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Charlotte’s Web
By Joseph Robinette
From the book by E.B. White
The Play
“People believe almost anything they
see in print.” Charlotte A. Cavatica
With this in mind, I’ll be brief and as
truthful as possible. Charlotte’s Web
begins when a young girl named Fern
rescues the runt of a pig litter from
her father’s axe. She calls the pig
Wilbur and cares for him until he is
big enough to be raised at her uncle’s
farm. At the Zuckerman farm he
meets many other animals and makes a
new friend, a beautiful gray spider
named Charlotte, who lives
in the eaves
above Wilbur’s
pen. When the
animals learn that Zuckerman is trying
to fatten Wilbur up for slaughter,
Charlotte hatches a plan to save her
friend. In the meantime we learn
about friendship, humility, injustice,
and self-sacrifice.
~ Derek Lane
The CTE production
This Production of Charlotte’s Web is
presented by Central Theatre Ensemble of Central Washington University.
It is directed by Professor Derek
Lane. Scenic design is by David Barnett and costume designs are by students Kari Glass and Connie Pyles.
Other members of the design and
management team are CWU Theatre
Arts majors Scott Fulp, sound designer; Lexie Blessing, lighting designer; and Mikki Kunz, stage manager.
Our cast and crew includes CWU students Christina Welch, Bride Schroe-
der-LaPlatney, Maggie Hilding, Bridget
Foley, Tina Perna, Elizabeth Eshinski,
Daniel Zertuche, and Isaiah Crowson.
Helping out with all aspects of tour is
Technical Director Kay Perisot.
While touring, a typical day will include
many challenges and exciting moments
for the company. The students days
will often start in the pre-dawn hours,
departing from Ellensburg. They arrive
at a location and load the set in, perform two shows, present workshops,
load the set out and either head back
to Ellensburg or on to the next town.
These Students will tour all over
Washington State for 7 weeks including stops in Olympia for a week of performances for the Olympia Junior Programs. Other stops include; Bremerton, Dayton, Connell, Mattawa, Richland, and many other communities
around the state.
Inside this Study
Guide:
About the authors 2
and illustrator
Character information
3
New Vocabulary
3
Activities for
before and after
4
Fun Spider Recipe
5
Resources
5
Supplementary
Materials
6
About E.B. White, Charlotte’s Web Author
“It is not often that someone
comes along who is a true friend
and a good writer. Charlotte was
both.” Wilbur
The Children’s Literature Association dubbed it “the best American
Children’s book of the past two
hundred years.”
And so was E. B. White. The story
of Charlotte’s Web was written by
Mr. White (1899-1985) who was
considered by some to be the finest essayist in the United States
after he published a collection of
essays entitled The Second Tree
from the Corner in 1954. Indeed,
for many years, he was a contributing editor to The New Yorker
magazine. However, White is better known for his children’s books.
He wrote Charlotte’s Web in
1952, and the book became one of
the most popular books of all time.
The book was inspired by a beautiful barn that White spotted while
aboard a yacht off the coast of
Maine. The year was 1933, and the
next day White and his wife
Katharine drove through the countryside to look for the barn. What
they found was a “For Sale” sign in
front of a house that happened to
be on the same property that the
barn was on. The next day they
bought the property, and it came
to pass that this farm and its inhabitants would inspire White’s
writings. One day White, who
loved animals, was
trying to
figure out a
way to save
one of his pigs from the slaughterhouse when he observed a
large gray spider near the barn.
He let his imagination take over
and the story was born.
Other books by E.B. White include
Stuart Little, and The Trumpet of
the Swan. We find that White
often brings animals to life in his
stories, using personification as a
means to communicate with a
younger audience.
~ Derek Lane
About Joseph Robinette, Playwright
Joseph Robinette is a professor
of theatre at Rowan University in
New Jersey. He is
the author of
more than 30 published plays and
musicals including
this adaptation of E.B. White’s
Charlotte’s Web along with a musical adaptation of the same book.
E.B. White praised Robinette’s
adaptation of his book, and after
seeing it for himself, he said, “I
was surprised and pleased at the
show. Never saw anything quite
like it.”
Robinette has adapted many other
favorites to the stage including
The Lion, the Witch and the
Wardrobe , The Paper Chase, and
A Rose for Emily.
About Garth Williams, Illustrator
Garth Williams Was born in New
York, a son of artists. At the age
of 10 his family moved to the
United Kingdom where he eventually studied architecture.
Williams spent a short time illustrating for The New Yorker but it
wasn’t until he was asked to illustrate for E.B. White’s book Stuart
Little that he found what he truly
loved.
Williams decided to stick with illustrating children’s books. He is
know for illustrating books like
The Little House on the Prairie
series and other books by Laura
Ingalls Wilder.
Of course, we remember Williams
for his beautiful illustrations of
Charlotte’s Web.
Page 2
Character Information
Fern Arable: Young daughter of John
and Martha. She rescues Wilbur from
being slaughtered and keeps him as
her pet.
Edith Zuckerman: Aunt to Fern and
Avery Arable. Wife of Homer. She
lives on the farm and helps to take
care of the chickens.
John Arable: Father of Fern and
Avery. Husband to Martha. John owns
the farm where
Wilbur was born.
Lurvy: A family friend and long time
employee of the Zuckerman’s. He
works on the farm and helps to take
care of Wilbur everyday.
