Chapter – 6

The Hundred Dresses – II

In this post, we have given the Important Questions of chapter 6 “The Hundred Dresses – II”. It is the 6th chapter of the prose of Class 10th English.

Board	CBSE Board, UP Board, JAC Board, HBSE Board, UBSE Board, PSEB Board, RBSE Board
Textbook	NCERT
Class	Class 10
Subject	English First Flight
Chapter no.	Chapter 6
Chapter Name	The Hundred Dresses – II
Category	Class 10 English Important Questions
Medium	English

Chapter 6 The Hundred Dresses 2

Question 1. What did Mr Petronski’s letter say?

Answer: Mr Petronski’s letter was to inform the principal and Miss Mason that Wanda would not come to school as she was fed up of being bullied in the school. They were going to shift to a bigger place where nobody would make fun of their last name.

Question 2. Is Miss Mason angry with the class, or is she unhappy and upset?

Answer: Miss Mason seems to be unhappy and upset rather than angry because she had never expected such a behaviour from the students. She wants everyone to think about it and asks them not to do look down anyone in the class.

Question 3. How does Maddie feel after listening to the note from Wanda’s father?

Answer: Maddie feels sorry and ashamed for the behaviour although she herself did not make fun of Wanda. She never tried to stop Peggy to do so and remained a silent spectator. She feels as a coward.

Question 4. What does Maddie want to do?

Answer: Maddie wants to amend her behaviour towards Wanda. She wants to meet her to apologise. She decides to find Wanda at her house at Boggins Heights. She also wanted to convey that all was meant in good humour and people really love her.

Question 5. What excuses does Peggy think of giving in justification of her behaviour? Why?

Answer: Peggy tries to defend herself by saying that her behaviour towards Wanda inspired her to explore her drawing skills as she sketches a hundred dresses and that makes her win the drawing contest.

Question 6. What are Maddie’s thoughts as they go to Boggins Heights?

Answer: Maddie was feeling ashamed and apologetic for being a silent spectator while Peggy humiliated Wanda. She was feeling upset and distraught for Wanda and herself. She was also repenting for not stopping Peggy for behaving badly with Wanda.

Question 7. Why does Wanda’s house remind Maddie of Wanda’s blue dress?

Answer: Wanda’s house was sparse, old and laded but neat and clean like her blue dress that she wore everyday to school. Thus, Maddie was reminded of the same old blue dress.

Question 8. What does Maddie think hard about ? What important decision does she come to?

Answer: Maddie thinks about not to be mute spectator anymore that she had been in case of Wanda. She promised herself about not letting any injustice happen to anyone even if she would have to lose a friend in this.

Question 9. What did the girls write to Wanda?

Answer: Maddie and Peggy wrote a friendly letter to Wanda. They wanted to apologise for their behaviour but they ended up asking her whether she liked her new school and teacher. They informed her about her sketches winning the drawing competition. They praised her drawing skills and also told how much other students liked her art. The letter was just a usual letter one may write to a good friend.

Question 10. Did Maddie and Peggy get a reply? Who was more anxious for a reply? How do you know?

Answer: No, they didn’t get a reply from Wanda. Maddie was more anxious for a reply than Peggy because she was very upset and feeling sad for Wanda. She had assumed that Wanda was deeply hurt so she was not replying and blamed herself for everything. Maddie used to have sleepless nights and saw frightful dreams about Wanda.

Question 11. How did the girls know that Wanda liked them even though they had teased her?

Answer:  Both Maddie and Peggy realised that Wanda liked them although they had teased her because she had gifted them her two beautiful dresses, a green one with red trimmings to Peggy and the blue one to Maddie. She had even drawn their faces in the painting of the dresses they got.

Answer the Following Questions

Questions 1. Justify the title of the story “The Hundred Dresses”.

Answer. Wanda was a gifted painter. She had drawn exquisite hundred designs of beautiful dresses. If she had the fabric she would have made hundred real dresses. That’s why she called them dresses and not designs. She gifts these dresses to the girls. They felt sorry for her. Hence the title is perfectly appropriate.

Questions 2. How did the children respond to Wanda’s paintings?

Answer. Children suddenly clapped. Even the boys were glad to have a chance to stamp on the floor and they put their fingers in their mouths and whistled. Peggy and Maddie also appreciated her drawings.

