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This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. Charlotte tells Wilbur that she does her best thinking when?

2. How does Templeton's rotten goose egg get broken?

3. Which of the following is not something that disturbs Wilbur when he is trying to sleep?

4. What is the first question Fern asks her mother in the book?

5. What does Charlotte say is the dirtiest trick she ever heard of?

Short Essay Questions

1. How do people react to Charlotte's first web?

2. What is the explosion mentioned in Chapter 10's title, and why is it important?

3. What sorts of things are most important to Fern at the beginning of the book?

4. What is the relationship like between Fern and the animals at the beginning of Chapter 8?

5. Why does Wilbur like Charlotte better and better each day?

6. Why does Uncle Homer agree to buy Wilbur?

7. Why might Wilbur feel particularly betrayed that John Arable is in on the "conspiracy" to kill him?

8. Why do you think Fern goes rigid on her stool one time while visiting with the barn animals?

9. What is most remarkable about Wilbur's daily routine?

10. How might you compare and contrast the goose and Charlotte's attitudes toward life and death?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

What is the relationship between the webs Charlotte weaves and the effect the words have on Wilbur? Consider issues such as why Charlotte chooses each word or phrase, how fitting she feels each is, how fitting Wilbur feels each is, and how Wilbur behaves after each web is woven and presented to an audience.

Essay Topic 2

One theme in Charlotte's Web is the idea that animals and humans depend on each other in various ways. Write an essay evaluating the different small and large ways the lives of the different characters are interconnected in a web of dependence. How are the animals and human dependent on one another? Are they always aware of this dependence? Do they teach each other any lessons?

Essay Topic 3

What lessons does Charlotte's Web teach about what it means to be a true friend? Consider issues such as how true friendships form, what true friends do for each other, and whether a true friendship might change its shape in various ways over time as the friends themselves change.

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