CHARLOTTE’S WEB BY: E.B WHITE

BACKGROUND Wilbur is a pig who is the smallest piglet born in the litter. When Mr. Arable wants to kill Wilbur, Fern stops him and takes care of Wilbur. When Wilbur is big enough, he is sold to Fern’s uncle and Fern visits Wilbur every day. Wilbur makes friends with many animals at the farm and his favorite friend is Charlotte. Charlotte is a spider who loves Wilbur and will do anything to help him.

CHARACTERS Fern: A young girl who has a passion for animals. She has a motherly nature and a big heart. Avery: Fern’s brother who is very active. He loves to play and joke around. Mr. Arable: Fern’s father who is a stern man set in his ways. Mrs. Arable: Fern’s mother who always looks out for her family. Wilbur: A pig who is honest and loves making friends.

CHARACTERS (CONTINUED) Mr. Zuckerman: Fern’s uncle who lives down the road. He owns a farm and has many animals. Mrs. Zuckerman: Fern’s aunt who is kind and honest. Charlotte: A spider who is true to her word and befriends Wilbur. Templeton: A rat that lives at the Zuckerman’s barn. He is sneaky and arrogant. Lurvy: A worker at Zuckerman’s farm. He is active and hard-working.

SETTING Arable house: The home of Mr. and Mrs. Arable, Fern, and Avery. Wilbur lives her for the first weeks of his life. Zuckerman Farm: Wilbur’s new home filled with many animals. A large, comfortable barn that Wilbur learns to love.

CHARLOTTE’S WEB VOCABULARY Injustice - Unfair, not right, not just Runt - An animal that is smaller compared to other animals in the litter Charitable - Generous, giving to others Jubilee - Rejoicing, a celebration, a party Conspiracy - A plan formed by two or more people in secret Radiant - Shining with light Spectators - Audience members, people watching an event Genuine - Honest, real seen easily

VOCABULARY (CONTINUED) Prominent - Standing out so as to be seen easily Whence - From where Supernatural - Dealing with magic, ghosts, monsters, or unexplainable things Trifle - Small, unimportant Humble - Not proud or arrogant, modest in spirit or manner Gorge - To eat a lot, to eat greedily Adjourned - The end of a meeting

CHAPTER 1: BEFORE BREAKFAST Fern is getting ready to eat breakfast when she learns that her father is going to kill a baby pig. Fern becomes very upset and she runs outside to stop her father from hurting the pig. Fern’s father, Mr. Arable, listens to Fern and decides not to kill the pig. He allows Fern to keep the pig as a pet and Fern is delighted. Fern feeds her pig with warm milk and uses a baby bottle. Fern treats the pig like he is her child. Fern decides to name her new pig Wilbur.

CHAPTER 2: WILBUR Fern is in love with Wilbur and she enjoys taking care of him. She feeds him, plays with him, and tucks him into bed at night. When Wilbur get older, he is moved from living in the kitchen to living outdoors. Wilbur’s new home is a wooden box filled with straw. Wilbur follows Fern everywhere and he loves to be around her. Sometimes Wilbur would even sit in Fern’s doll stroller! After five weeks, Mr. Arable tells Fern that Wilbur has to be sold. Fern is upset, but she obeys her father and sells Wilbur to her Aunt Edith and Uncle Homer. Wilbur will now live at Zuckerman’s barn, which is down the road from where Fern lives.

CHAPTER 3: ESCAPE The barn at Zuckerman’s farm is big, old, smelly, and warm. Wilbur lives in a pigpen in the basement of the barn. Fern visits the barn almost every day to see Wilbur. She’s not allowed to let Wilbur out, but she is just happy being with Wilbur. One day, Fern didn’t come to visit Wilbur. Wilbur felt trapped, but then the goose told Wilbur how to escape. Wilbur pushed against a wooden board and left his pen. Mrs. Zuckerman noticed Wilbur out of his pen and yelled to Mr. Zuckerman. The Zuckerman’s dog chased Wilbur, and Mr. Zuckerman ends up using food to make Wilbur return to his pen.

CHAPTER 4: LONELINESS Wilbur is having a horrible day because the rainy weather is ruining his plans. No one will play with Wilbur, and Wilbur feels lonely. Wilbur hears a voice that says “do you want a friend Wilbur?”. At first, Wilbur doesn’t know where the voice came from, and the voice tells him that he will see it in the morning.

CHAPTER 5: CHARLOTTE When Wilbur woke up the next morning, he looked everywhere for his friend. After awhile, Wilbur hears the voice again, this time it says “salutations!”. Wilbur looks up to see a large grey spider sitting in a spider web. Wilbur learns that the spider’s name is Charlotte. Wilbur and Charlotte talk to each other and soon become friends.

