The Hundred Dresses Part 3 Study Guide

What Happens in Part 3

On a bright, sunny blue morning, the girls gather around Wanda on the way to school and play the dresses game harder than ever. Led by Peggy, they ask again how many dresses she has, and Wanda answers that all one hundred are different colors, with sixty pairs of shoes to match. The girls giggle and press for more, more, more. Wanda stands stiff and straight, answering each question politely, her face still as stone. It is a beautiful day — but there is nothing beautiful in the game. Maddie, standing right at Peggy’s side, feels the fun curdle inside her. For the first time, she begins to see plainly that this is not a game at all. It is cruelty, and she is part of it.

What We Will Learn

Focus	What It Means
Conflict	A struggle in a story — here, the war inside Maddie’s own heart
Mood	The feeling a scene gives the reader — bright day, ugly game
Symbolism	When one thing stands for a bigger idea — the faded blue dress

Chapter Summary

Chapter	Key Events
Ch. 3 — A Bright Blue Day	On a beautiful sunny morning, the girls play the dresses game at its cruelest. Wanda politely insists her hundred dresses are all different colors, with sixty pairs of shoes. She hides her hurt behind a still face, while Maddie, watching, feels for the first time that the ‘game’ is truly cruel — and that she is part of it.

💭 Before You Read · Warm-Up (not scored)

There are no wrong answers here — just think, guess, and talk:

Why do you think people are sometimes braver about teasing in a group than when they are alone?
Wanda answers politely and keeps her face still. Why might someone hide their feelings when they are hurt?
Predict: Maddie is starting to feel the game is wrong. Do you think she will speak up? Why or why not?

Copyright Notice

This is an independent study guide created by Garden Heights Academy to support reading comprehension and literary analysis. It contains original analysis questions and does not reproduce any text from the novel. The Hundred Dresses is a work by Eleanor Estes. This guide is not affiliated with, authorized by, or endorsed by the author or any associated rights holder.

Part 1

Vocabulary

Study 10 key words from Chapter 3, then answer each question.

🧠Knowledge Bank · When a Game Turns Cruel

Psychology · How Teasing EscalatesTeasing rarely begins as open cruelty. Someone makes a remark, the group laughs, and the laugh acts as a reward, so the remark returns tomorrow a little sharper. Researchers call that pattern escalation, and they note it runs fastest when the behavior wears a friendly label. Calling something a game hands every player permission, because games are supposed to be fun and nobody inside a game is doing harm. The label also makes the pattern hard to break, since asking for it to end sounds like spoiling everyone’s morning. Repeated, aimed, and impossible for the target to escape, this is the behavior adults name bullying.

Visual AidHow a game turns cruel

Diagram for the Knowledge Bank on how teasing escalates. The four cards follow the pattern the Knowledge Bank describes, a remark, a laugh, the laugh working as a reward, and the remark returning sharper, and the dashed red arrow shows why researchers call it escalation: the loop runs again. The red card carries the Knowledge Bank’s point about the word game. It names no girl and quotes no remark. Notice that the loop has no exit drawn on it — that is what makes the label so hard to break.

Remark, laugh, reward and return as described in the Knowledge Bank. Drawn for Garden Heights Academy.

brightadj.Ch.3

Full of light; shining

“It was a bright, sunny blue day.”

crowdn.Ch.3

A large group gathered together

“A crowd of girls circled Wanda.”

gigglev.Ch.3

To laugh in a silly or nervous way

“The girls giggled at her answers.”

stiffadj.Ch.3

Held straight and rigid; not relaxed

“Wanda stood stiff and still.”

politeadj.Ch.3

Having good, kind manners

“She gave polite answers each time.”

shrugv.Ch.3

To raise your shoulders to show you do not care

“Peggy gave a careless shrug.”

mutterv.Ch.3

To speak in a low, unclear voice

“Maddie muttered under her breath.”

crueladj.Ch.3

Causing hurt on purpose; unkind

“The game had become cruel.”

describev.Ch.3

To tell what something is like

“Wanda described each dress’s color.”

blushv.Ch.3

To turn red in the face from feeling

“Maddie felt her cheeks blush.”

🧠Knowledge Bank question

1According to the Knowledge Bank, calling teasing a game ___.Ch.3

2To ‘giggle’ is to —Ch.3

3Fill in each blank with the correct word.Ch. 3

Word choices:crowddescribecruelpolite- some words will not be used

A large group gathered together is a .

To tell what a thing is like is to it.

4To stand ‘stiff’ is to stand —Ch.3

5A ‘polite’ person has rude, unkind manners.Ch.3

6To ‘shrug’ is to —Ch.3

7Fill in each blank with the correct word.Ch. 3

Word choices:mutterblushcruelbright- some words will not be used

To speak low and unclear is to .

