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Charlotte's Web
Scouts · 1st–3rd
Mr. Arable sells Wilbur as soon as he is big enough. Is he being fair to Fern, or taking back what he gave her?
The tension Fern's happy days of feeding and walking Wilbur, against her father's firm word that a growing pig has to be sold.
Notice how happy the days with Wilbur are, and how plainly Mr. Arable ends them.
Fern feeds and cares for Wilbur every day, and he follows her everywhere. When Wilbur is five weeks old, Mr. Arable says he must be sold. Fern weeps, her mother suggests the Zuckermans, and Wilbur goes to live in the cellar of their barn.
Start with a day in Wilbur's life with Fern. Ask what Fern does for him and what he does for her.
Retell The student tells the chapter back in order: the feedings, the box under the apple tree, the doll carriage, the brook, and the sale.
Imitate the author After copying the passage, the student writes one sentence about something they love in the same pattern: loved something, and was never happier than when.
Debate Take sides on whether Mr. Arable is being fair to Fern. Each side must use one line from the chapter.
Purpose Close by asking why a story might show a happy time and then end it.
Easier Read the sale scene aloud together and talk through discussion questions 1 and 3 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 write a sentence Fern might say to her father about the sale, using what she has done for Wilbur.
1. Fern broke down and wept, but her father was firm about it. What do you think Mr. Arable was feeling at that moment?Character
What it asks It asks what is going on inside Mr. Arable when Fern cries, from the little the chapter tells us about him.
He is not much moved: he has made up his mind and gives reasons.
He's got to go, Fern
Mr. Arable was not willing to provide for him any longer.
He feels for her but sees no choice, so he helps her through the sale.
How much money should I ask for him?
Tell your Uncle Homer you've got a pig you'll sell for six dollars, and see what he says.
A strong answer The chapter does not say what he feels, so a strong answer works it out from what he does. He gives reasons and says Wilbur has got to go, which sounds firm. But he also answers Fern's question about the price and lets her do the selling, which could mean he feels for her. A strong answer picks a feeling and backs it with one thing he says and one thing he does.
2. Mr. Arable says, "You have had your fun raising a baby pig." Does he sound kind or unkind to you? What makes you think so?Tone
What it asks It asks how the words "your fun" sound: like a gentle reminder or like something that makes Fern's love seem small.
Unkind: he calls her care for Wilbur fun, as if it was only a game.
You have had your fun raising a baby pig, but Wilbur is not a baby any longer and he has got to be sold.
Kind enough: he reminds her that she did have her time with a baby pig, and tells her plainly.
He's got to go, Fern
Wilbur is not a baby any longer
A strong answer The word fun can sound small to someone who fed Wilbur every morning, noon and night, so it could sound unkind. But Mr. Arable also says plainly that Wilbur is not a baby any longer, which tells Fern the truth without a trick. A strong answer chooses kind or unkind and says how the words would land on Fern.
3. Mrs. Arable says Fern can walk down the road and visit Wilbur at the Zuckermans'. Does that make the sale easier for Fern? What makes you think so?Inference
What it asks It asks whether being able to visit really softens losing Wilbur, or only makes it sound better.
Yes: she can still see him, so she has not lost him.
you can walk down the road and visit him as often as you like
Not much: Wilbur will live somewhere else and Fern will no longer feed him herself.
Next day Wilbur was taken from his home under the apple tree and went to live in a manure pile in the cellar of Zuckerman's barn.
A strong answer Visiting helps, because Fern will see Wilbur whenever she likes and does not lose him altogether. But Fern warmed his milk, tucked him in and took him walking every day, and a visit is not the same as those things. A strong answer says what is kept, what is lost, and which feels bigger.
4. Mr. Arable has already sold Wilbur's ten brothers and sisters. Is it right to treat Wilbur like the others? Why or why not?Moral reasoning
What it asks It asks whether Wilbur should be treated the same as the other pigs, or whether Fern's care makes him different.
