5

Thinking about the Text

 Question 1:

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

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

3.    Why does Maddie stand by and not do anything? How is she different from Peggy? (Was Peggy's friendship important to Maddie? Why? Which lines in the text tell you this?)

4.    What does Miss Mason think of Wanda's drawings? What do the children think of them? How do

You know?

Answer 1:

1.    Wanda was poor and lonely girl. She was seen differently by the other girls. Girls used to tease her by commenting on her dress. Wanda used to sit in the corner to avoid being laughed at because her feet were covered in dry mud.

2.    Wanda did not show any feelings regarding the dresses game. She did not have hundred dresses in her closet. She could not afford new dresses as her family was poor. This could be one of the reasons why her family left the place and moved to the city. Wanda was a girl who was very poor. She lived in Boggins Heights which was far away. Her feet were dirty as she walked down to school. She wanted attention of her friends. So, she felt very happy whenever she told her friend that she had hundred dresses without realizing that they were making fun of her.

3.    Maddie always stood by and never did anything as she was afraid that if she did, she would be the next target of the children. She herself was poor and therefore, felt that if she spoke against the others, they would target her next. Unlike her, Peggy was a rich girl. This was also the reason why Maddie could think from Wanda's point of view, but Peggy could not. Maddie was Peggy's best friend. It seemed as if she was in awe of Peggy. She admired her quite a lot as she said that Peggy was the most liked girl in the room and that she drew better than anyone else. She did not have the courage to go against her. Some of the lines from the e text which show that Peggy's friendship was important to Maddie are as follows.

·      Peggy, who had though t up this game, and Maddie, her inseparable friend, were always the last to leave.

·      She was Peggy's best friend, and Peggy was the best-liked girl in the whole room.

·      Peggy could not possibly do anything that was really wrong, she though t.

·      Maddie was sure Peggy would win.

4.    Miss Mason appreciated the paintings of wanda. She was impressed at the creativity of the girl because  she   had   painted   hundred   paintings   which   were   in   wide   range   of   variety. The children also admired the drawings. Everybody stopped and whistled or murmured admiringly. After Miss Mason had announced that Wanda was the winner, they burst into applause, and even the boys were glad to have a chance to stamp on the floor and whistle. Also, just as Peggy and Maddie entered the room, they stopped short and gasped. Later they recognized the designs as those which Wanda had described to them. And in the end, Peggy exclaimed, "...and I thought I could draw." This shows that she also realized how good Wanda's drawings were.