Lesson-6

The Hundred Dresses Part II

By El Bsor Ester

The Hundred Dresses Part II Introduction

In continuation of the previous lesson, "The Hundred Dresses II" explains why Wanda Petronski hasn't been attending school. The Petronskis decided to relocate to a large city where no one would notice their unusual surname. When Maddie and Peggy heard the note, they became concerned because they realised they would never be able to make amends for all of their teasing. Only after learning that Wanda liked them and had dedicated one of the hundred dresses (drawings) to each of them do the girls feel relieved.

The Hundred Dresses Part II Summary

The lesson begins with all of the students in Room 13 looking at Wanda Petronski's wonderful drawings. Only then does Miss Mason receive a note from Wanda's father informing her that neither of his two children will be attending the school because they are moving to a big city where no one will judge them for their names. Miss Mason was taken aback and expressed her disappointment to the class. Wanda's father's letter had an impact on Maddie. She felt compelled to apologise to Wanda right away. Peggy and Maddie, two best friends, rush to Boggins Heights in the hopes that the family hasn't moved yet. However, there was no sign of life in or around the house, much to their dismay. Maddie lost sleep over the fact that she was a coward who couldn't stand up to injustice. That day, she resolved never to let anyone tease her like that again. That weekend, Peggy and Maddie decided to write Wanda a letter that was supposed to be apologetic but ended up being a friendly note asking her how she liked the new place. Weeks passed with no response until Miss Mason announced one day near Christmas that she had heard from Wanda. Wanda wrote in that letter that she misses everyone and that she intends to give Maddie and Peggy one dress each because she has a whole new lot of hundred dresses lined up in her new house. They were both delighted to receive it and later realised that it was their faces she had drawn alongside the dresses. As a result, they both concluded that Wanda liked them.

The Hundred Dresses Part II Lesson Explanation

WHILE the class was circling the room, the monitor from the principal’s office brought Miss Mason a note. Miss Mason read it several times and studied it thoughtfully for a while. Then she clapped her hands. “Attention, class. Everyone back to their seat.” When the shuffling of feet had stopped and the room was still and quiet, Miss Mason said, “I have a letter from Wanda’s father that I want to read to you.” Miss Mason stood there a moment and the silence in the room grew tense and expectant. The teacher adjusted her glasses slowly and deliberately. Her manner indicated that what was coming — this letter from Wanda’s father — was a matter of great importance. Everybody listened closely as Miss Mason read the brief note.

• Listened closely- listened with attention

Everyone was looking at Wanda's amazing drawings and admiring them when the class monitor brought a piece of paper for Miss Mason. Miss Mason had to read that note several times because she couldn't believe what was written on it. Finally, she decided to gather the class and read it aloud. Wanda Petronski's father had written her a letter. For a brief moment, she remained silent, creating tension in the minds of her students. She adjusted her spectacles, emphasising the significance of that note. Everyone was paying close attention as she began reading it.

Dear Teacher:

My Wanda will not come to your school any more. Jake also. Now we move away to big city. No more holler ‘Pollack’. No more ask why funny name. Plenty of funny names in the big city.
Yours truly,

Jan Petronski

The letter started with a greeting to Miss Mason. Wanda's father stated that he would no longer send both of his children, Wanda and Jake, to school. He mentioned that they were moving to another city, a big one where no one would notice their unusual name, a big city with a lot of people with unusual names. (Wanda's classmates thought her name was strange and amusing.) Wanda was a Polish immigrant to America, so her name was unfamiliar.)

A deep silence met the reading of this letter. Miss Mason took off her glasses, blew on them and wiped them on her soft white handkerchief. Then she put them on again and looked at the class. When she spoke her voice was very low. “I am sure that none of the boys and girls in Room Thirteen would purposely and deliberately hurt anyone’s feelings because his or her name happened to be a long, unfamiliar one. I prefer to think that what was said was said in thoughtlessness. I know that all of you feel the way I do, that this is a very unfortunate thing to have happened — unfortunate and sad, both. And I want you all to think about it.”

Everyone was speechless after hearing what was in that letter. Miss Mason, too, was taken aback, so she cleaned her glasses, put them back on, and spoke to the class in hushed tones. She expressed her displeasure to the class and asked them to reassure her that nothing was done on purpose to harm Wanda. She gave the children the benefit of the doubt, claiming that everything they did was unintentional. Whatever happened was "sad" and "unfortunate," she said. She advised the students to think about it as well.