Questions 3. 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.

Questions 4. Where did Wanda sit in the classroom and why?

Answer. Wanda felt it comfortable to sit at the back of the class where the noisy rough boys, who got low marks, sat. She did so as she was not well dressed and her feet were dirty, where nobody noticed her.

Questions 5. What was unusual about the dress of Wanda?

Answer. Wanda always wore a faded blue dress that didn’t fit her well. It was neat but it was wrinkled all over and required a good ironing. She always wore the same dress. It didn’t looked right.

Questions 6. What shows that Peggy was not really cruel?

Answer. Peggy was not really cruel. She protected small children from bullies. Not only this, she cried for hours if she saw an animal being mistreated. But in Wanda’s bullying she never felt that.

Questions 7. Why was Maddie sure Peggy would win the dress designing contest?

Answer. Peggy drew designs better than anyone else in the class and could copy a picture of film star’s head with such precision that no one could recognize it from the magazine. Maddie thought that Peggy would win the girls medal.

Questions 8. What kind of a girl was Peggy?

Answer. Peggy was the most popular and pretty looking girl. She was a hypocrite as she could be kind at one time and make fun of someone at another time. She made fun of Wanda. But at the same time. She was a good artist, she protected children from bullies, cried when animals were ill treated.

Questions 9. How did Wanda win the drawing competition? Did anyone expect her victory?

Answer. Wanda won the drawing competition as she had drawn hundred dresses all different, colourful and exquisite. All of them deserved a prize though nobody expected her victory because in routine, she used to wear the same wrinkled blue faded dress.

Questions 10. Why did Maddie feel guilty of herself?

Answer. Maddie felt guilty of herself because she always supported Peggy for fun. She never stopped Peggy for making fun of Wanda. Later, she was remorseful to see the beautiful dresses gifted by Wanda.

Questions 11. 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.

Questions 12. How can you say that Maddie was different from Peggy?

Answer. Maddie belonged to a poor family. She always wore old clothes. She also felt sympathy for Wanda. Maddie did not like Peggy when she made fun of Wanda. She decided not to mock Wanda at one time.

Questions 13. Though Peggy and Maddie made fun of Wanda, she gifted them her special drawings. In the light of this statement write a character sketch of Wanda Petronski.

Answer. Wanda Petronski was a Polish girl at an American School. Her name sounded unfamiliar to the other students who made fun of her name. They also teased her by asking her about her hundred dresses which she claimed she had but wore the same faded blue dress every day, she never felt embarrassed. She was cool headed and tolerant. Others called her a liar but she knew that she was truthful as she did have a hundred dresses but only the drawings not the real ones. Wanda had gifted two of her special drawings to Peggy and Maddie with their faces on the respective drawings. This showed that she liked them in spite of their teasing her. Gifting those drawings to them was also her way of making them realise their mistake. She was a large-hearted, understanding, forgiving, talented and intelligent girl. 

Questions 14. What was the effect of the letter of Wanda’s father on Miss Mason? How did Maddie react to it?

Answer. In his letter, Wanda’s father had informed Miss Mason that Wanda would not come to the school any more. They were moving to a big city. In that city, nobody would consider her name funny and laugh at her. There was a deep silence in the class when Miss Mason read the letter. Whatever happened was due to thoughtlessness. It was also unfortunate and sad. She didn’t like that other students had hurt the feelings of Wanda just because she had a name which happened to be a long, unfamiliar one. She wanted everyone to think about it. On the other hand, Maddie had a sick feeling. She wanted to regret on her behaviour. She thought that she never wanted to hurt Wanda in this way. It was true that she had never made fun of Wanda herself. But at the same time, she had not
objected Peggy’s asking Wanda about her dresses. She felt that she was a coward.

Questions 15. Give the character sketch of Maddie.

Answer. Maddie was the classmate of Peggy and Wanda. She was Peggy’s inseparable friend. Both were always seen together. She used to wear hand-me-down clothes, mostly of Peggy with little innovation. She did not like Peggy’s making fun of Wanda. She felt uncomfortable, perhaps it reminded her of her own poverty. She was not courageous. Once she wrote a note to Peggy asking her to stop teasing Wanda but tore it. She was afraid that Peggy and other girls would make her the next target. She had a very high opinion about Peggy. She thought that Peggy could never do anything wrong and that she would win the art contest. Maddie was sensitive and emotional. Many nights before sleeping she would give imaginary speeches defending Wanda when others teased her. Even she was determined not to tease anybody else and make them unhappy. She didn’t mind losing Peggy’s friendship in doing so.