Yes: he is a spring pig like the others, and the family cannot keep every pig.
Wilbur was what farmers call a spring pig
He had already sold Wilbur's ten brothers and sisters.
No: Fern has raised Wilbur herself, so he is not just one of ten.
Fern loved Wilbur more than anything.
Every day was a happy day, and every night was peaceful.
A strong answer One answer is that Wilbur is a pig like the others, and a farmer sells pigs when they are big enough. The other is that Fern has fed and loved Wilbur every day, so he is not just one of ten. A strong answer picks a side, gives a reason from the chapter, and says what the other side would answer.
5. The author writes, "Every day was a happy day, and every night was peaceful." Why put that sentence just before the news that Wilbur must be sold?Author's choice
What it asks It asks what the happy sentence does to the reader just before the sale is announced.
It makes the sale hurt more, because we have just seen how happy they were.
Every day was a happy day, and every night was peaceful.
Fern broke down and wept.
It shows the happy time was always short, since Wilbur was only a baby for a while.
When he was five weeks old, Mr. Arable said he was now big enough to sell, and would have to be sold.
A strong answer The happy sentence sums up everything good about the days with Wilbur, and the next paragraph takes it away, so the sale hurts more. It can also show that the happy time had an end built into it, since Wilbur was only five weeks old. A strong answer says what the reader feels and how the order of the sentences makes the reader feel it.
1. Fern asks, "Won't he be cold at night?" Her father answers, "You watch and see." How does each of them care for Wilbur? Give two reasons.
What it asks It asks what the box and the question about the cold show about Fern's worry and her father's way of caring.
Fern cares by worrying and wanting to keep Wilbur warm herself.
Won't he be cold at night?
It relieved her mind to know that her baby would sleep covered up, and would stay warm.
Her father cares by building what Wilbur needs and trusting him to use it.
Mr. Arable fixed a small yard specially for Wilbur under an apple tree
You watch and see what he does.
A strong answer Fern cares by worrying: she asks if Wilbur will be cold and is relieved to learn he will stay warm. Mr. Arable cares by making a small yard and a box with a doorway, then letting Wilbur show what he can do. A strong answer says how the two ways differ and gives two pieces of evidence.
2. At the brook, Fern and Avery swim while Wilbur plays in the mud. What does this show about Fern's love for Wilbur? Give two reasons.
What it asks It asks what the day at the brook shows about the way Fern lets Wilbur be himself.
She loves him enough to take him everywhere and let him choose his own fun.
Wilbur tagged along at Fern's heels.
Wilbur amused himself in the mud along the edge of the brook
Wilbur's love for her is shown more than hers: he follows her even where he does not like the cold.
When she waded into the brook, Wilbur waded in with her.
He found the water quite cold - too cold for his liking.
A strong answer The brook shows that Wilbur follows Fern even into water he finds too cold, and that she lets him play in the warm mud while she swims. Together they show a pair who like being in the same place. A strong answer uses two pieces of evidence and says whether it shows Fern's love, Wilbur's, or both.
3. Wilbur is taken from his home under the apple tree to a manure pile in the cellar of Zuckerman's barn. What does this change show? Give two reasons.
What it asks It asks what the move from the apple tree to the manure pile tells us about how things change for Wilbur.
It shows Wilbur has lost the care Fern gave him.
Wilbur was taken from his home under the apple tree
Fern would wheel the carriage very slowly and smoothly so as not to wake her infants.
It is an ordinary farm sale: Wilbur is a spring pig and Uncle Homer sometimes raises a pig.
Wilbur was what farmers call a spring pig
Your Uncle Homer sometimes raises a pig.
A strong answer At the apple tree he had a box full of straw, a doorway cut for him, and Fern with his bottle. At the Zuckermans' he lives in a manure pile in the cellar of the barn. The move shows he has left a very gentle life, though the chapter also treats it as an ordinary farm sale. A strong answer gives two pieces of evidence and says what the change shows.