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Copywork
About This Passage
This is the hinge of the whole chapter. Fern answers her father's claim that a girl and a runty pig are two different things with four flat words, then names his plan with the heaviest word she knows: injustice. E.B. White never tells us Mr. Arable changes his mind — he shows a queer look crossing his face and tears that almost come. The writer lets a face do the talking, and one sentence later Wilbur's life is saved.
"I see no difference," replied Fern, still hanging on to the ax. "This is the most terrible case of injustice I ever heard of." A queer look came over John Arable's face. He seemed almost ready to cr...
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Discussion Questions
Narration Prompt
Retell this chapter in your own words, in order: begin with Fern's question about the ax at the breakfast table, keep the moment her father's face changes, and end with the name Fern whispers to herself on the bus.
Discussion Questions
- Mrs. Arable answers Fern's shriek by setting the pitcher of cream on the table and saying, 'Don't yell, Fern!' - the runt 'would probably die anyway.' Fern answers the same news by pushing a chair out of the way and running outdoors after the ax. Why does the ax stay ordinary farm business to Mrs. Arable while it becomes an emergency to Fern? Use each one's words and actions in the breakfast scene to explain what each of them is paying attention to.
- Fern's sobbing does not stop her father - he still says, 'A weakling makes trouble. Now run along!' But after she asks whether he would have killed her for being born very small, and then says, 'I see no difference,' a queer look comes over his face and he gives in. Why does her question reach him when her tears and her pulling on the ax could not? Use Mr. Arable's words and reactions in the ax scene to explain what her question makes him see about the runt.
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Vocabulary
Item 1
Cried out with a sudden, sharp scream; what Fern does the moment she understands what the ax is for.
Item 2
A person or animal without much strength; Mr. Arable says this kind of pig makes trouble on a farm.
Item 3
To hold back your own feelings or actions; Mr. Arable tells Fern she must learn to do this to herself.
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Critical Thinking
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