To turn red in the face is to .

8A ‘cruel’ act is one that —Ch.3

9To ‘describe’ something is to —Ch.3

10To ‘blush’ is to turn pale and white with cold.Ch.3

Part 2

Comprehension

How well do you understand Chapter 3?

📚Knowledge Bank · Reading a Character’s Feelings

Reading Skill · Clues in BehaviorCharacters do not always state how they feel, and the important feeling in a scene is often the one somebody is working to hide. Trained readers watch behavior instead: the length of an answer, a face held very still, a body standing straighter than it needs to. Those signs are evidence, and they can contradict the words spoken over them. Watch how Wanda answers when the girls press her, and count how few words she spends. Then notice what she does not do, because refusing to cry can cost more than crying. Reading well means adding actions, silences and posture to speech before deciding what a person feels.

🧠Knowledge Bank question

1The Knowledge Bank says a face held very still and a straight back are ___.Ch.3

2What does Wanda say about the colors of her hundred dresses?Ch.3

3How many pairs of shoes does Wanda mention on this day?Ch.3

4How does Wanda answer the girls’ questions?Ch.3

5Write the numbers 1–5 in the boxes to show the order of events on the bright blue day. Number 1 = what happens first.Ch. 3

The girls crowd around Wanda and start the game.
The crowd giggles and presses her for more.
Maddie sees, at last, that the game is cruel.
Wanda calmly names her dresses and sixty pairs of shoes.
The morning dawns bright, sunny, and blue.

6Who leads the questioning on this day?Ch.3

7How does Maddie feel as the game goes on?Ch.3

8What does Maddie begin to realize on this day?Ch.3

9The teasing happens on a dark, stormy day.Ch.3

10Wanda shouts and cries when the girls tease her.Ch.3

Part 3

Literary Elements

Understanding HOW and WHY Eleanor Estes tells the story in Chapter 3.

🎭Knowledge Bank · A Bright Day for a Cruel Scene

Literary Craft · Mood by ContrastWriters often match weather to emotion, so storms accompany grief and sunshine accompanies joy. Estes does the opposite. She stages the harshest teasing inside a shining blue morning, and the mismatch is the point: cheerfulness makes cruelty stand out the way a stain stands out on white cloth. This is contrast, and it governs mood, the feeling a scene presses on the reader rather than the feeling any character reports. A second tool works underneath. When an ordinary object begins carrying an idea larger than itself, that is symbolism, and a plain dress worn daily can hold a family’s poverty and, at the same moment, a girl’s quiet dignity.

📚 Literary Devices in This Part · definitions & examples

Conflict is a struggle in a story (Maddie’s conscience against her loyalty to Peggy). Mood is the feeling a scene gives the reader (the bright day against the cruel game). Symbolism is when a thing stands for a bigger idea (the faded blue dress stands for Wanda’s poverty and quiet dignity).

🧠Knowledge Bank question

1According to the Knowledge Bank, Estes sets the harshest teasing on a bright morning so that ___.Ch.3

2Mood is the feeling a scene gives the reader.Ch.3

3Fill in each blank with the correct word.Ch. 3

Word choices:conflictmoodrhymeindex- some words will not be used

The war inside Maddie’s heart is her inner .

The uneasy feeling the scene gives us is its .

4Wanda’s faded blue dress standing for her poverty and dignity is an example of —Ch.3

5Symbolism is when one thing stands for a larger idea.Ch.3

6Fill in the blank with the correct word.Ch. 3

Word choices:moodrhymeplot- some words will not be used

The bright, uneasy feeling of this scene is its .

7Why set such a cruel game on such a bright, cheerful day?Ch.3

8The struggle inside Maddie’s own heart is best called —Ch.3

9Fill in the blank with the correct word.Ch. 3

Word choices:symbolismrhymeplot- some words will not be used

When a small object carries a bigger meaning, that is .

10Wanda’s single faded dress mainly stands for her —Ch.3

Part 4

Think Deeper

Four deeper challenges — no single-word recall. Read, weigh the evidence, and reason it through.

💭Knowledge Bank · How Cruelty Hides in a Crowd

Social Studies · Groups and ResponsibilityPeople behave differently in groups than they do alone, and not always better. When several children join in, responsibility feels cut into slices so small that no one carries a whole share; social scientists call this diffusion of responsibility. Two other things go wrong at the same moment. Each person checks the others for a signal, sees calm faces, and concludes the situation must be fine. Meanwhile the target’s stiff, polite silence gets misread as proof that she does not mind. The encouraging half of the same research is that groups swing fast, and one classmate naming the behavior out loud is often enough to make it stop.

