Both jess and leslie have special needs, he for athletic recognition to appease a father disgusted by jesss true interest, art, and she for acceptance from a new school whose students regard her as alien. However, she soon gains the friendship of jesse aarons and, later, that of the bully janice avery, after learning of the girls abused background. Jesse the main character of bridge to terabithia is a likable character who has his fair share of highs and lows throughout the novel. Choose a scene or background that makes sense for the character. Bridge to terabithia character analysis course hero. Bridge to terabithia characters that include the bully and may belle the music teacher, mrs. In 1977 her third book, the master puppeteer, won the national book award in childrens literature. He also has a crush on his music teacher, miss edmunds, which plays an integral role in the final events of the story. And thats what drives him for the first several chapters of the book being the fastest and best runner. Bridge to terabithia is a middle grade classic american book. Leslie and jess become best friends, and the novel centers on. The first thing we learn about jess is his ambition to be the best runner of the fourth and. Learn exactly what happened in this chapter, scene, or section of bridge to terabithia and what it means. He is a very good runner and only lost to leslie in the school race.
Her age is never given directly, but we can guess that. They build a secret fantasyland across the creek in the woods, called terabithia, where they play all the time. He likes to draw and to run, and is kind of lonely. Bridge to terabithia characters from litcharts the creators of. Leslie has been exposed to books, ideas, and experiences a typical tenyearold would not be, because her parents are professional writers. Jimmy dicks, jimmy dicks is, presumably, a friend of. Whats amazing is how living and being inside terabithia allows characters like jess and leslie to take its magical properties with them into that other, seemingly boring, straightforward world. Myers dismisses the girls to the playground first, followed by the excited boys. He proves to be one resilient kid that readers cant.
More than anything, leslies defined by her imagination and sense of adventure. List of bridge to terabithia characters jess aarons in the beginning of the novel, is habitually fearful, angry and depressed. A competitive and athletic fifth grader who becomes insecure and defensive when he realizes that leslie burke is a better runner than all of the. As he runs, he thinks excitedly of the race coming up, and basks in the idea of winning and distinguishing himself in front of everyone. Bridge to terabithia chapters bridge to terabithia by katherine paterson summary and analysis. His new neighbor, leslie, teaches him about the beauty of the world through their friendship and their secret hideaway in the woods, terabithia. In the beginning of the novel he is angry and depressed due to his duties on the farm and the. Find related themes, quotes, symbols, characters, and more. Leslie burke is, alongside jesse aarons, the main character in the book bridge to terabithia. Jess is the principal character of bridge to terabithia. However, leslie burke, a new girl who earns the approval of teachers, ends up winning the race. He is lonely and lost in the middle of a family of four girls when leslie burke moves in next door. Jess and leslie are the protagonists, or main characters, of the novel. But while she often looks to jess to provide that friendship, for most of the book hes just not that interested, seeing her as a little squirt and preferring to go to terabithia with leslie.
Bridge to terabithia symbols, allegory and motifs gradesaver. Jess sees himself as a very ordinary boy, at least until leslie comes along. Wanda is another fifth grader and a snotty bully in her own way. The time they spend in terabithia, in fact, seems to. Bridge to terabithia is a realistic fiction set in present day, and since the novel was first published in 1977, present day is the midtolate seventies. The giant killers in katherine patersons bridge to terabithia. Bridge to terabithia is the story of jess, a boy whose life revolves around doing chores on the farm and becoming the fastest runner at school. Mapping bridge to terabithia characters storyboard that. They were the same character in the book, but scott hoager is a character made up in the movie. Jess watches the first few heats with anticipation, cheering when gary. Jesse oliver aarons, jr jesse is the novels viewpoint character.
Its something he can improve if he works really hard, that will make people proud of him, thats totally accepted in his society, and that. A rather unpromising beginning, but jess and leslie become fast friends. Definitions and examples of 6 literary terms and devices. Linebyline modern translations of every shakespeare play and poem. Wilma dean is in the seventh grade at lark creek elementary. Parents need to know that bridge to terabithia, by katherine paterson, won the 1978 newbery medal. She is talkative, bold, loyal, intelligent and has a vast imagination. In terabithia, this is translated in the form of a hairy vulture thats constantly squawking dead meat. The story is told through his eyes, though not in his voice, and thus we are given a deeper glimpse at his soul and motivations than those of anyone else in the book.
The new girl in town, leslie moves in next door to jess at the beginning of the novel. It was written by katherine paterson and was published in 1977 by thomas crowell. Jesse was extremely depressed before leslie burke, with whom he jointly. For more on how she affects his friendship dynamic with leslie, see the section character roles. Like leslie, miss edmunds is sorely out of place in lark creek. The plot and the actions of the other characters revolve around them, challenging them and helping them work through their fears.
