Ques: Where in the classroom does Wanda sit and why?
Answer: Wanda sat in the seat next to the last seat of the last row in Room Thirteen. Her seat was in the corner of the room where the rough boys who did not get good marks sat. It was also the place where feets scuffled, roars of laughter could be heard, and where the floor was dirtiest in the classroom.
Ques: Where does Wanda live? What kind of a place do you think it is?
Answer: Wanda lived at Boggins Heights. It appears that her place is far away from the school and there is a lot of dry mud in the area. IT reflects that it was not a very rich locality.
Ques: When and why do Peggy and Maddie notice Wanda’s absence?
Answer: Peggy and Maddie noticed Wanda’s absence after three days, i.e., on Wednesday. They finally noticed her absence when they got late for school because of Wanda. They waited for her in order to have some fun, but she did not turn up.
Ques: What do you think “to have fun with her” means?
Answer: In this context, ‘to have fun with her’ means that Peggy and Maddie would have made fun of Wanda and teased her for their own pleasure.
Ques: In what way was Wanda different from the other children?
Answer: Wanda was different from other children as she had no friends. She came to school alone and went home alone. She always wore a faded blue dress that did not fit her properly. Unlike other children, she kept quiet and did not talk to anyone.
Ques: Did Wanda have a hundred dresses? Why do you think she said she did?
Answer: Wanda did not have a hundred dresses because she was poor and wore the same faded dress to school every day The other children of her class used to make fun of her poverty, and would have laughed at her whatever excuse she would have made. Peer pressure and the want of acceptance by peers would have forced her to exaggerate everything.
Ques: Why is Maddie embarrassed by the questions Peggy asks Wanda? Is she also like Wanda, or is she different?
Answer: Maddie was embarrassed by the questions Peggy asked Wanda because she was poor too. She wore old clothes which were given by rich people. She did not feel sorry for Wanda. She was worried that just like Wanda people will mock her too. She was not as poor as Wanda. Yet she was afraid that the others might make fun of her too.
Ques: How is Wanda seen as different by the other girls? How do they treat her?
Answer: Wanda was different from other girls. She did not have any friends. She came to school alone and went home alone. She always wore a faded blue dress that did not fit her properly. Unlike others, she did not talk to anybody. The other girls teased her and mocked her. They would surround her, and Peggy would ask how many dresses she had. Wanda would reply that she had a hundred and they would continue teasing her. Then, they would let her go. Before she could go very far, they would burst into laughter. They kept asking her how many hats she had, or shoes, etc. All of them mocked her and made fun of her.
Ques: How does Wanda feel about the dresses game? Why does she say that she has a hundred dresses?
Answer: Wanda expressed an indifferent behavior towards the dresses game. It is most likely that she was deeply hurt. It could be one of the reasons why her family left the place and moved to the city. She claimed that she owned a hundred dresses maybe because she always wore one shabby dress to school and wished to have 100 dresses like rich kids.
Ques: 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?)
Answer: Maddie always stood by and never did anything as she was afraid that if she did, she would be the next target to be mocked. 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 text which show that Peggy’s friendship was important to Maddie are as follows.
(i) She was Peggy’s best friend, and Peggy was the best-liked girl in the whole room.
(ii) Peggy could not possibly do anything that was really wrong, she thought.
(iii) Oh, Maddie was sure Peggy would win.
Ques: What does Miss Mason think of Wanda’s drawings? What do the children think of them? How do you know?
Answer: Miss Mason said that Room Thirteen should be proud of Wanda as she had drawn one hundred beautiful and unique dress designs. She announced Wanda as the winner. She showed Wanda’s exquisite drawings to the entire class. The children also admired her drawings and admiringly whistled and clapped for her. Every Peggy appreciated her designs.
Ques: Why didn’t Maddie ask Peggie to stop teasing Wanda? What was she afraid of?
Answer: Maddie tried to tell Peggy to stop teasing Wanda by writing a note to her. She knew she would never have the courage to speak to Peggy about this matter. As she was writing the note, she pictured herself in the schoolyard as a new target for Peggy and the girls. She thought Peggy might ask her where she got the dress she had on and she would have to say that it was one of Peggy’s old ones.
Ques: Who did Maddie think would win the drawing contest? Why?
Answer: Maddie thought that Peggy would win the drawing contest because Peggy drew better than anyone else. She could copy a picture in a magazine, or some film star’s face so well that one could spot the difference.
Ques: Who won the drawing contest? What had the winner drawn?
Answer: Wanda won the drawing contest. She had drawn a hundred dresses, which were dazzling with colors, and had brilliant and lavish designs. They were all drawn on great sheets of wrapping paper. Each design was unique and beautiful. The judges said that any one of the drawings was worthy of winning the prize.
