Q. 5. Give the character sketch of Anne highlighting her intelligence and talkativeness.
Or
Why did Mr. Keesing punish Anne? What was the punishment?
Ans : Anne was about thirteen year old girl living with her grandmother. She loved her very much and lighted a candle on her birthday. She decided to write a diary because she didn’t have any intimate friend, feeling that paper has more patience than people. She was a mature and intelligent girl. She made her maths teacher Mr. Keesing annoyed by non-stop talking. He asked her to write an essay on ‘A Chatter Box’ and then on ‘An Incorrigible Chatterbox, which she wrote justifying her habit. But she didn’t give up her habit of talking. Again the teacher gave an essay on ‘Quack,Quack,Quack’. She had a very good sense of humour. With her friend Sanne, she wrote a poem about father swan and three baby ducklings. The ducklings were bitten to death by the father because they quacked too much. The reply changed the teacher’s opinion about her and never assigned any extra homework to her as a punishment.
Q. 6. Give a Brief character-sketch of Wanda Peronski.
Ans : Wanda Petronski was a poor Polish girl. She joined an American school. She was different from other students. She was very calm and quiet girl. She wore the same blue dress everyday. She did not mind being made fun of by her classmates Peggy and Maddie. She did not have any true friend. She was a talented, creative and had a good aesthetic sense. She drew sketches of hundred dresses having different colours and design and won the girl’s medal in the art competition. This also proved her statement that she had hundred dresses all lined up in the closet.
Q. 7. Give a Brief character –Sketch of Peggy.
Ans : Peggy was a rich, pretty American girl. She was intelligent, good at studies and scored good marks. She loved fun and enjoyed teasing Wanda because of her faded blue dress. She kept asking her mockingly how many dresses she had. She took Wanda a dull-headed girl and could never realize how bad Wanda must be feeling about her teasing. She changed her opinion when Wanda won the girl’s medal in the drawing competition. She praised wholeheartedly Wanda’s drawings. She also visited Boggins Heights and wrote letters when Wanda stopped coming to school.
Q. 8. Give a brief character-sketch of Maddie.
Ans : Maddie was a kind and compassionate American girl. She joined other girls in teasing Wanda. But she really didn’t like teasing others. She wanted to stop Peggy from teasing Wanda. But she could not gather courage as she was afraid of Peggy. She feared Peggy could make her the next victim. She considered herself to be guiltier for remaining silent. When Wanda left the school, she felt very restless and could not sleep at night. She went to Wanda’s house to say sorry and decided not to remain silent if anybody was being teased for their poor dress or funny name. She would speak up. She was even ready to sacrifice her friendship with Peggy.
Q. 9. Give a brief character sketch of Lomov.
Ans : Lomov was a young, unmarried man of thirty five. He was anxious to get married as he had already reached a critical age. So he decided to propose a girl in the neighbourhood. Her name was Natalya, a girl of twenty-five years old. Lomov thought that she was a good housekeeper and was not bad looking. Further she was unmarried. Lomov was a funny character. He was suffering from palpitation. He behaved as if he were eccentric. He was so eager to marry Natalya. But when he came to propose to her, he started quarrelling over trifles. He quarreled on issues like Oxen Meadows and pet dogs named Squeezer and Guess. He even abused Natalya and her father Chubukov while quarreling.
Q. 10. Give a brief character sketch of Natalya.
Ans : Natalaya was a young unmarried girl of twenty five years. She lived in the neighbourhood of Lomov, a young unmarried man. She was an excellent housekeeper and was not bad looking. She was thirsting for love. Her father called her a lovesick cat. Lomov said that she was well educated, but she did not seem to be so. She was very quarrelsome and abusive by nature. She began a bitter quarrel with Lomov over a piece of land that had little value. She said that those meadows were not much worth to her but she could not stand unfairness. But when she learnt that Lomov had come to propose to her, she forgot all fairness and unfairness. She began to wail over the lost chance .She forced her father to call him back. But in no time, she started quarrelling with him again. It was on their dogs. Both claimed their respective dogs to be of a superior breed.
