at work without boasting about his
or her creativity.
One maybe poor in terms of money but one can have an inner
richness that is difficult to achieve.

Another theme dealt in the story is the discrimination that is

faced by immigrants because they come from a different
race/creed. This often leads to their bullying at school which is
not only humiliating but also disheartening. Wanda was a very
talented girl but was without friends at school because she was of
Polish origin.

The story conveys the message that young students should not
indulge in insensitive actions like mocking and jeerring at those
who are different. Such a behaviour is harmful and totally
unjustified. Realisation comes quite late and usually after the
damage has been done. Peggy ridicules Wanda and Maddie
remains a mute spectator. However, they both are equally
responsible for discriminating against a girl from a different race.

The writer's message is loud and clear that we should rise above
the narrow walls of ethnicity and learn to accept each other with
all the differences. It is important for us to acknowledge and
accept each other wholeheartedly as latent qualities cannot be
estimated from outer appearance. Wanda was a very plain-
looking girl who always wore the same faded blue dress.
However, this poor outward appearance did not mean that the girl
did not have any worth, infact she proved to be more talented than
Peggy.

b) Is 'The hundred dresses' an appropriate title of the story?

'The hundred dresses' is an appropriate title as the entire story is

based on insistence (emphasis) that she is the owner of a hundred
dresses. Her classmates treat this claim to be a blatant lie and
make fun of her. Wanda's claim to hundred dresses arouses
curiosity because she actually wears the same faded ill-fitted blue
dress to school everyday. She lives in Boggins Heights, a locality
for poor people and still tell her classmates that her hundred
dresses are all lined up in her closet.