Class Notes

1. E. B. White

Elwyn Brooks "E. B." White (July 11, 1899 – October 1, 1985) was an American writer. He was a contributor to The New Yorker magazine and a co-author of the English language style guide The Elements of Style, which is commonly known as "Strunk & White". He also wrote books for children, including Stuart Little (1945), Charlotte's Web (1952), and The Trumpet of the Swan (1970). Charlotte's Web was voted the top children's novel in a 2012 survey of School Library Journal readers, an accomplishment repeated from earlier surveys.

In 1978, White won a special Pulitzer Prize citing "his letters, essays and the full body of his work". Other awards he received included a Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1963 and memberships in a variety of literary societies throughout the United States.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E._B._White

• Stuart Little

Stuart Little is a 1945 children's novel by E. B. White, his first book for children, and is widely recognized as a classic in children's literature. Stuart Little was illustrated by the subsequently award-winning artist Garth Williams, also his first work for children. It is a realistic fantasy about Stuart Little who, though born to human parents in New York City, ″looked very much like a mouse in every way″ (chapter I).

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stuart_Little

• Charlotte's Web

Charlotte's Web is a children's novel by American author E. B. White and illustrated by Garth Williams; it was published in October 15, 1952, by Harper & Brothers. The novel tells the story of a pig named Wilbur and his friendship with a barn spider named Charlotte. When Wilbur is in danger of being slaughtered by the farmer, Charlotte writes messages praising Wilbur (such as "Some Pig") in her web in order to persuade the farmer to let him live.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charlotte%27s_Web

• The Trumpet of the Swan

The Trumpet of the Swan is a children's novel by E.B. White published in 1970. It tells the story of Louis (pronounced "LOO-ee" by the author in the audiobook), a trumpeter swan born without a voice and trying to overcome it by learning to play a trumpet, always trying to impress a beautiful swan named Serena.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Trumpet_of_the_Swan

2. Pulitzer Prize

The Pulitzer Prize is an award for achievements in newspaper, magazine and online journalism, literature, and musical composition in the United States. It was established in 1917 by provisions in the will of American (Hungarian-born) Joseph Pulitzer who had made his fortune as a newspaper publisher, and is administered by Columbia University in New York City. Prizes are awarded yearly in twenty-one categories. In twenty of the categories, each winner receives a certificate and a US$10,000 cash award. The winner in the public service category of the journalism competition is awarded a gold medal.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pulitzer_Prize

3. Presidential Medal of Freedom

The Presidential Medal of Freedom is an award bestowed by the President of the United States and is—along with the comparable Congressional Gold Medal, bestowed by an act of U.S. Congress—the highest civilian award of the United States. It recognizes those individuals who have made "an especially meritorious contribution to the security or national interests of the United States, world peace, cultural or other significant public or private endeavors".The award is not limited to U.S. citizens and, while it is a civilian award, it can also be awarded to military personnel and worn on the uniform.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Presidential_Medal_of_Freedom

4. astro-

astro-: star

• astrology: the study of how the positions of the stars and movements of the planets have a supposed influence on events and on the lives and behavior of people
• astronomy: the scientific study of stars, planets, and other objects in outer space
• asterisk: a symbol * that is used in printed text especially to tell someone to read a note that can be found at the bottom of a page

* What's your sign? is a phrase used to ask about someone's astrological sign.

5. fair

(adj.)

• treating all equally
• reasonable/morally right
• quite large in amount
• likely to be correct
• light in color
• pleasant and not raining
• not bad but not very good
• beautiful

(n.)

• exhibition <a book fair>

A trade fair for the travel industry

6. WASP

White Anglo-Saxon Protestant (WASP) is an informal, sometimes disparaging term for a group of high-status and influential White Americans of English Protestant ancestry. The term applies to a group who control disproportionate financial, political and social power in the United States.

Scholars agree that the group's influence has waned since the end of World War II, with the growing influence of other ethnic groups.^[3] The term is also used in Australia and Canada for similar elites. The term is occasionally used by sociologists to include all Americans of Northern European ancestry regardless of their class or power.^[7] People rarely call themselves WASPs, except humorously.

7. Winnie-the-Pooh And The Royal Birthday

As Her Majesty The Queen celebrates her official 90th birthday, a very special bear is also celebrating 90 years.

