NCERT Solutions for Class 10th English Chapter 5- The Hundred Dresses – I

NCERT Solutions for Class 10th English Chapter 5: The Hundred Dresses – I  is a touching story from NCERT Class 10 English, highlighting the experiences of a young girl named Wanda Petronski. It explores the impact of bullying, prejudice, and the realization of kindness. Wanda, a shy and quiet girl, is constantly teased by her classmates, especially by Peggy and Maddie. Through the story, we learn valuable lessons about empathy, friendship, and the consequences of judging others based on appearances.

Wanda Petronski: The Girl with 100 Dresses

Wanda Petronski, the protagonist of the story, is a poor girl with an unusual name that makes her stand out in her school. She sits at the back of the classroom, away from the other students, wearing the same faded blue dress every day. Her classmates often ridicule her for this, not realizing the struggles she faces. Wanda quietly endures the teasing without ever retaliating or showing anger.

Her classmates, especially Peggy and Maddie, frequently make fun of Wanda by asking how many dresses she owns, knowing full well that she wears the same one every day. To their surprise, Wanda confidently replies that she has 100 dresses at home, all lined up in her closet.

Peggy and Maddie: The Bullies

Peggy is one of the most popular girls in school, admired for her good looks and talent. She, along with her best friend Maddie, leads the group in teasing Wanda. While Peggy’s intentions might not have been deeply harmful, her actions still caused pain to Wanda. Maddie, on the other hand, feels uncomfortable about the teasing but remains silent. She fears standing up for Wanda because she doesn’t want to lose Peggy’s friendship or become a target herself.

Maddie's internal struggle is central to the story. Though she doesn’t actively tease Wanda, she feels guilty for not speaking up. Maddie relates to Wanda's situation since she, too, comes from a poor family. This guilt grows as the story unfolds.

The 100 Dresses: A Surprising Revelation

As the days go by, Wanda’s story about owning 100 dresses becomes a joke in the school. The girls find it ridiculous that someone who wears the same dress every day could claim to have so many clothes. However, everything changes when the results of the school's drawing competition are announced.

Peggy, who is known for her drawing skills, is confident she will win. However, the entire class is taken aback when the teacher announces that Wanda Petronski is the winner. Wanda, who had been absent from school for days, had submitted 100 beautifully detailed drawings of dresses for the competition—each one unique and breathtaking.

When Maddie and Peggy see Wanda’s drawings, they realize that these were the 100 dresses she had been talking about all along. The blue and green dresses that Wanda had mentioned to them were not imaginary, but real in her artwork.

A Lesson in Empathy

This revelation shocks Peggy and Maddie, making them reflect on their behavior. They begin to understand the depth of Wanda’s talent and the pain they caused her with their teasing. Maddie, in particular, is filled with guilt and regret for not standing up for Wanda earlier. She resolves never to stay silent when someone is being wronged again.

The story of "The Hundred Dresses-I" teaches us important lessons about kindness, empathy, and the consequences of our actions. It shows how easy it is to hurt someone with careless words, but also how powerful a small act of understanding and compassion can be.

The Hundred Dresses – I Summary

Through this simple yet profound story, the reader learns that everyone has their own battles and struggles, which are not always visible on the surface. Wanda’s strength and grace, despite the bullying she faced, leave a lasting impression on her classmates and on us. The story encourages us to be more mindful of our words and actions and to treat others with kindness and respect.

Class 10 English Chapter 5 Question Answers

Oral Comprehension Check

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

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

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

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

Question 3. When and Why do Peggy and Maddie notice Wanda’s absence?

Answer: Wanda didn’t come to school on Monday and Tuesday but nobody noticed her absence as she did not have friends in the class. When Peggy and Maddie waited for Wanda to make fun of her after the school was off, they noticed that she was absent, otherwise nobody bothered about her there.

Question 4. What do you think “to have fun with her” means?

Answer: “To have fun with her ” means to laugh at her as it is human tendency to make fun of others imperfections which are mostly about the appearance. Here in the story, Wanda is a source of amusement or pleasure because of her shy nature and her hundred dresses.

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Question 5. In what way was Wanda different from the other children?

Answer: Wanda Petronski was a polish girl whose parents had settled down in America. She was a source of fun because of her last name which made her different from others, because Americans did not have such names and it was difficult to pronounce.

She came to school alone and her feet were covered with mud. She preferred to sit alone in the last in the class. She had only one blue dress which was faded but claimed of having a hundred dresses. These qualities make her different from other children.

Question 6. Did Wanda have a hundred dresses? Why do you think she said she did?

