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Charlotte's Web
Scouts · 1st–3rd
Mr. Arable is sure a weakling makes trouble, yet he lets Fern keep the runt. What moves him: her argument, or her feeling?
The tension Her father's practical certainty that a runt is trouble, against Fern's cry that killing it is unfair.
Notice how Fern and her father look at the same small pig and see different things.
Fern sees her father heading for the hoghouse with an ax and learns the runt of the litter is to be killed. She runs after him and argues that it is unfair. Mr. Arable brings the runt home in a carton, Fern feeds it from a bottle, and on the school bus she names him Wilbur.
Start with Fern's first question about the ax. Ask what she learns and what she does next.
Retell The student tells the chapter back in order: the ax, the argument in the wet grass, the carton, Avery, and the school bus.
Imitate the author After copying the sentences, the student writes one sentence about someone saying something gently, using the same pattern: the name, said gently, and what was said.
Debate Take sides on what moved Mr. Arable: Fern's argument or Fern's feeling. Each side must use one line from the chapter.
Purpose Close by asking why a story might begin with a small animal in danger.
Easier Read the scene in the wet grass aloud together and talk through discussion questions 1 and 2 only.
On level Talk through all five discussion questions, then have the student answer one critical-thinking question aloud with two reasons from the chapter.
Harder Ask the student to say what Mr. Arable would answer to one of Fern's points, using his own words from the chapter.
1. Fern says the pig "couldn't help being born small." Is that a good reason to save it? What makes you think so?Moral reasoning
What it asks It asks whether being born small is a fair reason to save a pig, and how Fern's reason stands next to her father's.
Yes: the pig did not choose to be small, so it should not die for it.
The pig couldn't help being born small, could it?
If I had been very small at birth, would you have killed me?
Not quite: a weak pig may make trouble or die anyway, so the plan has a reason too.
A weakling makes trouble.
The pig would probably die anyway.
A strong answer Fern's reason is a good one in one way: the pig did not choose to be small, and she asks whether her father would have killed her if she had been very small at birth. Her father has a reason too: he says a weakling makes trouble. A strong answer takes a side and says what the other side would answer.
2. Mr. Arable says, "A weakling makes trouble." Was he being cruel, or sensible? What in the chapter makes you think so?Character
What it asks It asks whether Mr. Arable's plan comes from a hard heart or from knowing farm work.
Sensible: he knows pigs, and he stays gentle with Fern while he says no.
I know more about raising a litter of pigs than you do.
"Fern," he said gently, "you will have to learn to control yourself."
Hard: he would end a pig's life only because it is small.
A weakling makes trouble.
So your father has decided to do away with it.
A strong answer Both words can fit. He is sure of himself as a farmer: he says he knows more about raising pigs than Fern does and that a weakling makes trouble. But he speaks gently to her and looks at her with love. A strong answer picks a word, uses one thing he says and one thing he does, and says what the other word would miss.
3. Mr. Arable says, "A little girl is one thing, a little runty pig is another." Do you agree? Why or why not?Theme
What it asks It asks whether a small girl and a small pig are really different, as Mr. Arable says, or alike, as Fern says.
Different: a person is not a pig, and a farm treats animals by other rules.
A little girl is one thing, a little runty pig is another.
Certainly not
Alike: neither one chose to be small, and both can be loved.
I see no difference
The pig couldn't help being born small, could it?
A strong answer Mr. Arable has a point: a girl and a pig are not the same, and he says "Certainly not" when Fern asks if he would have killed her. But Fern's point is that neither one chose to be small. A strong answer decides what really matters, being a person or being small, and gives a reason.
4. Mr. Arable says, "may the good Lord forgive me for this foolishness." Does he sound sorry? What makes you think so?Inference
What it asks It asks whether his words show regret, a joke, or a little of both.
He is a bit sorry: he still thinks saving the runt is foolish.
And may the good Lord forgive me for this foolishness.
Then you'll see what trouble a pig can be.
He is half joking and fond: he teases Fern about it afterward.
Saved from an untimely death.
It just shows what can happen if a person gets out of bed promptly.
A strong answer He may be a little sorry. He still sees the pig as trouble, so he asks the good Lord to forgive his foolishness. But he also calls it a pig saved from an untimely death and jokes with Avery about early risers, which sounds fond. A strong answer notices he can feel both, and says which feeling seems stronger and why.
5. The story begins with Fern asking about an ax, before anyone mentions a pig. Why might the author start there?Author's choice
What it asks It asks why the author opens with an ax and a question instead of with the pig.
It gives a worry right away: something small may be killed.
Where's Papa going with that ax?
Do away with it?
It puts Fern first: we see who cares before we meet the pig.
Fern pushed a chair out of the way and ran outdoors.
This is a matter of life and death
A strong answer Starting with the ax gives the chapter a worry at once: something small may be killed, and Fern cares enough to run out after her father. By the time the pig appears in the carton, the reader already wants it saved. A strong answer says what the reader feels and how the order of events makes the reader feel it.
1. Avery calls the pig a "miserable thing." Fern says he is "absolutely perfect." Why do they see the same pig so differently? Give two reasons from the chapter.
What it asks It asks why Avery and Fern look at the same small pig and see such different things.
Avery sees only a tiny, weak animal; Fern already loves it.
You call that miserable thing a pig?
it's no bigger than a white rat
He's absolutely perfect.
Avery may only be teasing, since he soon asks for a pig of his own; the real difference is that Fern fought for this one.
Can I have a pig, too, Pop?
Fern couldn't take her eyes off the tiny pig.
A strong answer Avery looks at size: he says the pig is no bigger than a white rat. Fern looks at the pig she just saved and says he is absolutely perfect. She has run out in the wet grass and argued for his life, while Avery has only just walked in. Yet Avery asks for a pig too, so he may be teasing. A strong answer gives two pieces of evidence and a reason.
2. Mrs. Arable says the pig would probably die anyway, yet later she helps feed it. What does that show about her? Give two reasons from the chapter.
What it asks It asks what Mrs. Arable's change from "would probably die anyway" to helping with the bottle shows about her.
She is practical but soft-hearted: she gives way as soon as the pig is Fern's.
Put it on her chair!
Mrs. Arable found a baby's nursing bottle and a rubber nipple.
She is keeping the morning going: she cares about Fern's day as much as the pig.
"Run!" commanded Mrs. Arable, taking the pig from Fern and slipping a doughnut into her hand.
A strong answer Early on she says the pig would probably die anyway and agrees with Mr. Arable. Later she finds a nursing bottle, pours warm milk, and says, "Give him his breakfast!" That shows she is practical and also tender: she could accept the plan and then help once the pig was Fern's. A strong answer uses one early and one later moment and says what changed, or what stayed the same.
3. Fern answers "Wilbur" when the teacher asks the capital of Pennsylvania. What does that show about how she feels about her pig? Give two reasons.
What it asks It asks what Fern's answer in class shows about how much the pig fills her mind.
The pig fills her thoughts: she cannot think about anything else.
She was still thinking about the pig when the teacher said
"Wilbur," replied Fern, dreamily.
She is happy and proud, not only distracted: she feels lucky to have charge of him.
thinking what a blissful world it was and how lucky she was to have entire charge of a pig
selecting the most beautiful name she could think of
A strong answer Fern answers "Wilbur" dreamily because the pig is still in her mind. On the bus she thought what a blissful world it was and how lucky she was to have entire charge of a pig, and she named him with the most beautiful name she could think of. The answer is funny, but it shows how much he already matters to her. A strong answer gives two separate pieces of evidence.