Chapter Sketch
‘The Hundred Dresses’ is a story based on the true experiences of the author El Bsor Ester about a girl who is teased by her classmates because she belongs to a poor family. The _girl, ‘Wanda Petronski’, becomes the butt of her fr.,. es bet-ciiite- • her funn Polish I • se. She is always quiet and wears the same faded blue dress to school everyday. She always boasts of having a hundred dresses of same colour at home. The story is also about the realisation which people from main stream society are forced to make about other ‘different’ people with similar potential and emotions.
About the Characters
Wanda Petronski
A poor Polish girl with a funny name, who wears same blue dress always and boasts of having a hundred dresses.
Peggy
Always teases Wanda, creates a game to ask Wanda about dresses, different from others, never made Wanda cry by teasing, the most popular and pretty girl in the school.
Maddie
Always teases Wanda, very close friend of Peggy, a poor girl but never boasts like Wanda.
Miss Mason
Wanda’s class teacher, who helps the students and supports them.
Summary of the Chapter
Wanda Petronski and Her Classmates
It was Monday, Wanda was absent but nobody noticed in the class. She did not have too many friends in the class because she was a very shy and quiet girl. She always preferred to sit in the corner of the class. She came from Boggins Heights, where poor people lived. Her parents were Polish who left Poland to settle down in America.
Thinking of Classmates about Wanda
Wanda’s classmates thought of her only when they came out of the class and waited to tease her but she was absent. Wanda did not come to school on Tuesday as well.
Peggy and Maddie
Peggy and Maddie were close friends. Peggy was the most popular girl in the school. She was pretty and intelligent. Maddie, her friend, was a poor girl. They always teased Wanda. They stayed after the school to ras24 Wanda but they noticed that she was absent.
Girls Made Fun of Wanda
After being teased by other girls, Wanda lied of having a hundred dresses and sixty pairs of shoes in her closet. This lie became a game for others and everybody in the class wanted her to describe her dresses for them everyday. Peggy and Maddie derived pleasure in her discomfort.
More of Peggy
Peggy, the most popular girl of the school, was very pretty. She always teased Wanda but she was not cruel. She never behaved cruelly with anyone not even with animals. If somebody asked her, she always said that Wanda was not an ordinary person but wanted her to describe the hundred dresses.
More of Maddie
Maddie, a poor girl, was very close friend of Peggy. She felt bad for Wanda as everybody teased her. She wore different dresses given by rich family. She feared that one day all the girls would be fed-up of Wanda and she would become their next target.
Maddie’s Note to Peggy about Wanda
One day Maddie decided to write a note to Peggy, asking her not to tease Wanda anymore. Later, she tore it up, thinking that she might be angry with her and would tease her. She thought about Wanda’s discomfort. She thought about how Wanda had described her blue and green velvet dress with each little detail and her thoughts got diverted to upcoming drawing contest.
The Drawing Competition
Next day, it was drizzling (raining lightly). Peggy and Maddie did not want to be late, so they did not wait for Wanda to tease her. There was a drawing competition for everyone in the class. Boys had to draw a motorboat and girls, a dress. Everybody thought of Peggy to win as she drew really well every time.
Miss Mason Announced the Winner
Everybody drew beautifully in the class in bright colours. The class had assembled and the class teacher Miss Mason announced the winners of the drawing contest. Jack Beggles was the winner among the boys and Wanda Petronski was the winner in girls. Everybody, specially the judges, were immensely impressed by her drawings and each of her drawing was capable of winning the contest individually. But Wanda was absent that day. Miss Mason showed her drawing to all the students.
Her Classmates’ Reaction
Everybody in the class clapped for Wanda in joy. They found that all the dresses she used to describe were there, the green velvet one, the blue one and the red one also. The boys whistled with fingers in their mouth. Peggy said that she had thought she could draw the same like Wanda.