This October we’re celebrating Winnie-the-Pooh’s 90th anniversary, which marks 90 years since his first arrival in the Hundred Acre Wood. With Her Majesty The Queen and Winnie-the-Pooh both celebrating 90 years, it only seems fitting that these two much-loved British icons should finally meet.

Step into the unforgettable journey of Pooh and his friends as they travel from the Hundred Acre Wood to London, to deliver their thoughtful 90th birthday presents to The Queen.

From riding on an open-top red bus, to taking in the sights including Trafalgar Square and Buckingham Palace, your family can enjoy Pooh’s latest adventure by downloading Winnie-the-Pooh and the Royal Birthday here.

http://inspired.disney.co.uk/winnie-the-pooh/winnie-the-pooh-and-the-royal-birthday/

8. Anne of Green Gables

Anne of Green Gables is a 1908 novel by Canadian author Lucy Maud Montgomery (published as L.M. Montgomery). Written for all ages, it has been considered a children's novel since the mid-twentieth century. It recounts the adventures of Anne Shirley, an 11-year-old orphan girl who is mistakenly sent to Matthew and Marilla Cuthbert, a middle-aged brother and sister who had intended to adopt a boy to help them on their farm in Prince Edward Island. The novel recounts how Anne makes her way with the Cuthberts, in school, and within the town.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anne_of_Green_Gables

https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E6%B8%85%E7%A7%80%E4%BD%B3%E4%BA%BA

*https://news.readmoo.com/2016/09/29/160929-children-books-online-free/

Charlotte's Web

Charlotte's Web—the best-selling children's paperback of all time—was described by its author as "a story of friendship and salvation on a farm." If you've already read the book, you know about the friendship that grows between Wilbur, a runty pig, and Charlotte, a heroic spider. But you may not know that the book's author, E. B. White, was himself a friend to animals.

Barnyard Smells

White researched every detail that went into his three books for children: Stuart Little (1945), Charlotte's Web (1952), and The Trumpet of the Swan (1970). For Charlotte's Web the research was close to home—at White's own farm in Maine.

As a result, the barnyard of Charlotte's Web seems real in every detail, and so do the habits of its animals. Despite Charlotte's sophisticated vocabulary, she is still a spider who traps flies in her web and sucks their blood. Likewise, though Wilbur expresses deep emotions, he is still a pig who likes to lie in the mud and breathe in the warm smell of manure.

Saving a Pig's Life

In Charlotte's Web, a spider saves a pig from slaughter. In real life, the author had tried to save a pig—and failed. A few years before Charlotte's Web, White wrote an essay about caring for a dying pig at his farm. Even though White had raised the pig to make bacon, at the end he found himself desperately trying to save the pig's life, "cast suddenly in the role of pig's friend and physician."

Although farm pigs are, in a sense, born to die—being destined for the butcher—White had always had mixed feelings about this fact of farm life. "One day when I was on my way to feed the pig, I began to feel sorry for the pig because, like most pigs, he was doomed," he recalled. "This made me sad. So I started thinking of ways to save a pig's life." Soon the story of Wilbur was born.

Inspired by Spiders

Charlotte A. Cavatica, the heroine of the book, was also born of observations in White's barn. "I had been watching a big, gray spider at work and was impressed by how clever she was at weaving," he remembered. But what would happen if a clever spider could weave not only webs, but words? Charlotte's Web explores this possibility.

The Life of the Imagination

In a letter to a young reader, White wrote:

"in real life, a spider doesn't spin words in her web . . . But real life is only one kind of life—there is also the life of the imagination. And although my stories are imaginary, I like to think that there is some truth in them, too—truth about the way people and animals feel and think and act."

http://www.factmonster.com/spot/charlottes-web.html

Charlotte's Web (2006)

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0413895/

Wilbur the pig is scared of the end of the season, because he knows that come that time, he will end up on the dinner table. He hatches a plan with Charlotte, a spider that lives in his pen, to ensure that this will never happen.

Quotes

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0413895/trivia?tab=qt&ref_=tt_trv_qu

Charlotte A. Cavatica: Oh, Wilbur... don't you know what you've already done? You made me your friend and in doing so, you made a spider beautiful to everyone in that barn.