people have a tendancy to stereotype people based on their appearance. how true was it in Wanda's case [ class 10 The Hundred Dresses part 1]
Answers
Explanation:
Part I
Question 1: Where in the classroom does Wanda sit and why?
Answer: Wanda used to sit in the penultimate row of benches. She was from an immigrant colony and was from a poor family. Moreover, she seems to be a quiet person engrossed in her own world. She doesn’t like to mess with anybody. That is why she sits isolated from the main group of girls.
Question 2: Where does Wanda live? What kind of a place do you think it is?
Answer: Wanda lives on Boggins Heights. The fact that her shoes are covered in mud gives an idea that Boggins Heights is not a developed area. That can be like unplanned colonies or slums in present day India. You may notice that most of the new residential areas in Indian cities develop in unplanned ways. Especially slum areas don’t have proper roads or drainage system. This leads to waterlogging and creates unhygienic conditions.
The fact that Wanda was from Polish immigrant community gives an idea of the level of underdevelopment of Boggins Heights.
Question 3: When and why do Peggy and Maddie notice Wanda’s absence?
Answer: On a Wednesday when Peggy and Maddie waited for Wanda to have fun with her, they got late to school. Because they got late to school so they noticed Wanda’s absence.
Wanda was a non-entity for students from the mainstream section of society. This happens everywhere. You tend to notice street urchin only if there is some problem with him. Otherwise we seldom notice millions of destitutes roaming our street.
Question 4: What do you think “to have fun with her” means?
Answer: It is a human tendency to make fun of other’s imperfections. These imperfections are mostly in the appearance or in the way we make an image of our world.
Wanda was sort of an outcaste as she was an immigrant, so other students loved to mock at her.
In India also, people from one region make fun of people from other region. We have jokes based on states from where a certain person comes.
Question 5: In what way was Wanda different from the other children?
Answer: To start with Wanda’s name sounded weird. Suppose an English cricket commentator has to pronounce the full name of VVS Laxman. For him it will be a difficult task. For a person from north India, south Indian names may sound strange. Our ears are tuned to the way we hear a certain accent and any variation in that gives us a strange feeling.
Wanda used to come alone to school and she had no friends. Unlike other students she had just one faded blue dress. She could not afford newer dresses. She was not stylish in the normal sense.
Question 6: Did Wanda have a hundred dresses? Why do you think she said she did?
Answer: Wanda seems to be a determined girl. She is having a great amount of self confidence. She has guts to dream that is why she tells of having a hundred dresses. For her number of dresses is not important. It is the inner talent which is of 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 too belongs to a poor family. She too is not having many dresses. She is afraid of being on the receiving end. Additionally she can understand the trauma which Wanda may be undergoing while being rebuked.
Probably school dresses were introduced to imbibe a sense of equality among students irrespective of their socio-economic background. Dresses; apart from covering our body; also add ornamental value, which is having its own importance. But in school, your main goal is learning and focus on dress sense can act like distraction.
Question 8: Why didn’t Maddie ask peggy to stop teasing Wanda? What was she afraid of?
Answer: peggy was the most popular girl. Moreover, she is a nice girl deep inside. She doesn’t hurt anybody and she cries even at the sight of some animal under pain. From Maddie’s perspective making fun at Wanda is simply a harmless fun. And given other virtues of peggy she deserves a little bit of leeway. Maddie does not want to annoy peggy; her best friend. She is also afraid of coming under the firing line if she stops other girls from teasing Wanda.