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The Wonderful Wizard of Oz Summary
L. Frank Baum

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The Wonderful Wizard of Oz Summary

Chapters One-Six

Dorothy lives on a small farm in Kansas with Aunt Em and Uncle Henry. When a cyclone hits, Dorothy and her dog, Toto, are carried away in the farmhouse. They land in a strange place where a good witch and tiny people called Munchkins greet them. Dorothy's house has landed on (and killed) the Wicked Witch of the East. Dorothy takes the Wicked Witch's charmed silver shoes, and the good witch gives her a protective kiss on her forehead so she can reach Oz safely. Dorothy hopes that the Wizard of Oz will be able to send her back to Kansas, so she sets off on the yellow brick road.

Soon, Dorothy and Toto meet the Scarecrow. He desperately wants a brain, so he accompanies them on their trip. Next, they meet the Tin Woodman, who tells his story of how he was once human and how he longs... View more of the The Wonderful Wizard of Oz Summary

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Project Gutenberg eBooks (1)

The Wonderful Wizard of Oz

34,927 words, approx. 117 pages

L. Frank Baum Chicago, April, 1900. The wonderful wizard of Oz 1. The Cyclone Dorothy lived in the midst of the great Kansas prairies, with Uncle Henry, who was a farmer, and Aunt Em, who was t... Read more

L. Frank Baum Biography (3)

L. Frank Baum

990 words, approx. 4 pages

L. Frank Baum (1856-1919) wrote 69 books beloved by children, including The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, which became a classic movie.Lyman Frank Baum was born on May 15, 1856, near Syracuse, New York. His... Read more

L. Frank Baum

5,305 words, approx. 18 pages

Like the Wizard in his most famous creation, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz--or as it was retitled in later editions: The Wizard of Oz--L. Frank Baum was a magic manipulator of appearance and reality. Bau... Read more

L(yman) Frank Baum

9,686 words, approx. 33 pages

In creating the Land of Oz, L. Frank Baum earned a special place in the history of juvenile literature. Children's books have just not been the same since Dorothy first went to the Emerald City. While... Read more

Essays & Analysis (16)

Critical Essay by Douglas Street

4,350 words, approx. 15 pages

In the following essay, Street discusses Baum's intent to create a uniquely American fairy-tale, distinct from the European tradition, in which a sense of reality was paramount, and then examin... Read more

Critical Essay by Todd S. Gilman

7,501 words, approx. 26 pages

In the following essay, Gilman addresses Dorothy's possible unconscious desires in the film version of The Wizard of Oz and the fact that in Baum's Oz books Dorothy's desire to le... Read more

Critical Essay by Richard Flynn

4,106 words, approx. 14 pages

In the following essay, Flynn examines the Oz books as a consumerist boom. … that which withers in the age of mechanical reproduction is the aura of the work of art. (Walter Benjamin, “... Read more

Critical Essay by Michael O. Riley

14,733 words, approx. 50 pages

In the following excerpt, Riley focuses on Baum's numerous Oz sequels. To have pleased you, to have interested you, to have won your friendship, and perhaps your love, through my stories, is to... Read more

Critical Essay by Tim Ziaukas

3,362 words, approx. 12 pages

In the following essay, Ziaukas interprets The Wonderful Wizard of Oz as propaganda for the gold and silver standard in United States economics at the turn of the twentieth century. “You shall ... Read more

Critical Essay by Douglas J. McReynolds and Barbara J. Lips

3,293 words, approx. 11 pages

In the following essay, McReynolds and Lips argue that Baum's The Wonderful Wizard of Oz is one of the few examples in American literature depicting a nontragic adventurous female protagonist, ... Read more

Critical Essay by Celia Catlett Anderson

5,876 words, approx. 20 pages

In the following essay, Anderson explores humor in Baum's Oz books. L. Frank Baum was a humorist. Most readers agree with Russel B. Nye that “Oz is a land of laughter” (164),1 but... Read more

Critical Essay by Jerry Griswold

5,876 words, approx. 20 pages

In the following essay, Griswold discusses parallels between Oz and the social state of America at the time Baum wrote his Oz books. “Is it real or is it a dream?” This question has been... Read more

Critical Essay by Stuart Culver

10,040 words, approx. 34 pages

In the following essay, Culver examines Baum's depiction of the emerging consumerist culture of his time in both The Wonderful Wizard of Oz and The Art of Decorating Dry Goods Windows, which Ba... Read more

Critical Essay by Edward W. Hudlin

8,065 words, approx. 27 pages

In the following essay, Hudlin analyzes The Wonderful Wizard of Oz in terms of the structure of Joseph Campbell's heroic myth. L. Frank Baum's masterpiece, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, ha... Read more

Critical Essay by Richard Tuerk

4,927 words, approx. 17 pages

In the following essay, Tuerk finds that, despite Baum's assertions that his book differed from the pattern of European fairy-tales, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz is in fact structured as a monomy... Read more

Critical Essay by Joel D. Chaston

5,108 words, approx. 18 pages

In the following essay, Chaston traces Baum's portrayal of the notion of “home” in his Oz books from the best possible place to a place of confinement and destruction. At the conc... Read more

Critical Essay by J. Karl Franson

10,666 words, approx. 36 pages

In the following essay, Franson discusses the possible influence of John Bunyan's allegory Pilgrim's Progress on Baum's writing of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. My interest in a pos... Read more

Wizard of Oz Questions

964 words, approx. 4 pages

Questions: 1. What did the Scarecrow need from the Wizard of Oz" a) clothes b) to be fireproof c) a brain- move ahead two spaces d) nothing; he just wanted to come along on the trip 2. What did ... Read more

A Very Organized and Detailed Analysis of "The Wizard of Oz"

1,121 words, approx. 4 pages

The Wizard of Oz is a classical 1930s film. The film is a wonderful, and sometimes scary, fantasy about a girl named Dorothy (Judy Garland) who is carried by a tornado from her Kansas home to the stra... Read more

The Wizard of Oz: A Character Analysis of Dorothy

588 words, approx. 2 pages

When you think about the Wizard of Oz, the first thing that you probably think about is the character Dorothy because she was the hero. Dorothy's home is in Kansas where she lives with Aunt Em and Unc... Read more

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