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This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. What quality does Wanda's lone dress always exhibit?

2. In which classroom is the narrative set?

3. What emotion does Maddie feel when the school gong rings its first warning bell?

4. Who helps Mr. Heany with odd jobs before school each day?

5. The narrator states that no one had ever seen Wanda taking what action?

Short Essay Questions

1. What timeline is presented within the chapter entitled "Wanda" in regard to Wanda's absences?

2. What is Estes's purpose for introducing the detail about one girl's mother having bought her a new dress made out of Stuart plaid material?

3. How does Wanda demonstrate courage in the face of great fear on the day of the hundred dresses game's invention?

4. How does the sound motif appear within the chapter entitled "A Bright Blue Day"?

5. For what reason does Maddie go along with the bullying of Wanda even though she knows that it is wrong?

6. What is the significance of the illustration on page 31 that depicts Wanda and the other girls running away when the school gong rings?

7. Discuss the symbolism of Wanda's comment to Jake when she tells him, "I want to stay here" (24).

8. Discuss the significance of names within the narrative.

9. What is symbolized by the piece of broken mirror with which Maddie plays while listening to the girls talk about Cecile's dress?

10. What is the major element of their lives that Maddie and Wanda have in common?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

William Faulkner once famously claimed that the most important literature deals with the subject of the human heart in conflict with itself. Explain how the theme of Human versus Self is demonstrated within Estes’s story The Hundred Dresses. Create a decisive, arguable claim and prove it with quotes from the story.

Essay Topic 2

What is Estes's message regarding a particular shift in worldview that needs to occur for a particular group of people and why?

Essay Topic 3

What messages does Estes send to the audience about the themes of isolation and outreach?

(see the answer keys)

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