The first period was a study period. Maddie tried to prepare her lessons, but she could not put her mind on her work. She had a very sick feeling in the bottom of her stomach. True, she had not enjoyed listening to Peggy ask Wanda how many dresses she had in her closet, but she had said nothing. She had stood by silently, and that was just as bad as what Peggy had done. Worse. She was a coward. At least Peggy hadn’t considered they were being mean but she, Maddie, had thought they were doing wrong. She could put herself in Wanda’s shoes.

Everyone began to reflect on what was written in the letter and how they each made Wanda feel. Maddie couldn't concentrate on her studies during their first period because she was sick from not stopping Peggy at the appropriate time. Things might have turned out differently if she had stopped Peggy from playing the dress-up game with Wanda. Although Maddie never teased Wanda, she did not stop Peggy from doing so, making her just as bad, if not worse. Peggy's intentions were never to hurt Wanda, and she had no idea that her game was hurting her feelings. Maddie, on the other hand, was aware of the impact, but she remained silent, making her a coward for not standing up to what is wrong.

Goodness! Wasn’t there anything she could do? If only she could tell Wanda she hadn’t meant to hurt her feelings. She turned around and stole a glance at Peggy, but Peggy did not look up. She seemed to be studying hard. Well, whether Peggy felt badly or not, she, Maddie, had to do something. She had to find Wanda Petronski. Maybe she had not yet moved away. Maybe Peggy would climb the Heights with her, and they would tell Wanda she had won the contest, that they thought she was smart and the hundred dresses were beautiful.

Maddie wished for a chance to apologise to Wanda, who was filled with guilt and regret. She looks at Peg, hoping she is thinking about Wanda as well, but she is busy studying. Regardless of what Peggy was thinking, Maddie made the decision to act. She hoped Wanda hadn't already moved away so she could apologise and thank her for her hundred dresses.

When school was dismissed in the afternoon, Peggy said, with pretended casualness, “Hey, let’s go and see if that kid has left town or not.” So Peggy had had the same idea! Maddie glowed. Peg was really all right. The two girls hurried out of the building, up the street toward Boggins Heights, the part of town that wore such a forbidding air on this kind of a November afternoon, drizzly, damp and dismal.

• Damp and dismal- wet and sad (here, expressing a state of hopelessness)
• Forbidding- Unfriendly or threatening in nature

That day, after school, Peggy asked Maddie if they could go check to see if Wanda had moved or not. Maddie was relieved to learn that they both intended to apologise to Wanda. They both hurried to Boggins Heights, Wanda's home, in order to find her. During this season, the area was generally wet, and the mood was depressing and hopeless.

“Well, at least,” said Peggy gruffly, “I never did call her a foreigner or make fun of her name. I never thought she had the sense to know we were making fun of her anyway. I thought she was too dumb. And gee, look how she can draw!” Maddie could say nothing. All she hoped was that they would find Wanda. She wanted to tell her that they were sorry they had picked on her, and how wonderful the whole school thought she was, and please, not to move away and everybody would be nice. She and Peggy would fight anybody who was not nice. The two girls hurried on. They hoped to get to the top of the hill before dark.

Peggy tries to console herself by saying that at least she didn't refer to her as a foreigner because she was an immigrant. She also didn't make her feel different because she had an unfamiliar name. She was always under the impression that Wanda had no idea those girls were mocking her. Above all, Wanda is a fantastic artist. Maddie, on the other hand, was speechless. What she hoped for was an opportunity to confess, make amends, appreciate her, and try to keep her from leaving. She even considered telling Wanda about her plan to protect her if anyone tried to bother her in any way. They hurried to get there before it got dark.

“I think that’s where the Petronskis live,” said Maddie, pointing to a little white house. Wisps of old grass stuck up here and there along the pathway like thin kittens. The house and its sparse little yard looked shabby but clean. It reminded Maddie of Wanda’s one dress, her faded blue cotton dress, shabby but clean. There was not a sign of life about the house. Peggy knocked firmly on the door, but there was no answer. She and Maddie went around to the back yard and knocked there. Still there was no answer.

They noticed a white little house up there and assumed it belonged to Wanda Petronski. Like Wanda's worn-out blue dress, the house and its surroundings were "shabby but clean." Along the path leading to the house, thin clumps of grass grew. They looked like skinny kittens. There was no one to be seen around the house. They knocked on both the front and back doors, but received no response.

There was no doubt about it. The Petronskis were gone. How could they ever make amends? They turned slowly and made their way back down the hill. “Well, anyway,” said Peggy, “she’s gone now, so what can we do? Besides, when I was asking her about all her dresses, she probably was getting good ideas for her drawings. She might not even have won the contest, otherwise.”

