Home > Media > Books > E. B. White, Peter F. (AFT) Neumeyer, Edith Goodkind Rosenwald, Lessing J. Rosenwald Collection (Library of Congress) - Charlotte's Web: Student Packet Grades 3-4
E. B. White, Edith Goodkind Rosenwald, Lessing J. Rosenwald Collection (Library of Congress) - Charlotte's Web: Student Packet Grades 3-4
MagCentaur's Full Review: E. B. White, Peter F. (AFT) Neumeyer, Edith Goodki...
Plot: A runt pig, Wilber, must rely on the aid of a literate spider and other barnyard animals to help him survive into adulthood and beyond. As a runt, normal farming procedures dictate an early death at the hands of the farmer. With the help of Charlotte's webs and her wise counsel, Wilber matures into not only a protected pig, but a caring and selfless adult.
Theme: Ingenuity solves more problems than worry, fear, and inactivity. An overly dramatic Wilber learns, with the help of motherly Charlotte, that a plan is the best, and really the only, way to attack a serious problem. Rather than accept a terrible fate, Wilber discovers ways to enjoy his life and friends, instead of lamenting. His growth by this lesson helps him live up to the messages in Charlotte's web, and in the end, translates into his selfless act of saving the last part of Charlotte--her children, when their friendship threatens to come to conclusion with her death.
Literary Devices: Characters and style are the strong point in Charlotte's Web. E.B. White avoids a pitfall that many writers fall into with animal characters: though his animals do talk, their mannerisms reflect true animals, rather than succumb to trite, completely human traits. The way White describes (in actions, in dialog, and in narrative description) the characters' qualities is masterful. Though a static and secondary character, we know Templeton:
...both the goose and the gander were worried about Templeton. And with good reason. The rat had no morals, no conscience, no scruples, no consideration, no decency, no milk of human kindness, no compunctions, no higher feeling, no friendliness, no anything. He would kill a gosling if he could get away with it--the goose knew that. Everybody knew it. (46)
Personal Evaluation This book is good and recommended for children in the age group; it seems to be a staple of childhood reading, but I remember not enjoying it too much as a child; in fact, I found it to be boring. It is well written, and my dislike is truly nothing more than a personal distaste.
E. B. White, Garth Williams (Illustrator),Hardcover, English-language edition,Pages:192,Pub by HarperCollins Publishers on 05-09-2006More at Barnes & Noble.com
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