CHAPTER 6: SUMMER DAYS Summer has started and the goose eggs hatched. Templeton the rat takes one of the dud goose eggs. Charlotte congratulates the goose and shows Wilbur the baby goslings. Wilbur has fun learning about animals that are different than him.

CHAPTER 7: BAD NEWS Wilbur has been growing and gaining a lot of weight. The old sheep tells Wilbur that the Zuckerman’s are fattening Wilbur up so they can kill him. Wilbur cries when he hears that he will die, but Charlotte tells Wilbur that she is going to save him. Wilbur calms down and he believes that Charlotte can help him.

CHAPTER 8: A TALK AT HOME Fern tells her parents about all of the animals at the barn. Fern talks about the goslings, and Charlotte’s speeches to Wilbur. Fern’s parent’s worry about Fern, and they think that she is lying about the animals talking. Mrs. Arable says she is going to call Dr. Dorian and tell him about Fern’s behavior.

CHAPTER 9: WILBUR’S BOAST Wilbur and Charlotte compare the differences in their legs. Charlotte’s legs have seven sections and are hairy. Wilbur’s legs are shorter and wider. Wilbur asks Templeton for a piece of string so he can try to spin a web. Wilbur fails, because he is a pig and it is impossible for him to spin a web. Charlotte comforts Wilbur, and tells him again that she won’t let anyone hurt him. Charlotte says she is working on a plan to help Wilbur.

CHAPTER 10: AN EXPLOSION Charlotte keeps trying to think of ideas how to save Wilbur’s life. Charlotte decides that she will try to trick Mr. Zuckerman to save Wilbur. Fern and Avery play on the farm an Avery catches a frog. Avery then sees Charlotte and want to capture her. Avery climbs on Wilbur’s pen but then falls down before he can catch Charlotte. Avery broke the dud gosling egg when he fell. The barn smelled of rotten eggs and the animals all complained. Charlotte spins all night in her web, working very hard on something unknown.

CHAPTER 11: THE MIRACLE When Lurvy, a barn worker, enters the barn in the morning, he notices Charlotte’s web. In the web, the words “SOME PIG!” are written in the woven strands. Lurvy shows Mr. Zuckerman the web and they both are surprised. Mr. Zuckerman believes the words are a sign that Wilbur is no ordinary pig. Mr. Zuckerman told the minister at the church about the writing in the web. Soon the whole town knew about Wilbur and the words in Charlotte’s web. Charlotte’s plan had worked and everyone in town was amazed with Wilbur.

CHAPTER 12: A MEETING Charlotte calls a meeting with all of the animals in the barn. Charlotte asks the animals if they have any ideas of what to write in the web. The animals ask Templeton to bring magazine clippings from the dump so Charlotte can weave new words into her web. Templeton agrees to help Wilbur because he enjoys eating Wilbur’s leftover food.

CHAPTER 13: GOOD PROGRESS Charlotte writes the word “TERRIFIC” into her web. Lurvy sees the web and runs to tell the Zuckerman’s about the new word. Mr. Zuckerman decides he will take Wilbur to the state fair and call him Zuckerman’s famous pig. Templeton continues to bring Charlotte labels and can with words on them. Charlotte decides that she will spin “RADIANT” into her web.

CHAPTER 14: DR. DORIAN Mrs. Arable is still worried about Fern and she wants her to play with other children instead of the animals. Mrs. Arable drives over to Dr. Dorian and explains Fern’s behavior to him. Dr. Dorian says that Fern just loves animals and might grow out of the phase. Mrs. Arable feels calmer knowing that nothing is wrong with Fern.

CHAPTER 15: THE CRICKETS Summer has ended and Wilbur is still popular at the farm. Wilbur has kept his kind and modest personality even though he is famous. Wilbur begs Charlotte to come with him to the county fair. Charlotte says that she can’t go because she has to lay eggs. Wilbur is sad that Charlotte won’t come, but Charlotte tells Wilbur that she will come if she has not laid her eggs.

CHAPTER 16: OFF TO THE FAIR Wilbur has a cage for the fair and it says “ZUCKERMAN’S FAMOUS PIG”. Mrs. Zuckerman gives Wilbur a buttermilk bath to make him look pretty. Charlotte and Templeton decide to go to the fair with Wilbur. Wilbur hears a comment that he will make good bacon when he is killed. Wilbur faints and Mr. Zuckerman has to throw buttermilk on Wilbur to wake him up. The Zuckerman’s, Turvy, and the Arable’s head off to the fair!