Thinking about the Text

Question 1. 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?

Answer: Wanda’s family moved to a different city due to the racist and insulting behaviour of students towards Wanda and her brother. They were teased by other students for their funny name and blue dress. Life there in a different city was going to be different because people there did not have such a narrow mind and would not tease them because of their name or status.

Question 2. Maddie thought her silence was as bad as Peggy’s teasing. Was she right ?

Answer: Yes, Maddie thought that her silence was as bad as Peggy’s teasing because it is often said that turning a blind eye to a crime is worse than committing a crime. So by being silent she indirectly encouraged Peggy to do so.

Question 3. Peggy says, “I never thought she had 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 ?

Answer: Wanda never replied to Peggy ‘s misbehaviour and pranks that she faced everyday. So, her neutral face and unusual behaviour led Peggy to think that Wanda was dumb. Wanda even described the hundred dresses she said about though she wore the same old faded blue dress everyday. But later Peggy’ changed her opinion after having a look on Wanda’s sketches and her gesture of gifting her a beautiful drawing from her collection.

Question 4. What important decision did Maddie make? Why did she have to think hard to do so ?

Answer: Maddie decided to go to Wanda’s house with Peggy to apologise and amend for all that had happened but Wanda had left her house with her family. She felt bad because she thought of herself as a coward who did not stop Peggy to insult Wanda. So, she decided to raise voice against injustice and bullying. She was firm of not being a mute spectator anymore.

Question 5. Why do you think Wanda gave Maddie and Peggy the drawings of the dresses ? Why are they surprised ?

Answer: When Maddie and Peggy wrote a letter to Wanda, she might have understood their feelings behind their letter and during the dresses game, she had observed both of them. So she requested Miss Mason to give two of her drawings to them and had taught them a lesson of life. Maddie and Peggy were surprised as she gifted them the drawings with their faces.

Question 6. Do you think Wanda really thought the girls were teasing her ? Why or why not ?

Answer: Wanda was aware of the misbehaviour of the girls who teased her everyday “but she remained calm. To keep them mum she fabricated a story of having a hundred dresses and sixty pairs of matching shoes in her closet. She taught them a lesson of life by the drawings of the hundred beautiful dresses she claimed to have.

Thinking about Language

Question 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.

• Peggy ____
• Wanda ____
• Maddie ____

Answer:

• Peggy Sarcastic, thoughtless, zealous, unforgiving arrogant, cruel, haughty, proud, vain
• Wanda Kind, courteous, introverted, talented, lonely, determined, complacent, contented, generous, friendly, intrepid, sensitive, compassionate, creative.
• Maddie Insipid, timid, placid, stolid

Question 2. Find the sentences in the story with the following phrasal verbs.

lined up, thought up, took off, stood by

Answer:

• Lined up She thought of the glowing picture of those hundred dresses 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.

Question 3. Colours are used to describe feelings, moods and emotions. Match the following ‘colour expressions’ with a suggested paraphrase.

• The Monday morning blues: feel embarrassed /angry /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 an 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: of noble birth or from a royal family

Answer:

• The Monday morning blues : sadness or depression after a weekend of fun
• To go red in the face : feel embarrassed /angry/ashamed
• Look green : feel very sick, as if about to vomit
• The red carpet : a special welcome
• Blue – blooded : of noble birth or from a royal family
• A green belt : land around a town or city where construction is prohibited by law
• Black guard : 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 blue print : a photographic print of building plans; a detailed clan or scheme
• Red-handed : in an unlawful act; while doing something wrong
• The green light : the sign of permission to begin an action

We hope that Class 10 English (First Flight) Chapter 6 The Hundred Dresses – II Important Questions helped you. If you have any queries about Class 10 English (First Flight) Chapter 6 The Hundred Dresses – II Important Questions or about any other notes of Class 10 English, so you can comment below. We will reach you as soon as possible…