A color 1970s photograph of a cluster of boys in a paved schoolyard, several laughing and looking the same way, with other children and cars behind them — Photograph by Jack Corn, taken in April 1974 for a government photography project, of boys at recess in the schoolyard at Chattaroy, West Virginia, several of them laughing and looking in the same direction. The *Knowledge Bank* explains that people behave differently in groups: responsibility feels cut into slices too small to carry, and each person checks the others’ faces for a signal about how to react. Watch how these boys are doing exactly that, reading one another. Nothing unkind is happening here; it is an ordinary, cheerful recess, and none of these children is in the story. Notice how the faces turn together — a group decides its mood in a glance.
Children at recess in the schoolyard at Chattaroy, West Virginia, April 1974; photograph by Jack Corn for the Documerica project, U.S. National Archives. Source: Wikimedia Commons, public domain.

1Claim: “Even under mockery, Wanda answers with a strange, steady dignity.” — choose the two details that best prove it.Claim & Evidence

2Shows Wanda’s dignity under mockery, or just a detail? Tap each item to sort it — tap again to switch sides. You can keep tapping to change your answer.Sort into two

◄ Wanda’s dignityJust a detail ►

3Match each cause to its result. For each cause, pick its result.Cause & Effect

The girls surround Wanda→

Peggy leads the teasing→

Wanda is pressed→

She answers steadily→

🧠Knowledge Bank question

4Fill both blanks to complete the reasoning.Build the Argument

The Knowledge Bank says that in a group, responsibility feels , yet groups swing fast, so .

Part 5

Standardized Test

Why Teasing Grows in a Crowd — SAT & TOEFL-style practice

Why Crowds Turn Cruel

Have you ever noticed that people can be crueler in a group than they would ever be alone? There is a reason for it. When many children laugh together at one person, the laughter acts like a reward, and the teasing grows a little bolder each time. In a crowd, no single person feels fully to blame, because the blame seems spread thin among them all. A quiet onlooker who says nothing is called a bystander, and bystanders often tell themselves that the teasing is not really their fault. But silence has a cost: it lets the cruelty go on. The one being teased may stand stiff and polite, hiding the hurt, and the crowd wrongly reads that calm as proof that nothing is wrong. The bravest thing a bystander can do is to feel responsible anyway, and to speak.

Original passage written for Garden Heights — not a quotation from the novel.

1According to the passage, what does the crowd’s laughter act like?TOEFL · Factual Information

2In a “crowd,” the passage means a —SAT · Words in Context

3Why does no single person feel fully to blame in a group?TOEFL · Factual Information

4A “bystander” is a person who —SAT · Words in Context

5What does the passage say silence costs?TOEFL · Factual Information

6Why does the crowd wrongly think nothing is wrong?TOEFL · Factual Information

7The one being teased stands stiff and polite, meaning ___.SAT · Words in Context

8According to the passage, what is the bravest thing a bystander can do?TOEFL · Factual Information

9What is the passage mainly about?TOEFL · Rhetorical Purpose

10This passage connects to Part 3 because Maddie is —TOEFL · Rhetorical Purpose

Part 6 · Optional

Creative Writing

A bonus challenge to practice your English. Take your time and have fun with it.

About This Section

This writing task is optional and is not part of your auto-graded score. The feedback below checks only the basics — length, spelling, and grammar — not whether your ideas are right or wrong. It is meant for classroom discussion and creative practice, so feel free to use your imagination!

Writing Task — Part 3 “What Maddie Should Say”

Maddie stands beside Peggy, watching the game turn cruel, and says nothing. Imagine you are Maddie on that bright morning. Write what you are thinking — and what you wish you were brave enough to say out loud to Peggy or to the crowd. Write at least 40 words.

You can start with: “Standing there in the sunshine, I wanted to say…”

0 / 40 words minimum

🗣 Teach It · Just for Fun (optional)

No right or wrong — close the screen and tell someone nearby why teasing gets worse in a crowd, and what a bystander can do about it. Can’t find anyone? Tell yourself out loud. The moment you teach it, you truly understand it.

Part 3 Complete!

You finished Chapter 3 of The Hundred Dresses.

Here are your auto-graded results:

-

points out of 100

Teach it to someone

The best last step is to teach it. In your own words, explain what happened — retell a favorite scene, teach a character’s big choice, or sum up the main idea for a parent, friend, or classmate. When you can teach it clearly, you truly own it.

Move on to Part 4 →

Independent study guide by Garden Heights Academy. Not affiliated with or endorsed by the author or any rights holders. Contains original analysis only; no text from the novel is reproduced.