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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. What does Charlotte do in the night at the Fair that she almost never does?

2. Which of the following is not a name Wilbur gives to one of Charlotte's children?

3. When will all the babies be born on the farm?

4. How does Charlotte describe the cousin in her second story?

5. What do most of Charlotte's children do after they hatch?

Short Essay Questions

1. What kind of lullaby does Charlotte sing to Wilbur?

2. After whose hour of triumph might this chapter be named, and why?

3. Why is life in the barn so good for Wilbur?

4. Why is Wilbur worrying during his first day at the Fair?

5. Does Wilbur act more like a child or an adult when it is time for him to go to sleep during his first night at the Fair?

6. What can readers tell about Charlotte's position in the barn from the meeting the animals have?

7. Why might Charlotte's children mean so much to Wilbur?

8. How is Fern's attitude toward the animals beginning to change during the time she spends at the Fair?

9. How are things on the farm changing as summer turns to fall?

10. How can readers tell at the end of Chapter 21 that Wilbur is starting to grow up a little?

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

Write an essay about the role cycles play in Charlotte's Web. Think about different kinds of cycles contained in the story, such as the span of time covered by the majority of the narrative (the cycle of a year) or the cycle that the life of each character follows.

Essay Topic 3

Write an essay examining mother-child relationships in this book, focusing on such relationships as Fern/Wilbur, Charlotte/Wilbur, Fern/Mrs. Arable, Charlotte/Charlotte's children, and the goose/the goslings. How are these relationships alike and different? How do some change over time? What does it mean to be a mother or a child in this book? Are motherhood and childhood different for humans than for animals?

(see the answer keys)

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