THE HUNDRED

DRESSES - 1

-El Bsor Ester

Created by:-
Arsheeta Dutta
Baruah
Hrishikesh Kalita
Shruti Sharma
Arunav Kalita
Jyotishman Bharali
Abhilekh Hati
 About The Polish-American Community

The First Polish immigrants arrived in America in 1608, but the

largest wave occurred in the twentieth century. The Polish
state did not exist at that time, so they were identified as
Russian Poles, German Poles and Austrian Poles. Chicago is
called the second largest ‘Polish’ city in the world, next only to
Warsaw, the capital of Poland. The Polish-Americans were
sometimes discriminated in the United States as were the Irish,
Italians, and Jews. But this discrimination is no more prevalent.
 About The Writer
Eleanor Ruth Roseland ,known as El Bsor Ester was
born
on 9th of May,1960 in West Haven, Connecticut. She
was an
American children’s author. In 1923,after
graduating from
West Haven high trained at the New Haven Free
Library
and became a children librarian there. Her best
known
frictional characters, the Moffats ,live in
Cranbury, Connecticut, which is Estes’ hometown
of West
INTRODUCTION

The lesson “The Hundred Dresses I” is about a girl named Wanda who
claims to have one hundred dresses. Her classmates made fun of her
because what she claims is in contradiction to the fact that she was
always seen wearing the same dress. Her classmates found her name
to be “funny”. It was because everyone had “easier” names than
‘Wanda Petronski’. Her name was different because she was a Polish
immigrant who had come to an American town with her family. She
was poor and did not have many friends. She was quiet and was
always seen sitting in the corner of the classroom. The truth about the
hundred dresses unveiled when she submitted her hundred drawings
in a drawing contest. They were the same hundred dresses she used
to
talk about. All of them were immensely beautiful.
In the story,  a young Polish girl named Wanda
Petronski goes to a school in an American town, in
Connecticut, where the other children see her as
"different" and mock her. She is a poor friendless girl.

Wanda always wears a faded blue dress to school.

But she claims to own one hundred dresses indeed,
all lined up in her closet at her worn-down house.
This, obviously a lie, becomes a game, as the girls in
her class tease her every day before school,
demanding she describe all of her dresses for them. 

Summary
 Peggy and Maddy are the two best friends
who tease her the most. They use to wait for
Wanda before school to make fun of her.
Peggy is the most popular girl in the school.
 Maddie , a poor girl herself, does not like
Peggy mock on Wanda. She pretends not to
care but does from within. She is reluctant to
speak up as she is afraid her friends would
start targeting on her.
 But Peggy is not really cruel. She protects
small children from bullies and loves animals.
She doesn’t really have a bad intent of
hurting Wanda but is curious to know why
Wanda lies about her dresses.
• The veil of truth is uncovered on the day of result
for the drawing competition in school. As soon as
the students enter, the class room surrounds with
a hundred fantasizing and illuminating dress
portraits each displaying a unique code of fashion.
It is surprisingly Wanda who wins the contest
showcasing her hidden talent and the vast extent
of her imagination.

• Unfortunately, Wanda tends to be absent in school

for a couple of days. Peggy and Maddy appreciate
her skills and feel very sorry about the mockery
they had instigated on their dear classmate.
CHARACTER SKETCHES

Wanda
Wanda Petronski belonged to a poor family and lived with
her brother and father. She was often teased by her friends in
school for wearing the same dress everyday even though she
would tell them that she had hundred dresses at home. She
was forgiving by nature and never protested even after
repeated teasing by her friends. She even tried to become
friends with Peggy and Maddie. She was immensely talented
and even own the drawing and color competition in school for
making the designs of hundred dresses on paper.
Peggy
Peggy was the most famous girl of the school
and she was very talented. In spite of teasing
Wanda often, she was not mean from heart.
After seeing Wanda’s drawings, she realized
that
Wanda was more talented than her. When
Wanda was leaving, Peggy was stuck with guilt.
She later learnt the lesson that bullying and
teasing others is not right.
Maddie
Maddie is the best friend of Peggy who was also
involved in teasing Wanda. She was extremely poor
and borrowed many dresses from Peggy which her
mother used to alter so that nobody in school could
remember seeing them before. Maddie was guilty
too for teasing Wanda and decided would never
tease anyone again.