Black Beauty

Use these essay questions as writing and critical thinking exercises for all levels of writers, and to build their literary analysis skills by requiring textual references throughout the essay.

Differentiation Suggestion: For English learners or struggling writers, strategies that work well include graphic organizers, sentence frames or starters, group work, or oral responses.

Scaffolded Essay Questions

Student Prompt: Write a short (1-3 paragraph) response using one of the below bulleted outlines. Cite details from the novel over the course of your response that serve as examples and support.

1. Explain how the novel shows the bearing rein to be harmful for horses.

• What harmful impacts does Sewell show the bearing rein to have on horses? (topic sentence)
• Identify 3 examples where horses talk about how the use of the bearing rein harms them, and use evidence from the text to support the harm they describe.
• In your concluding sentence or sentences, explain how these story details support Sewell’s goal of advocating for bearing reins to be abolished.

2. Explain how the novel depicts Black Beauty as a heroic protagonist, even though he is a horse.  

• What does Black Beauty do to make him a heroic figure? (topic sentence)
• Identify 3 situations where Black Beauty acts in a traditionally heroic way (for example, saving someone’s life), and use evidence to show that characters in the novel admire his heroic behavior.
• In your concluding sentence or sentences, explain how showing Black Beauty in a heroic light makes the plight of him and other suffering horses more sympathetic.

3. On page 154 of Chapter 40, Ginger says, “Men are strongest, and if they are cruel and have no feelings, there is nothing that we can do, but just bear it, bear it on and on to the end.” Explain how the author uses plot details to support the idea Ginger is expressing.

• What is the main idea Ginger conveys in this quote? (topic sentence)
• Explain 3 examples in the plot that support the idea Ginger is expressing.
• In your concluding sentence or sentences, show how the idea expressed in this quote becomes part of Sewell’s call for action and social change.

Full Essay Assignments

Student Prompt: Write a structured and well-developed essay. Include a thesis statement, at least 3 main points supported by text details, and a conclusion.

1. Consider John Manly’s speech on the devastating impacts of ignorance (Part 1, Chapter 19). How might this speech relate to the social problems Sewell criticizes throughout the novel (industrialization, urbanization, war, and alcohol abuse)? What current social problems might someone attribute to “ignorance,” and how do you think John Manly would respond to this claim?

2. Analyze Black Beauty as a book about The Importance of Intervening to Prevent Cruelty. Cite and analyze at least 3 examples where a character intervenes in an act of cruelty. Discuss what strategies a character uses when intervening and whether they are successful. Do you think in the modern era (in contrast to Victorian England) individuals are more or less likely to intervene to prevent cruelty? Under what circumstances would you personally intervene if you saw something harmful or cruel taking place?