Martha Arable:
Mother to Fern
and Avery. Wife
to John. She
helps tend to
the small animals on the farm and
takes care of her children.
Wilbur: Fern Arable's pig and good
friend. He was born the runt of a litter on the Arable’s farm and now lives
in the Zuckerman’s farm. He is also a
good friend to Charlotte the spider.
Avery Arable: Older brother to
Fern. Son of Martha and John. Avery
sometimes likes to pick on Fern.
Homer Zuckerman: Uncle to Fern and
Avery Arable. Homer owns a larger
farm that is the home of all of the
animals, including Wilbur and Charlotte.
Templeton: A rat that lives in the
Zuckerman’s
barn. He likes to
collect items that
he finds around
the farm. He also
helps Charlotte
by gathering
newspaper clippings so that she can spell out new
words for Wilbur each day.
Charlotte: A beautiful spider that
lives in the Zuckerman’s barn. She is a
good friend to Wilbur and tries her
best to keep him out of harms way.
She writes new words each day for
Wilbur in her web.
Goose, Gander,
Sheep, Lamb: Animals that live on
the Zuckerman’s
farm with Wilbur
and Charlotte.
Reporter and Photographer: People
from the newspaper The Weekly
Chronicle who visit the animals at the
Zuckerman’s farm. They come to see
the wonderful pig that the town is
taking about.
Uncle: A very large pig that Wilbur
meets at the county fair. Uncle is
competing for the same blue ribbon as
Wilbur. Uncle is confident that he will
win because he is the biggest pig at
the fair.
New and Fun Vocabulary
Runt: The smallest animal in
a litter.
Specimen: A sample from a
group.
Humble: Not proud.
Salutations: A greeting, like
Hello!
Conspiracy: A plot against
something or someone.
Terrific: Exciting, good.
Miraculous: Amazing event
that wasn’t expected.
Slops: Leftover food that is
used to feed Pigs.
Radiant: Glowing
Injustice: Not Fair.
Descend: To lower yourself
Page 3
Suggested Activities Prior to Seeing The Play
1. Charlotte’s Web is a live theatrical production. Discuss the ways
in which theatre differs from
television and film. How will different characters and settings be
created? How do you think they
will bring the animals to life?
2. Discuss the practice of proper
theatre etiquette.
3. If need be, discuss the cycles
of life and death. Younger audiences will enjoy the show more if
they are prepared for the events
that will take place.
4. Read the book in class or assign
reading at home
5. Try the attached word search.
6. Prepare the students with the
new and fun vocabulary that is in
this packet.
7. Research different animals that
may be on a farm.
What do they look
like? Can you guess
what they may feel
like? What sounds
do they make?
Suggested Activities for After Seeing The Play
1. Discuss what you have experienced. Was it “real” to you? Did
the play happen the way you
thought it would? Were the animals brought to life the way you
thought they would be?
2. If you read the book, discuss
how the play differs from the
book.
3. In the play, both Fern and
Charlotte help Wilbur. Can you
think of a time that you helped a
friend in a difficult situation?
What about a time that a friend
helped you?
4. Fern care’s for Wilbur and
raises him. If you could have any
pet in the world what would it be?
How might you care for that pet?
Draw a picture and share with the
class what your dream pet is.
5. Wilbur experiences a lot of different emotions in the play. Can
you remember one emotion that
Wilbur had? Write it down and try
to remember a time that you felt
the same way.
6. Do one of the attached Math
activities to integrate Charlotte’s
Web into your curriculum.
7. Make the Spider Cupcake recipe included in this study guide.
8. In the play, the animals are
personified, or given human traits.
Use the attached personification
exercise to find out what other
stories use personification.
9. Have the children draw a picture of their favorite scene from
the play. Ask them what they liked
best about it. Write letters to the
cast. You can mail them to:
Central
Theatre Ensemble
Plaza Theatrical
ATTN:
Charlotte’s Web
Attn: Charlotte’s
Web
400
E. University
Way
34 Forest
Avenue
Ellensburg,
Lynbrook,WA
NY98926-7460
11563
10. Create a county fair in your
classroom. Set up imaginary
booths and animal pens. Imagine
you are there and use your senses
to describe everything. Have you
been to a county fair? Is there
one in your county? What do you
remember smelling, seeing, hearing, tasting and feeling?
11. Read some of E.B. White’s
other children’s books.
Page 4
Spider Cupcakes
You’ll Need:
1 Package Chocolate Cake Mix
1 Pound Black Shoestring Licorice
1 can White Frosting
Cinnamon Red Hot Candies
Prepare cupcakes according to package
directions and let
cool
Cut licorice into 3 inch sections. Fros
t the cupcakes with
white frosting and insert the licorice
pieces into the sides
of the cupcakes, creating the legs. Use
Red Hot candies
for eyes.
Enjoy your spider creation!
Other Resources and Bibliography
Activities:
www.splashpublications.com
E.B. White information :
www.familyeducation.com
www.harperchildrens.com/authorintro/index.asp?auth
orid=10499
www.abcteach.com
http://falcon.jmu.edu/~ramsyil/white.htm
www.allrecipies.com
Joseph Robinette information:
www.dramaticpublishing.com/robinette.html
Garth Williams Information:
http://www.ricochetjeunes.org/eng/biblio/illus/williams.html