• (To) make amends- to show that one is sorry by doing something else

The Petronskis were gone, and with them, Maddie and Peggy's last chance to make amends. To console herself, Peggy began to say that Wanda must have looked for drawing inspiration only after she began her dress-up game. Wanda would not have won the drawing competition if she hadn't done so.

Maddie turned this idea carefully over in her head, for if there were anything in it she would not have to feel so badly. But that night she could not get to sleep. She thought about Wanda and her faded blue dress and the little house she had lived in. And she thought of the glowing picture those hundred dresses made — all lined up in the classroom. At last Maddie sat up in bed and pressed her forehead tight in her hands and really thought. This was the hardest thinking she had ever done. After a long, long time, she reached an important conclusion. She was never going to stand by and say nothing again.

Maddie also tried to persuade her after what Peggy said, saying that if this is the case, she shouldn't feel so bad. Later that night, however, she couldn't sleep because she kept thinking about Wanda's little house, her faded blue dress, both shabby but clean, and her glorious hundred dresses, which were all lined up in the classroom, rather than the "closet." Finally, she sat in her bed and began to think deeply, the most difficult thing she'd ever done. She clenched her fists around her brow, indicating that she was really trying to concentrate. She came to the conclusion after much and deep thought that she will always stand up to wrongs and will never say nothing when she has to.

If she ever heard anybody picking on someone because they were funny looking or because they had strange names, she’d speak up. Even if it meant losing Peggy’s friendship. She had no way of making things right with Wanda, but from now on she would never make anybody else that unhappy again.

• Picking on someone- criticising someone

She resolved that she would never allow anyone to make fun of others because of their appearance, name, clothing, or origin. She would not be afraid to speak out against Peggy, even if it meant losing her friend. She couldn't go back in time to make amends with Wanda, no matter how badly she wanted to, but she will never let another person feel embarrassed or unhappy again.

On Saturday Maddie spent the afternoon with Peggy. They were writing a letter to Wanda Petronski. It was just a friendly letter telling about the contest and telling Wanda she had won. They told her how pretty her drawings were. And they asked her if she liked where she was living and if she liked her new teacher. They had meant to say they were sorry, but it ended up with their just writing a friendly letter, the kind they would have written to any good friend, and they signed it with lots of X’s for love. They mailed the letter to Boggins Heights, writing ‘Please Forward’ on the envelope.

On Saturday, they sat down and decided to write a letter to Wanda, telling her about the contest and asking her where she is now and how she likes it there. No matter how much they wanted to apologise, they couldn't muster the courage to do so, so they ended up writing a friendly letter to Wanda as if she were a good friend. Because they didn't know her new address, they mailed it to Boggins Heights with the note 'Please forward.'

Days passed and there was no answer, but the letter did not come back, so maybe Wanda had received it. Perhaps she was so hurt and angry she was not going to answer. You could not blame her. Weeks went by and still Wanda did not answer. Peggy had begun to forget the whole business, and Maddie put herself to sleep at night making speeches about Wanda, defending her from great crowds of girls who were trying to tease her with, “How many dresses have you got?” And before Wanda could press her lips together in a tight line, the way she did before answering, Maddie would cry out, “Stop!” Then everybody would feel ashamed the way she used to feel.

Wanda did not respond, but they did not receive the letter back, so they concluded that it must have reached Wanda, but she was so upset that she did not respond. They waited for weeks and received no response. Peggy began to forget about the whole thing, whereas Maddie used to play out scenarios in her head before going to bed in which she defended Wanda. She imagined scenarios in which large groups of girls surrounded Wanda and asked her, "How many dresses do you have?" and as soon as anyone could say anything more, Wanda would interrupt and say "stop," making them all feel embarrassed.

Now it was Christmas time and there was snow on the ground. Christmas bells and a small tree decorated the classroom. On the last day of school before the holidays, the teacher showed the class a letter she had received that morning.

“You remember Wanda Petronski, the gifted little artist who won the drawing contest? Well, she has written me, and I am glad to know where she lives, because now I can send her medal. I want to read her letter to you.”

It was the winter season, and there was snow on the ground everywhere. Christmas had arrived. Their classrooms were decorated with bells and a small tree. Miss Mason informed the students that she had received a letter from Wanda Petronski that day. She is overjoyed to have received it because she can now send her the medal as well.

