The Hundred Dresses - Ii

Mr. Petronski’s letter said that Wanda won’t come to school anymore because they were moving to a big city. He also mentioned that there would not be any more fun on names as there were plenty of funny names in the big city

Miss Mason was unhappy and upset with the class as she did not like the ill treatment meted out to Wanda by her classmates and called it unfortunate. She thought it all happened in utter thoughtlessness and asks the students to think about this incident and feel sorry.

After listening to the note from Wanda’s father, Maddie was deeply hurt and felt sad for Wanda. She could not concentrate on her lessons and felt guilty in the bottom of her stomach for her decision of not stopping Peggy from making fun of Wanda.

Maddie wants to tell Wanda that she did not want to hurt her feelings. She also wanted to inform her about her victory in the contest and praise her for the exquisite hundred dresses she made.

Peggy said that she never called Wanda a foreigner and made fun of her name. She did not realize that Wanda was sensible enough to understand her fun and mockery and realized her mistake later on.

Maddie thought that they would find Wanda as she and Peggy were going to Boggins Heights. She wanted to apologize and stop Wanda from leaving the school. They wanted to tell her about her victory in the contest and praise her beautiful dresses. They also wanted to convince her that they would fight anybody who was not nice to her.

Wanda’s house which was small and shabby looking but clean reminded Maddie of Wanda’s blue dress as she always wore that faded blue dress which was shabby in appearance but clean and tidy.

Maddie felt deeply hurt for Wanda. She constantly thought about Wanda’s decision of leaving school and at last, she is prompted to take a decision that she would protest if she ever heard anybody making fun of others only for their names and appearances and would no longer be a mute spectator.

The girls wrote a friendly letter to Wanda. They wrote about her exquisite drawings and her victory in the contest. They also wanted to ask her about the new place and her new teacher. They ended it by signing with lots of X’s for love.

No, they did not get any reply from Wanda. Maddie was more anxious about the reply. We come to know this because with the passage of time Peggy forgot about Wanda but Maddie continuously thought about her and made speeches to Wanda before sleeping.

When Miss Mason read out the letter in the classroom, they came to know that Wanda liked them even though they had teased her. Wanda asked Miss Mason to give the green dress with red trimming to Peggy and the blue one to Maddie and later when Maddie realized that Wanda had drawn her picture, she was overwhelmed with joy and shared it with Peggy.

Wanda’s family moved to a different city because her father felt bad about the insensitive behavior of the girls in Wanda’s school. Her family had decided to move to a big city where no one would tease Wanda for her funny name as there were plenty of funny names in the city. In school, Wanda was among the American girls and they did not respect her. She was a quiet girl who was always cornered by her classmates. So it is quite natural that after going to the different city their life would be different.

Peggy was Maddie’s best friend who used to make fun of Wanda by asking her how many dresses she had. Maddie did not like it but she stood by silently as she did not have the courage to stop Peggy in the fear of losing her friendship with Peggy. Wanda had to leave the school and the town because of teasing and Maddie felt very bad about it. Therefore, she was right in thinking that her silence was as bad as Peggy’s teasing because it was a quiet support to Peggy in her wrong deeds.

Peggy always teased Wanda by asking her about dresses since Wanda always wore a faded blue dress because she was very poor. Wanda knew that Peggy was making fun of her and so she made a counter attack by answering that she had one hundred dresses lined up in her closet but she never became angry which became the base of Peggy’s opinion. However, at last, when Wanda won the contest, Peggy’s opinion changed.

After returning from Boggins Heights, Maddie became restless. She was remembering Wanda, her blue dress, and her house again and again. She could not even sleep. She was thinking herself guilty because she never opposed Peggy in teasing Wanda and was deeply distressed. At last, she came to a conclusion that she would never stand by one who does wrong and would not be a mute spectator. She made a decision of acting swiftly in such circumstances in future without caring about the aftermath of it.

Wanda gave Maddie and Peggy the drawings of the dresses to show her real feelings towards them. Wanda was a soft hearted and loving girl who did not have jealousy towards anyone. Although Maddie and Peggy made fun of her, yet she did not hate them and drew their faces in the drawings. Maddie and Peggy were surprised to see their faces in the drawing designs as they did not know Wanda’s true feelings of love and concern for both of them in spite of their unruly and insulting behavior.

Yes, Wanda knew that the girls were teasing her. It could be recognized when she replied that she had a hundred dresses lined up in her closet. That’s why her father took the decision to shift in the big city and wrote a letter to her teacher to make her classmates realize their mistakes.

POSITIVE - kind, courteous, placid, intrepid, sensitive, compassionate, cheerful, contented, friendly, fashionable, generous, talented, determined, creative, complacent, stolid

NEGATIVE – sarcastic, arrogant, insipid, timid, cruel, haughty, proud, zealous, introverted, thoughtless, vain, unforgiving, lonely, miserable

Note: The word that qualifies any noun or pronoun is called Adjective. Ex. Rashmi is a good girl.

