Charlotte's Web — Chapter 3

About This Passage

E.B. White stacks contradictory verbs in a single long sentence — run downhill and uphill, turn and twist while jumping and dancing — so that the grammar itself feels as overwhelming as the scene. Copying this passage lets a writer notice how a single well-built sentence can enact confusion without ever losing its shape. Three strong Tier 2 vocabulary words — dazed, hullabaloo, frightened — anchor the paragraph.

Narration Prompt

Retell Chapter 3 in order. Begin with the long barn description, move through Wilbur's boredom and the goose's temptation, and end with the chase, the pail of slops, and Wilbur's last thought as he falls asleep.

Discussion Questions

1. Wilbur's boredom at Zuckerman's is a sharp contrast to the happy weeks at the Arables'. What does E.B. White want the reader to feel by listing everything Wilbur has lost — "no walks, no rides, no swims" — right before the goose tempts him? How does this shape our sympathy for the escape?
2. The goose talks Wilbur into escaping with excited promises — orchards, gardens, radishes, the woods — but once Wilbur is free, her advice becomes contradictory and useless. How do you read the goose? Is she a friend, a troublemaker, a performer who loves an audience, or something else? Point to lines that support your reading.

+ 3 more questions in the complete study guide