Answer: Wanda was teased everyday by her classmates after school

hours. They used to make fun of her dress and her name. One day tired of all the teasing and taunting, she claimed of having a hundred dresses and sixty pairs of shoes, but nobody believed her.

She was a determined girl and had a great amount of self-confidence. For her number of dresses were not important but the inner talent which had the real value.

Question 7. Why is Maddie embarrassed by the questions Peggy asks Wanda? Is she also like Wanda, or is she different?

Answer: Maddie is embarrassed by the questions Peggy asks Wanda because she is also poor and understands the mental condition of Wanda. She also wears dresses handed down by rich family. Though, she is an American but she has the same mind-set as Wanda and doesn’t want anyone to tease Wanda because of her dress or her name.

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Question 8. Why didn’t Maddie ask Peggy to stop teasing Wanda? What was she afraid of?

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

Question 9. Who did Maddie think would win the drawing contest? Why?

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

Question 10. Who won the drawing contest? What had the winner drawn?

Answer: Among the boys, Jack Beggles and among the girls, Wanda

Petronski 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 different colours.. Each of them was capable to win the contest individually.

Wanda had drawn all the dresses which she had claimed to have had in the class. Everybody was very impressed with her drawing skill and clapped for her.

Thinking about the Text

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Question 11. How is Wanda seen as different by the other girls? How do they treat her?

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

Question 12. How does Wanda feel about the dresses game? Why does she say that she has a hundred dresses?

Answer: Wanda feels very embarrassed but remains silent in the class. She doesn’t talk to anyone and sits on the back bench with rough boys so that nobody can give attention to her. She is deeply hurt but never complains about it. To avoid their taunts and humiliation, Wanda says that she has a hundred dresses and sixty pairs of matching shoes in her closet. Later on, she draws all of them on paper for the drawing competition.

Question 13. Why does Maddie stand by and does not do anything? How is she different from Peggy? or (was Peggy’s friendship important to Maddie? Why? Which lines in the text tell you this?)

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

Question 14.What does Miss Mason think of Wanda’s drawings? What do the children think of them? How do you know?

Answer: Miss Mason is very impressed with Wanda’s drawings. She considers them really beautiful and worthy of winning individually. The children are also impressed by the drawing skills of Wanda that they all applaud and whistle when she wins among the girls.

Thinking about Language

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Question 1. Combine the following to make sentences.

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?). It begins with the letter Z, (use which or that)
6. Now find a person (what kind of person ?) His or her name begins with the letter Z. (use whose)
7. Then go to a place (what place?). There are no people whose name begins with Z in that place, (use where)

Answers: 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.

Question 2. The Narrative Voice Here are two other sentences from the story. Can you say whose point of view the italicised words express?

1. But on Wednesday, Peggy and Maddie, who sat down in 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.

2. 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.

Answer: 1. The italicised words express the point of view of Peggy and Maddie.

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

Question 3. 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 jailor.
9. ____no one had suggested this before.
10. The water was ____hot.

Answers: 1. Surprisingly

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

The Hundred Dresses-I Questions and Answers PDF

You can easily download "The Hundred Dresses-I" PDF from various educational resources online. This chapter from the NCERT Class 10 English book tells the story of Wanda Petronski, a young girl who faces bullying at school because of her poor background. It highlights important themes like empathy, kindness, and the impact of teasing. By reading this chapter, you’ll gain valuable insights into understanding others' feelings and the consequences of our words. Click the link below to download the PDF and explore the full story.

Download The Hundred Dresses – I Questions and Answers PDF

"The Hundred Dresses-I" Important Questions

Q1. Why did Wanda Petronski claim to have 100 dresses?

A: Wanda claimed to have 100 dresses to protect herself from the teasing of her classmates. She expressed her creativity and dreams through her drawings of the dresses, which represented her way of coping with the situation.

Q2. How did Maddie feel about the teasing of Wanda?

A: Maddie felt uncomfortable about teasing Wanda because she was from a poor family herself. Although she didn’t actively participate in the teasing, she felt guilty for not speaking up against it.

Q3. Why was Peggy confident about winning the drawing competition?

A: Peggy was confident about winning the drawing competition because she was known for her artistic talent. She often created beautiful drawings, and her classmates expected her to win.

Q4. What was the turning point in the story?

A: The turning point in the story is when Wanda wins the drawing competition by submitting 100 exquisite drawings of dresses. This shocks her classmates, especially Peggy and Maddie, as they realize the truth behind her claim.

Q5. What lesson does "The Hundred Dresses-I" teach us?

A: The story teaches us to be kind and empathetic toward others. It highlights the importance of understanding people's struggles and how bullying can deeply affect someone. The story encourages us to speak up when we see injustice and treat everyone with respect.