6

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?

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

3.    Peggy says, "I never thought she had the sense to know we were making fun of her anyway. I though t 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?

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

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

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

Answer:

1.    Wanda's family moved to different city because her father felt bad about the bad behavior of other girls towards Wanda at her school and the way they all teased her about her dresses.

2.    Maddie was guilty that she did not raise her voice when Peggie teased Wanda for her blue dress. Her silence was as bad as Peggy's teasing. She unintentionally encouraged Peggie to tease her. Mad die was afraid to say anything because she did not want to lose Peggy's friendship. Moreover, Maddie was poor h herself. She feared that everybody would make fun of her too.

3.    Peggy believed that Wanda was not smart enough to understand Wanda was poor but she always replied that she had a hundred dresses. Everybody used to laugh at her because they were aware of the fact that she had only one dress. Still she kept on giving the same Answer. Wanda described the dresses she said she had. That is why Peggy though t Wanda was dumb. When all the students saw the hundred dresses she used to talk about, Peggie's opinions about Wanda had changed. She saw the drawings and wash highly impressed by their beauty. She realized that Wanda was a very good artist.

4.    The important decision that Maddie made was that from now she would never stand by and say nothing again. If she ever heard anybody picking on someone because they were funny-looking or because they had strange names, she would speak up. This time she did not even mind losing Peggy's friendship over it. She knew she could not make things right with Wanda as she did not even get a chance to say her sorry.

She was unhappy that she could not find Wanda at her home. She could not sleep that night and kept on thinking about Wanda, her faded blue dress, and the little house she lived in. She was feeling guilty of not having said anything when everybody else was teasing Wanda. It was her guilt that made her think very hard and arrive at the important decision.

5.    Wanda never disliked Maddie and Peggie. Maddie and Peggy made fun of her hundred dresses as she lied constantly about her hundred dresses. They were surprised because they always made fun of her dresses and teased her, but she had gifted them with those beautiful designs.

6.    Wanda may or may not have though t that the girls were teasing her. But it was confirmed that they had hurt her feelings beyond limits. Their making fun and asking about dresses and shoes were the different issues that started to disturb her mind. She was alone and had no friends so that both could oppose or say something. Seeing the students in great number she adopted the rule, "Silence is golden." But the students surpassed all the limits. Not to speak of this, she belonged to a p our Polish family. She could do nothing in the majority. She was meditating every action of the students. Peggy considered her as a dumb but it was not so. She was a very sensitive girl having all the qualities of head, heart and soul.