Charlotte's Web by E.B. White Critique and Lesson Plans for Educators

 Whether you're an educator or a parent, a good critique analysis can be quite a useful guide in getting the most out of a book.  Here is a brief breakdown of E.B. White's classic, Charlotte's web, loved not only for its wonderment, but also for its layered messages and beautiful-coming-of age rendition.  Its qualities make Charlotte's Web a fine choice for a variety of age groups and developmental levels.  Chances are, this is one story that will be read more than once, for just those reasons.  One lesson plan idea is included at the end. 

 White, E.B.   Charlotte's Web.  Ill. Garth Williams.  New York: Harper Collins, 1980. 

Category: Animal Fantasy

Approximate Age Group:  Middle Elementary

 This book is a classic animal fantasy.  Wilber and the rest of the Zuckermans' farm animals have the ability to speak.  Their emotions are big, and they do their best to reason.

One of the main themes of this story concerns death, both physical (that of the wise and eloquent Charlotte), and metaphoric (that of a friendship between Fern and Wilbur, or one could say a loss of innocense to both).  Animal fantasies provide places and characters that ease the seriousness of issues such as this. 

White provides humor and a unique animation of the characters through dialogue.  The dialects here match the personalities of the animals.  For example, the goose has a wonderful stutter: "At-at-at the risk fo repeating myself..." 

in this story, the setting is both integral and backdrop and follows the moods and themes of the story.  Weather and seasons are of integral and metaphorical importance to the setting, even more so because Wilbur's story takes place over the span of a year, from spring to spring, from his birth to the birth of Charlotte's babies.  In the summer, there is life, and growth and friendships, and, "Dandelion stems are filled with milk." 

The point of view throughout the story is third person, a good choice for this particular story.  It allows the reader to experience this story from a more rounded view of the characters adn their actions, without the overpowering effect of an omniscient narrator or the one-sidedness of first person. 

Flat characters such as Charlotte, Templeton, and the other farm animals help give stability to the story and help us better see the changes and growth of our two rounded characters, Fern and Wilbur.  The chronological episodic plot also serves this purpose well, each capter following the episodes of Wilbur's life, and so that of Fern. 

The simple, straightforward plotline, and the full, animated use of dialogue, makes this a choice read-aloud book.  The end of each chapter provides a good transitional stopping point for when the story needs to be divided into more than one sitting.

Have the children write a journal entry as Wilbur to Charlottes babies, telling them what kind of a "spider" their mother was and what she meant to him.