Literature Spot Black Beauty: study guide

LITERATURE SPOT Black Beauty

Black Beauty: a horse remembers his first home

Read the four sections first, then find the facts and the highlighted words.

Horse words, finding facts, and Anna Sewell

1 [of a horse] make a loud noise

2 a small carriage with two wheels pulled by one horse

3 [of a horse] run quickly

4 a small river

5 a temporary place to stay

6 [of a field] dug and turned over to prepare for planting seeds

7 a horse which is typically no older than four years old

8 [of a horse] made a soft noise

1 Black Beauty’s diet when he was very small

2 A type of plant which grows in the pond where Black Beauty lives

3 Black Beauty’s father’s reputation

4 Where the horses stayed during winter

5 What Black Beauty was called by the master

6 How Black Beauty’s mother expected him to walk

7 Black Beauty’s view of his mother

8 How Black Beauty’s mother felt about her master

1 Number of stories and poems that were published by Anna Sewell’s mother

2 Anna Sewell’s age when she was seriously injured ___

3 The year when Black Beauty was published

4 Anna Sewell’s age when she died ___

5 The year when Black Beauty was published in the US ___

6 The amount in British pounds that Anna Sewell was paid for her novel ___

1 Anna Sewell was raised in a family which frequently experienced ___ .

2 In her early teens, a serious accident left Anna Sewell unable to ___ .

3 Following the publication of Black Beauty, the cruel ‘bearing rein’ became unfashionable and ___ started to be used in its place.

4 Throughout the story, Black Beauty’s owners treat him with kindness and empathy, or cruelty. This demonstrates another of the book’s themes: ___ .

5 Due to Sewell’s illness, much of the writing for her novel was done by dictating the story to ___ .

6 In the US, Black Beauty was well-received and was instrumental in improving ___ regarding animal rights.

7 As well as a museum in the house where she was born, Anna Sewell is remembered in both the UK and the US with ___ which celebrate her life and influence.

2 What themes do you think are being introduced in this extract? Say why.

BLACK BEAUTY by Anna Sewell

Note

The extract, sections A–D A The first place that I can well remember was a large, pleasant meadow with a pond of clear water in it. Some shady trees leaned over it, and rushes and water lilies grew at the deep end. Over the hedge on one side, we looked into a ploughed field, and on the other we looked over a gate at our master’s house, which stood by the roadside; at the top of the meadow was a grove of fir trees, and at the bottom a running brook overhung by a steep bank. B While I was young, I lived upon my mother’s milk, as I could not eat grass. In the daytime I ran by her side, and at night I lay down close by her. When it was hot, we used to stand by the pond in the shade of the trees, and when it was cold, we had a nice warm shed near the grove. As soon as I was old enough to eat grass my mother used to go out to work in the daytime and come back in the evening. There were six young colts in the meadow besides me; they were older than I was; some were nearly as large as grown-up horses. I used to run with them and had great fun; we used to gallop all together round and round the field as hard as we could go. Sometimes we had rather rough play, for they would frequently bite and kick as well as gallop. C One day, when there was a good deal of kicking, my mother whinnied to me to come to her, and then she said: “I wish you to pay attention to what I am going to say to you. The colts who live here are very good colts, but they are cart-horse colts, and of course they have not learned manners. You have been well-bred and well-born; your father has a great name in these parts, and your grandfather won the cup two years at the Newmarket races; your grandmother had the sweetest temper of any horse I ever knew, and I think you have never seen me kick or bite. I hope you will grow up gentle and good and never learn bad ways; do your work with a good will, lift your feet up well when you trot, and never bite or kick even in play.” I have never forgotten my mother’s advice; I knew she was a wise old horse, and our master thought a great deal of her. Her name was Duchess, but he often called her Pet. D Our master was a good, kind man. He gave us good food, good lodging, and kind words; he spoke as kindly to us as he did to his little children. We were all fond of him, and my mother loved him very much. When she saw him at the gate she would neigh with joy and trot up to him. He would pat and stroke her and say, “Well, old Pet, and how is your little Darkie?” I was a dull black, so he called me Darkie; then he would give me a piece of bread, which was very good, and sometimes he brought a carrot for my mother. All the horses would come to him, but I think we were his favourites. My mother always took him to the town on a market day in a light gig.

CULTURAL GLOSSARY cart-horse – a working horse used to carry heavy loads

A cart-horse is a working horse used to carry heavy loads.

Literature Spot Black Beauty

The topic explained