1.Peggy Sarcastic, cheerful, contented

2. Wanda Introverted, sensitive, creative, lonely, placid, talented, courteous, compassionate, forgiving, kind , timid

3. Maddie Friendly, compassionate, generous, sensitive, determined, timid

1. And she thought of the glowing picture those hundred dresses made-all lined up in the classroom.

2. Peggy, who had thought up this game.

3. Miss Mason took off her glasses.

4. She had stood by silently.

Verbs with other Prepositions

1. Lined up: A group of spectators were lined up in the stadium to watch the cricket match.

2. Take about: I will think about your suggestions.

3. Take off: The flight took off for America.

4. Stand up: After seeing their principal, the students stood up.

1. Act upon (Follow): Aarti did not act upon my advice. So she failed.

2. Bear down (To move closer to somebody in a frightening way): We could see the hurricane bearing down the town.

3. Call on (To ask for help): The Principal called on the Manager before the function.

4. Call off (To cancel): The match was called off due to heavy rain.

5. Get away (Escape): The thief got away with my car last Saturday.

Attempt yourself as it is a classroom activity.

Types of Letters :

1. Formal Letters
2. Informal letter
3. Business Letters

The Format of a Formal Letter:

1. Sender’s Address

2. Date

3. Receiver’s address with name

4. Salutation

5. Subject

6. Letter content

7. Last complimentary words

8. Sender’s Name

Letter-

Boggins Heights

U.S.A.

17th Sep, 20xx

Miss Mason

8, Bridge Lane

Respected Madam,

I would like bring to your notice that my daughter, Wanda Petronski, has complained to me that the students of her class make fun of name and her dresses. This behavior has affected her mind badly. Now she does not want to go to school anymore. It is not good for a reputed school to have such unruly behaving students in a class. However, I have taken a decision that my daughter will not come to your school as we are moving to Chicago where we will not face such problems.

Yours sincerely

Jan Petronski

NOTE – Students can write the letter differently. The above answer is only an example.

Each one of us has a hobby. Sometimes our hobby becomes our passion and later it becomes our profession. We can cite the example of Ritu Kumar. She did not plan to be a dress designer. But ultimately she became one. About me, photography is my hobby. And if I go for this I will have to buy a good camera and undergo some training under the guidance of an expert photographer. Gradually, making my career out of my hobby, I could do a beautiful study of life and its aspects, animal life, and nature through photographs which could be later displayed in my art gallery in future.

NOTE- Students can write about their own hobbies as well. The above answer is only an example.

I am a Polish girl and I have settled in America with my parents. I have to study among American girls who make fun of my name and dresses, especially Peggy and Maddie. When I could not bear this insult, I requested my father to get me admitted into any other school after informing him about the reasons behind my decision. Before leaving the school, I submitted one hundred designs of dresses in the drawing competition. My father wrote a letter to my teacher named Miss Mason before leaving.

When my teacher read the letter in the class, all the students became sad and Peggy and Maddie were very disappointed. When they got to know that I was the winner of the competition, they wanted to congratulate me for my victory and also apologize for their insulting behavior. They expressed the same through a letter but I did not answer them.

However, before Christmas Eve, I wrote a letter to Miss Mason. I wished all my classmates Merry Christmas and asked my teacher to give the design of the green dress with red trimming to Peggy and the blue one to Maddie from my side.

NOTE – Students can explain it in their own way. The above answer is only an example.

The poet is turning from living with other human beings and instead is convinced to live with animals. He takes this decision because he has analyzed this world deeply and realized that humans are very complicated and false whereas animals are placid and self contained. They are satisfied with their condition but human beings are always dissatisfied and grumbling.

The three things are as follows:

1. Human beings sweat and work hard to make a living and later cry at their condition and the amount of work they have to do to survive, but animals don’t whine and sulk about their conditions.

2. Human beings stay awake in the dark and weep for their sins, but animals never weep for anything they do and always sleep in tranquility.

3. Human beings feel troubled and disturbed and always make each other sick by discussing their duties to God, but animals do their duties without disturbance.

Yes, humans kneel to other humans who lived thousands of years ago. Human beings have developed these complex concepts naming them as their religious practices and beliefs where they have created gods and goddesses and saints and prophets who they worship and consider holy and spiritual.

The tokens which human beings have left behind in the race of civilization include love, complacency, honesty, kindness, respect, and simplicity. Humans have chosen to ignore these basic aspects of humanity and have instead become selfish and self-centered. With the main aim of grabbing material wealth in life, man has become ruthless. But animals still have all the qualities that humans once possessed. They are always satisfied with their condition and never grumble.