Dear Miss Mason,

How are you and Room Thirteen? Please tell the girls they can keep those hundred dresses, because in my new house I have a hundred new ones, all lined up in my closet. I’d like that girlPeggy to have the drawing of the green dress with the red trimming, and her friend Maddie to have the blue one. For Christmas, I miss that school and my new teacher does not equalise with you. Merry Christmas to you and everybody.

Yours truly,

Wanda Petronski

The letter started out in a very friendly tone. Wanda asked how everyone was doing and if they could keep her hundred dresses because she has another hundred dresses "lined up in her closet" in her new house. She specifically requested that Maddie and Peggy take her dress home with them. Peggy wore the green dress with red trimmings, while Maddie wore the blue one. She expressed her feelings for Miss Mason and wrote that her new teacher would never be able to replace her. She ended the letter by wishing everyone a Merry Christmas and mentioning how much she missed everyone in Room 13.

On the way home from school Maddie and Peggy held their drawings very carefully. All the houses had wreaths and holly in the windows. Outside the grocery store, hundreds of Christmas trees were stacked, and in the window, candy peppermint sticks and cornucopias of shiny transparent paper were strung. The air smelled like Christmas and light shining everywhere reflected different colours on the snow. “Boy!” said Peggy, “this shows she really likes us. It shows she got our letter and this is her way of saying that everything’s all right. And that’s that.” “I hope so,” said Maddie sadly. She felt sad because she knew she would never see the little tight-lipped Polish girl again and couldn’t ever really make things right between them.

• Cornucopias- decorative containers (usually containing flowers and fruits)
• Holly- a shrub having prickly dark green leaves, small white flowers, and red berries. It is used in Christmas decorations.

It was the Christmas season, and all of the houses were decked out. Christmas trees, candy peppermint sticks, and other Christmas items were available in grocery stores. The atmosphere was vibrant and upbeat. When Peggy realised that this gesture implied that Wanda liked the drawings, she and Maddie took them home with great care. They also assumed she received their letter and that everything was fine between them. Maddie, on the other hand, was heartbroken because she would never see that Polish, close-lipped girl again. She'd never have the opportunity to make amends.

She went home and she pinned her drawing over a torn place in the pink-flowered wallpaper in the bedroom. The shabby room came alive from the brilliancy of the colours. Maddie sat down on her bed and looked at the drawing. She had stood by and said nothing, but Wanda had been nice to her, anyway.

When Maddie got home, she hung her drawing on the part of the wall where her pink-flowered wallpaper had been slightly torn. Maddie's room was also shabby, but the drawing brought it to life. She kept staring at the drawing, remembering how nice Wanda had been to them.

Tears blurred her eyes and she gazed for a long time at the picture. Then hastily she rubbed her eyes and studied it intently. The colours in the dress were so vivid that she had scarcely noticed the face and head of the drawing. But it looked like her, Maddie! It really looked like her own mouth. Why it really looked like her own self! Wanda had really drawn this for her. Excitedly, she ran over to Peggy’s

Maddie's vision blurred as she stared at the drawing Wanda had given her. She rubbed her eyes and realised Wanda had drawn Maddie's face along with the dress. The dress's colours were so bright and vibrant that the face was barely visible. Maddie became enthralled and dashed over to Peggy to see if she had noticed it as well.

“Peg!” she said, “let me see your picture.” “What’s the matter?” asked Peggy, as they clattered up to her room where Wanda’s drawing was lying face down on the bed. Maddie carefully raised it. “Look! She drew you. That’s you!” she exclaimed. And the head and face of this picture did look like Peggy.

She asked for the picture as soon as she arrived at Peggy's house. On the bed, the drawing was turned upside down. Maddie raised her hand, and yes, that was Peggy in the drawing. Both were taken aback and amazed at the same time.

“What did I say!” said Peggy, “She must have really liked us, anyway.” “Yes, she must have,” agreed Maddie, and she blinked away the tears that came every time she thought of Wanda standing alone in that sunny spot in the school yard, looking stolidly over at the group of laughing girls after she had walked off, after she had said, “Sure, a hundred of them, all lined up.”

Peggy exclaims that she was correct in her assessment that Wanda liked them. Maddie, whose eyes welled up with tears every time she remembered Wanda looking at the girls laughing at her, agreed with Peggy.

About the Author

Eleanor Estes (May 1906 – July 15, 1988) was a children's author and librarian from the United States. Her novel, 'Ginger Pyre,' was awarded the Newfry Medal. Eleanor based the storey 'The Hundred Dresses' on her own real-life experience as the recipient of Peggy's hand-me-down dresses.