Patersons fourth and most popular book, bridge to terabithia, was published in 1977 and won the 1978 john newbery medal. This crossword puzzle contains relevant quotations by the characters and narrator of bridge to terabithia. The bridge to terabithia characters covered include. She much more connected to judy and bill as she calls them in the book. Bridge to terabithia literature characters books2teach. Because there is no lunchroom at the lark creek school, everyone eats in silence at their desks, eagerly anticipating recess. Bridge to terabithia is a novel by katherine paterson, twice adapted to film, first as a 1985 madefortv movie for pbs, the second as a 2007 theatrical film produced by walden media jesse, the main character, is a young boy who lives in a small rural.
He pictures the amazement of his schoolmates and the admiration of his family. Thats right you have to be a pretty cool pooch to get your own character analysis on. The book opens with jess training to become his classrooms fastest runner. The school bully who was mean to may belle aarons which results in leslie and jesse getting back. I heard about this on laurens blog called northern plunder.
Jesse oliver aarons, jr is a fictional character in the book bridge to terabithia by katherine paterson. The bridge to terabithia quotes below are all either spoken by jess aarons or refer to jess aarons. The bridge to terabithia community note includes chapterbychapter summary and analysis, character list, theme list, historical context, author biography and quizzes written by community members like you. Bridge to terabithia character summary and analysis. That made me closer to the characters, in a greater way than the book had. To link to this bridge to terabithia important characters page, copy the following code to your site. The story has no real antagonist, so these two are there to give the audience someone to hate. Guy is another fifthgrader and, before leslie arrives in town, is one of jesss biggest running. Learn all about how the characters in bridge to terabithia such as jess and leslie contribute to the story and how they fit into the plot. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one. There they forget the rest of the world, such as the kids at school or jesss lessthansatisfactory family. Since then, paterson has written more than thirty books. A key word is left out of every clue, so students must use their knowledge of the book and their critical thinking skills to fill in the blank, thereby completing the quotation. Bridge to terabithia chapters 1 3 quiz bridge to terabithia chapters 4 5 summary bridge to terabithia chapters 6 9 summary bridge to terabithia summary bridge to terabithia quotes bridge to terabithia important characters bridge to terabithia quiz literature literature summaries.
Bridge to terabithia is a realistic fiction novel for children which was written by american author katherine paterson. Bridge to terabithia miss edmunds is the only person, before leslie, who ever encouraged jess to explore his true nature and to escape the mindless conformity of lark creek elementary, by nourishing his artistic talent and assuring him that he has a neat kid. She has twice won both the national book award and the american. Bridge to terabithia summary jess aarons lives in a small town called lark creek and has a hard family life. Select colors and a pose appropriate to story and character traits. He is played by julian coutts in the 1985 film and by josh hutcherson in the 2007 film. Perfect for acing essays, tests, and quizzes, as well as for writing lesson plans. Gary fulcher organizes fourth and fifth graders into groups of four to run in heats. Characters jess aarons jess is the principal character of bridge to terabithia. Bridge to terabithia is a work of childrens literature about two lonely children who create a magical forest kingdom in their imaginations.
Identify the major characters in bridge to terabithia and type their names into the different title boxes. Terabithia exists inside lark creek its brought to life within the bounds of the boring, the stifling, and the ordinary. Bridge to terabithia, katherine paterson bridge to terabithia is a work of childrens literature about two lonely children who create a magical forest kingdom in. Not to say that disney and david paterson got it all right. Choose a character to represent each of the literary characters. Bridge to terabithiakatherine paterson introductionprincipal workscriticismfurther readingfull name katherine womeldorf paterson chineseborn american essayist, critic, translator, and author of juvenile novels, picture books, young adult short stories, and young adult novels. Jesse is an artistic boy who is fearful of doing courageous things. Bridge to terabithia opens with his morning training run in the cow pasture.
Bridge to terabithia summary bridge to terabithia is a sensitive, emotionally honest novel about characters who rise above their weaknesses through emotional strength and generosity. Bridge to terabithia centers around fifth grader jesse jess aarons, an artistic but poor boy living on this familys farm with his parents and four sisters. Jesse was extremely depressed before leslie burke, with whom he jointly created the fictional kingdom of terabithia, comes into his life. Aarons, ellie, brenda, may belle aarons, joyce ann, miss edmunds, mr. Jess doesnt expect this person will be outsider girl leslie burke, but once they become friends, there is no stopping the transformative power of their relationship. A study guide to the characters in bridge to terabithia there are many different bridge to terabithia characters in the novel, both major and minor, some static and others dynamic, each with his or. It focuses on the sweet friendship of a tween boy and. Detailed analysis of characters in katherine patersons bridge to terabithia. Jess is a fifthgrader living in a rural southern area. Bridge to terabithia character summary and analysis brighthub. Jess aarons character analysis in bridge to terabithia. There was the change in the dynamic between leslie and her parents.
1318 30 1657 1538 1406 302 81 748 1320 1431 781 526 1324 290 798 1151 1180 795 100 1481 117 1576 255 1473 1482 368 1367 684 282 230 856 922 118