The Hundred Dresses

Fiction | Novella | Middle Grade | Published in 1944

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Summary

Background

Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Chapters 1-2

Chapters 3-4

Chapters 5-7

Character Analysis

Themes

Symbols & Motifs

Important Quotes

Essay Topics

Tools

Beta

Discussion Questions

Essay Topics

How do Peggy and Wanda operate as literary foils?

Which details in the opening chapters convey that Wanda’s family is impoverished?

Maddie is characterized as a kind and principled character despite her failure to intervene in Peggy’s bullying of Wanda. How is this characterization achieved?

What does Peggy and Maddie’s trip to Boggins Heights symbolize?

Which character does Estes use to represent herself as a child? How so?

What do Wanda’s drawings suggest about The Power of Imagination?

How does Maddie’s remorse teach her about The Importance of Respect and Kindness?

What do Wanda’s gifts to Peggy and Maddie symbolize?

Peggy is characterized as less kind and mature than Maddie. How is this characterization achieved?

10.

What does Jan Petronski’s letter to Room 13 reveal about the treatment of Polish immigrants to America during the early 20th century?