How is Wanda seen as different by the other girls? How do they treat her? you know?
Wanda is a polish girl who has settled in America with her parents. She lived in Boggin’s Height. She came to school in same blue faded dress everyday and her feet was always covered with the mud. Her last name is funny and difficult to pronounce for her classmates. Her appearance was not so perfect to be in a higher class so all the classmates made fun of her and teased her after the school hours. After being teased over her tolerance she claimed to have hundred dresses in her closet.
Why is Maddie embarrassed by the questions Peggy asks Wanda? Is she also like Wanda, or is she different?
How does Wanda feel about the dresses game? Why does she say that she has a hundred dresses?
Where does Wanda live? What kind of a place do you think it is?
Where in the classroom does Wanda sit and why?
Who did Maddie think would win the drawing contest? Why?
Who won the drawing contest? What had the winner drawn?
Did Wanda have a hundred dresses? Why do you think she said she did?
1. This is the bus (what kind of bus?). It goes to Agra. (use which or that)
2. I would like to buy (a) shirt (which shirt?). (The) shirt is in the shop window. (use which or that)
3. You must break your fast at a particular time (when?). You see the moon in the sky. (use when)
4. Find a word (what kind of word?). It begins with the letter Z. (use which or that)
5. Now find a person (what kind of person). His or her name begins with the letter Z. (use whose)
6. Then go to a place (what place?). There are no people whose name begins with Z in that place. (use where)
Why didn’t Maddie ask Peggie to stop teasing Wanda? What was she afraid of?
What does Miss Mason think of Wanda’s drawings? What do the children think of them? How do you know?
What was Valli’s favourite pastime?
What ‘experiment’ did Maxwell think Camusfearna would be suitable for?
What did Lencho hope for?
When her son dies, Kisa Gotami goes from house to house. What does she ask for? Does she get it? Why not?
Where did the ceremonies take place ? Can you name any public buildings in India that are made of sandstones?
What does Chubukov at first suspect that Lomov has come for? Is he sincere when he later says “And I’ve always loved you, my angel, as if you were my own son”? Find reasons for your answer from the play.
Why was the young seagull afraid to fly? Do you think all young birds are afraid to make their first flight, or are some birds more timid than others? Do you think a human baby also finds it a challenge to take its first steps?
Do you keep a diary? Given below under ‘A’ are some terms we use to describe a written record of personal experience. Can you match them with their descriptions under ‘B’? (You may
look up the terms in a dictionary if you wish.)
A B
(i) Journal – A book with a separate space or page for each day, in which you write down your and feelings or what has happened on that day
(ii) Diary – A full record of a journey, a period of time, or an event, written every day
(iii) Log – A record of a person’s own life and experiences (usually, a famous person)
(iv) Memoir(s) – A written record of events with times and dates, usually official
What was a source of unending joy for Valli? What was her strongest desire?
Why does he go to Basra? How long does he wait there, and why?
Who do you think helped the narrator to reach safely? Discuss this among yourselves and give reasons for your answer.
What does Valli tell the elderly man when he calls her a child?
How did Valli save up money for her first journey? Was it easy for her?
This play has been translated into English from the Russian original. Are there any expressions or ways of speaking that strike you as more Russian than English? For example, would an adult man be addressed by an older man as my darling or my treasure in an English play?
Read through the play carefully, and find expressions that you think are not used in contemporary English, and contrast these with idiomatic modern English expressions that also occur in the play.
What made the woman in the Control Centre look at the narrator strangely?
What kind of a person is Valli? To answer this question, pick out the following sentences from the text and fill in the blanks. The words you fill in are the clues to your answer.
“I’ll take the risk”. What is the risk? Why does the narrator take it?
Why does Valli stand up on the seat? What does she see now?
Have you ever had a similar experience, where your parents encouraged you to do something that you were too scared to try? Discuss this in pairs or groups.
Have you ever planned something entirely on your own, without taking grown- ups into your confidence? What did you plan, and how? Did you carry out your plan?