CHAPTER 17: UNCLE Mr. Arable gives Fern and Avery money to spend at the fair. Fern and Avery are delighted and they run off to explore the fair. Wilbur is placed in a new pigpen at the fair, and many people come to see Wilbur. Wilbur asks Charlotte if she is going to write more words in her web. Charlotte tells Wilbur that she is tired and won’t spin anymore words. Wilbur is worried about Charlotte and starts to wonder if she is sick.

CHAPTER 18: THE COOL OF THE EVENING Charlotte asks Templeton to bring her another word and tells him this is the last word she will weave. Fern rides the Ferris wheel with Henry Fussy and Mrs. Arable is happy that Fern is spending time with her friend. Charlotte writes the word “HUMBLE” in her web. Charlotte tells Wilbur she is making a masterpiece for herself and she will show it to Wilbur in the morning.

CHAPTER 19: THE EGG SAC Charlotte has laid her egg sac and explains to Wilbur that it is the finest thing she has ever made. Charlotte tells Wilbur that she has counted the eggs and there are 514 eggs. Wilbur is excited for Charlotte’s new children, but Charlotte is sad. Charlotte will not live to see her children because spiders die shortly after they lay eggs. Wilbur does not win first prize at the fair for the best pig.

CHAPTER 20: THE HOUR OF TRIUMPH Wilbur is called to a special judging ring by the fair announcer. Mr. Zuckerman is awarded $25 and Wilbur is given a bronze medal. Wilbur faints from the huge crowd and Templeton bites Wilbur’s tail to wake him up. Mr. Zuckerman places the bronze medal around Wilbur’s neck. Turvy takes a picture of Wilbur with his medal.

CHAPTER 21: LAST DAY After the award ceremony, Charlotte tells Wilbur that he will live and nothing will hurt him. Wilbur thanks Charlotte for her webs and asks her if she is excited to return to the barn. Charlotte says that she won’t come back to the barn. Wilbur panics and can’t imagine a life without Charlotte. Then, he decides that he will take Charlotte’s egg sac with him to the barn. Templeton removes the egg sac and gives it to Wilbur. Wilbur leaves the fair with Mr. Zuckerman to return home. Charlotte is left alone at the fair, and dies.

CHAPTER 22: A WARM WIND Wilbur finds a safe corner to leave Charlotte’s egg sac. All of the farm animals congratulate Wilbur and welcome him home. Autumn passes, then winter comes. Ever since the fair, Wilbur has watched over Charlotte’s egg sac with care. Charlotte’s eggs are the most important thing in the world to Wilbur. Spring arrives, and baby spiders start to break out of the egg sac. All but three of the spiders leave the barn and Wilbur has three new friends to love.

THEMES IN CHARLOTTE’S WEB

Friendship is the most important theme in the novel. Without friends to help him, Wilbur would have died. - Fern cared for Wilbur when he was a baby and visited him every day at the farm. - Charlotte spun words in her web to trick Mr. Zuckerman into thinking that Wilbur was special. Friendship

Wilbur is born in the spring, and the spring symbolizes Wilbur’s life. Charlotte dies in autumn, and this symbolizes the decrease of life in the autumn and winter. Wilbur’s loneliest day is on a rainy day. The weather symbolizes Wilbur’s feelings. Nature

Life and Death Wilbur faces death more than one time during the novel. -Fern saved Wilbur when her father tried to kill him with an axe. -Charlotte wrote words in her spider web to force Mr. Zuckerman not to kill Wilbur. -Charlotte dies after she lays her egg sac. -Charlotte’s children break out of the egg sac and continue Charlotte’s life.

When Wilbur’s life is at risk, Charlotte tries to help Wilbur by writing words that describe Wilbur, adjectives, in her web. She writes the words “Some Pig”, “Terrific”, “Radiant” and “Humble.” These words all describe what kind of pig Wilbur is, he is some terrific, radiant, humble pig! Now, let’s describe the characters in the story using adjectives!

ADJECTIVES TO DESCRIBE EACH CHARACTER Fern: caring, innocent, gentle, lively, creative Avery: hyper, rude, silly, impulsive, playful Mr. Arable: strict, logical, calm, supporting Mrs. Arable: sensible, generous, maternal, sympathetic Mr. Zuckerman: confident, serious, fussy, forceful

CHARACTER ADJECTIVES (CONTINUED) Mrs. Zuckerman: thoughtful, friendly, comforting Turvy: strong, athletic, curious Wilbur: shy, modest, happy, trustworthy Charlotte: kind, clever, loyal, skillful, protective Templeton: selfish, adventurous, sneaky, stubborn

HOPE YOU ENJOYED THE STORY!!