The Dot – Class 5, SCERT

Questions

1. Who is the main character of the story?
   A: Vashti.
2. Where was Vashti sitting after class?
   A: On her chair.
3. What was blank in front of Vashti?
   A: Her paper.
4. What did the teacher ask Vashti to make?
   A: A mark.
5. What did the teacher call Vashti’s blank paper?
   A: A polar bear in a snowstorm.
6. What did Vashti say she could not do?
   A: Draw.
7. What did Vashti do with the marker?
   A: Jabbed the paper.
8. What did the teacher ask Vashti to do with the dot?
   A: Sign it.
9. What was framed above the teacher’s desk?
   A: Vashti’s dot.
10. What colour dot did Vashti paint first?
    A: Red.
11. What happened when blue and yellow mixed?
    A: They made green.
12. What did Vashti keep experimenting with?
    A: Little coloured dots.
13. Who admired Vashti’s artwork?
    A: A little boy.
14. What did the boy say about Vashti?
    A: She was a great artist.
15. What did the boy say he couldn’t draw?
    A: A straight line with a ruler.
16. Where were Vashti’s dots displayed?
    A: At the school art show.
17. What kind of dots did Vashti make at the show?
    A: Big dots.
18. How did Vashti make a dot without painting one?
    A: By leaving it blank.
19. What did Vashti hand the boy?
    A: A blank sheet of paper.
20. What did the boy’s pencil do while drawing?
    A: It shook.
21. What did the boy draw on the paper?
    A: A squiggle.
22. What did Vashti tell the boy to do with his line?
    A: Sign it.
23. How did Vashti feel after seeing her dot framed?
    A: Proud / Surprised.
24. What tools did Vashti use for painting dots?
    A: Water colours.
25. What colour dots did Vashti paint besides red?
    A: Purple, yellow, blue, green.
26. What did Vashti discover while mixing colours?
    A: New colours.
27. What did Vashti realise about herself?
    A: She could create art.
28. What was the main message the teacher gave Vashti?
    A: Just start and sign your work.
29. What did Vashti pass on to the little boy?
    A: Confidence to try.
30. What is the theme of the story?
    A: Creativity and self-belief.

Conversations

Vashti and Teacher (Beginning of the story)

• Teacher: Why are you sitting with a blank paper, Vashti?
• Vashti: Because I can’t draw.
• Teacher: Just make a mark and see where it takes you.
• Vashti: Really? That sounds silly.
• Teacher: Trust me, try it.

Vashti Makes Her First Dot

• Vashti: Fine! I’ll make something. [jabs the paper] There!
• Teacher: Hm. Very interesting.
• Vashti: It’s just a dot! Nothing special.
• Teacher: Sign it, Vashti.
• Vashti: Sign it? On a dot?
• Teacher: Yes, it’s your creation.

Vashti Sees Her Dot Framed

• Vashti: Wait! Is that… my dot on the wall?
• Teacher: Yes, it is. I framed it.
• Vashti: But it was only a little dot.
• Teacher: A little dot can start something big.
• Vashti: Maybe I can draw after all.

Vashti with the Little Boy

• Boy: You’re a great artist, Vashti.
• Vashti: Thank you. Do you like my dots?
• Boy: I wish I could draw like you.
• Vashti: I bet you can.
• Boy: No, I can’t even draw a straight line!

Vashti Encourages the Boy

• Vashti: Here, take this paper. Show me what you can do.
• Boy: [draws a shaky line] It’s just a squiggle.
• Vashti: That’s fine. It’s your work.
• Boy: But it looks silly.
• Vashti: Not at all. Now sign it!

Textual Analysis

Here is the story of a young girl who believed that she could not draw pictures. Do you think she can draw? Let’s see.

• The art class was over, but Vashti sat glued to her chair. Her paper was blank. Her teacher smiled. “Just make a mark and see where it takes you.”
• Vashti’s teacher leaned over the blank paper. “Ah! A polar bear in a snow – storm!” she said.
• “Very funny! I just can’t draw!” Said Vashti. Vashti grabbed a marker and gave the paper a good, strong jab. “There!”
• Her teacher picked up the paper and studied it carefully. “Hm.” She pushed the paper towards Vashti and quietly said. “Now sign it.”
• The next week, Vashti walked into the art class. She was surprised to see what was hanging above her teacher’s desk. It was the little dot she had drawn – HER DOT! All framed in swirly gold!
• Vashti thought for a moment. ‘Well, maybe I can’t draw. But I can sign my name.’
• “Hmh! I can make a better dot than that!” She opened her set of water colours and set to work. Vashti painted and painted. A red dot. A purple dot. A yellow dot. A blue dot. The blue mixed with the yellow. She discovered that she could make a green dot. Vashti kept experimenting with lots of little dots in many colours.
• Vashti noticed a little boy gazing up at her. “You’re really a great artist. I wish I could draw,” he said.
• “I bet you can,” said Vashti.
• “Me? No. Not I. I can’t even draw a straight line with a ruler.”
• At the school art show a few weeks later, Vashti’s dots made quite a splash. If I can make little dots, I can make BIG dots, too. Vashti splashed her colours with a bigger brush on a bigger paper to make bigger dots. Vashti even made a dot by not painting a dot.
• Vashti smiled. She handed the boy a blank sheet of paper. “Show me.”
• The boy’s pencil shook as he drew his line. Vashti stared at the boy’s squiggle. And then she said…. “Sign it.”