Assignment 1

After finishing CW, the students were asked to revise one of their reading responses on the book. Here is my example. It is based on the lesson on how to appreciate a text. First I chose my topic, collected evidence and examples from the text, then brainstormed possible theories/big ideas. I wrote a first draft, peer revised with two of my peers, then wrote a final draft and published it here.

The Wondrous Web

A spider’s web is a work of wonder. As is E.B. White’s book, Charlotte’s Web. Both are masterpieces, works of fine skill and beauty.

Charlotte’s web has a quiet beauty about it. In the beginning, it hangs in a corner practically unnoticed. In the illustration on page 36, Wilbur is looking eagerly up at the outstretched web, a web of beautiful symmetry and balance, while many other animals graze and wander on the grounds outside of the barn. In both the writing and illustration, the web is described very simply and casually, emphasizing that it is a typical component of the environment. Only Wilbur is paying attention to it. This simplicity and lack of over-embellishment is a deliberate and effective way to subtly weave the web into the story.

After this quiet introduction, White immediately connects the web to death, making Wilbur uncomfortable. A fly that came from his trough gets tangled in the web, and it beats “its wings furiously, trying to break loose and free itself.” As Charlotte wraps up and kills the fly, he watches in horror. Then she lists a variety of other insects she eats and goes on to share how good they taste: “Delicious. Of course I don’t really eat them, I drink them – drink their blood. I love blood.” (39). This blood and horror contrast greatly with the web’s delicate appearance and with Wilbur’s naïve and innocent reaction. Here, White creates the perfect balance of honest reality and humorous imagination.

As the story progresses, White allows both the characters in the book and the readers to value Charlotte and her web more and more. Chapter Nine begins:

A spider’s web is stronger than it looks. Although it is made of thin, delicate strands, the web is not easily broken. However, a web gets torn every day by the insects that kick around in it, and a spider must rebuild it when it gets full of holes (55).

This shows that there are many aspects of a web to appreciate: it is strong yet delicate, practical and necessary in that it is the livelihood of a spider, and it requires constant care and attention. Like the web, this book has many aspects to appreciate. It has so many layers of depth and skill. At first, it may be seen simply as an interesting, memorable story. But it is so much more. The writing, though seemingly delicate, is precise and tight. It is clear that White must have kept going back to the story to rebuild the holes. He, like Charlotte, must have dedicated so much time, patience, and hard work in creating and maintaining this web.

Charlotte’s web later moves from being an ordinary wonder to being a miracle that helps save Wilbur’s life. In Chapter Eleven, White poetically describes the web as being “truly a thing of beauty. This morning each thin strand was decorated with dozens of tiny beads of water. The web glistened in the light and made a pattern of loveliness and mystery, like a delicate veil… There, in the center of the web, neatly woven in block letters, was a message. It said: SOME PIG!” (77). This is followed by Charlotte weaving other words such as radiant and terrific into the web. All of these actions are seen as extraordinary in the eyes of the outsiders, the human spectators. And ironically, they believe it is the work of the pig, not the “common, grey spider.” Again, Charlotte and her web go unnoticed and underappreciated. Similarly, many people who read this book only think “this is some book” while others also think “E.B. White is some writer.” Both are true. The enjoyable journey of this story can make readers overlook the work, time, and skill that White put into creating it. Part of the beauty of this book is the humorous irony and the balance of the scientific/factual and fantastical wonders of the web.

When Mrs. Arable asks Dr. Dorian for advice concerning Fern’s strange behavior, Dr. Dorian responds,

I don’t understand how a spider learned to spin a web in the first place. When the words appeared, everyone said they were a miracle. But nobody pointed out that the web itself is a miracle… A young spider knows how to spin a web without any instructions from anybody. Don’t you regard that as a miracle? (109-110).

Here the author is blatantly telling the readers that a web is a miraculous aspect of nature to be appreciated, not necessarily understood. And just as he looks wondrously at a spider and a web, I took wondrously at the writing of this book.

Charlotte’s Web really is a miracle. It is a book with a memorable story, in-depth characters and conflicts, deep symbolism and complex layers of writing skill, a book that can be appreciated on many different levels from pure child-like fun to furious literary analysis. It is a book of perfect poise and symmetry where life and death are delicately intertwined, where human values of dedication and sacrifice are taught, where humor is balanced with sadness and loss.

Charlotte’s Web surely is some book. And E. B. White really is some writer.

It is no wonder that, even though it was written more than five decades ago, over ninety percent of my current students have read the book at least once and have Charlotte’s Web outstretched in a corner of their childhood experiences.