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BLACK BEAUTY by ANNA SEWELL

WRITER’S BIOGRAPHY Born into a religious Quaker family. Mostly educated at home. First attended school only at 12. Slipped and severely injured both her ankles. Sadly, never truly recovered and became

lame. Moved around in crutches and horse-drawn carriages. Contributed to her love for horses and the humane treatment of horses.

Black Beauty was Anna Sewell’s only

novel. Written mostly when she was sick. Sold to the publishers for only 40 pounds. Broke publishing records and became the 6th bestseller of that time. Unfortunately, Anna died 5 months after that of hepatitis. Black Beauty is now a children’s classic though it was originally

Chapter 13 of Black Beauty sums up

Anna’s hopes beautifully: "There is no religion without love, and people may talk as much as they like about their religion, but if it does not teach them to be good and kind to other animals as well as humans, it is all a sham."

BACKGROUND Set during the Victorian era (1837-

1901). The reformation of the social classes in England. The different social classes are portrayed in the novel. The improved economic status of the middle class enabled them to afford horses.

Not only did horses provide a

means of transportation but very often they were used as labour for a variety of purposes. As brute labour, they were taken for granted, beaten and abused. Anna Sewell attacked all

SETTING Basically, only two kinds of

setting: *Town *Countryside One which holds good memories One which holds bad memories

CHARACTERS

THEMES Mistreatment of animals

The horses in the story represent different forms of mistreatment; deliberate cruelty, cruelty in the name of fashion, and cruelty committed in ignorance. Evidence of abuse that causes pain and suffering for horses is

Sewell shows us that mean-tempered horses are not born but are caused by cruel treatment. Example: Ginger is bad-tempered largely because of the mistreatment she suffers when young, while Black Beauty is goodtempered largely because he enjoys good treatment when young. And even Ginger. with all her problems, eventually quiets down during her time at Birtwick Hall, because of the calming effect of the humane

Upright Behaviour

Black Beauty is not only about the proper treatment of horse, but also about the proper behaviour of humans in general. The lessons given by Duchess to Beauty, by the coachman John and the cab driver Jerry among others, are purposely placed in the novel for the edification of the reader.

These lessons include: Duchess teaching that one should always do one’s best and work hard; (ii) John explaining the value of following an example of kindness by doing the same for others. (iii) Jerry demonstrating integrity, helping others in need, and establishing the family as a priority. Others, such as Squire (i)

VALUES  Love animals and treat them well – Animals are

God’s creatures as well, therefore, humans need to love and treat them humanely. Always give your best – Black Beauty always does her best to serve her masters, regardless of whether they are good or bad masters.   Be hardworking and go the extra mile – When Mrs. Gordon falls sick and requires a doctor, Black Beauty rides in the rain despite her tiredness in order to bring the doctor to Mrs. Gordon.    

Be gentle and good – Duchess advises

Black Beauty to be gentle and good always. Be a good friend to others – Black Beauty is a good friend to Ginger. Speak up when we see cruelty towards animals – The kind gentleman reprimands the cab driver who beat his horse. Do not abuse animals in the name of fashion and beauty – The lady of Earlshall Park insists on checkreins for Black Beauty though he is in pain so that

ACTIVITY 1 – FIND & IDENTIFY ME  AIMS

Students are able to identify the different characters in the novel.    MATERIALS Paper, Blu tack    STEPS 1. Write down clues about a particular character on strips of paper and number them. Eg: (a) She was proud of her son’s breeding and advised him to behave well at all times. (Refer to appendix for a list of clues) 2. Stick the clues at various places in the classroom. 3. Divide students into small groups and instruct them to move about freely in the classroom to look for clues which are hidden. 4. The first group to locate all hidden clues and write down the correct answers is the winner.  

LET’S DISCUSS/EXPLORE

1. Ask students if they have read other stories where the main character is a horse. Compare and contrast the character of Black Beauty to the other horse character. 2. Ask students about their top five favourite characters in the story? Mention the accomplishment of each character. 3. Write a journal entry from Beauty’s point of view that reflects his feelings about himself. Include ways in which he changes over the course of time.  

APPENDIX 1. She was proud of her son’s breeding and advised him to behave well at all times. 2. Black Beauty’s first owner. 3. He bought Beauty from Farmer Grey. 4. She likes to bite and she snaps. 5. The coachman of Birtwick Park. 6. She gave Black Beauty his name. 7. She threw Mr. Blomefield’s boys off her back when they rode her roughly. 8. He saved Beauty’s life in a fire. 9. He took over James’ place as a stable boy at Birtwick Park. 10.He provided treatment which saved Mrs. Gordon’s life. 11.Merrylegs was finally given to him. 12.The coachman at Earshall Park. 13.She insisted that Beauty and Ginger wore checkreins. 14.Beauty’s new carriage partner at Earshall Park after Ginger left. 15.He died when he fell off from Beauty when he rode her. 16.The cab driver who was Beauty’s master. 17.His master was killed in battle. 18.He scolded a cab driver for treating his horse cruelly. 19.He bought Beauty from Jerry. 20.He tried to persuade Farmer Thoroughgood to buy Beauty. . Answers: . 1. Duchess 2.Farmer Grey 3.Squire Gordon 4.Ginger 5.John 6.Mrs. Gordon 7.Merrylegs 8. James . 9. Joe Green 10.Dr. White 11.Mr. Blomefield 12.Mr. York 13.The lady of Earshall Park 14.Max . 15. Reuben Smith 16.Jerry 17.Captain 18.A kind gentleman 19.Farmer Thoroughgood 20.Willie .

ACTIVITY 2- GUESS WHERE AM I?  Aims

Students are able to guess correctly the various settings in the novel.  Materials An empty tissue box, phrase strips  Steps 1. Teacher folds the phrase strips and puts them into the empty tissue 2. 3. 4. 5. 6.

box. Divide the class into groups of 5 – 6 students. Ask a representative from each group to pick a phrase strip from the tissue box. The representative reads out the phrase and whichever group shouts out the correct answer gets two points. Every group takes turn to send its representative to pick and read out the phrase.  The group with the most points wins the game.

LET’S DISCUSS/EXPLORE Ask students to think about a place that brings that good memories. Share with the class about their favourite places and why these places bring good memories.

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MORE ACTIVITIES SKELETON PLOT AIMS: Students are able to sequence key events in a story plot. Stick the sentence strips at various places in the classroom without following the sequence (Handout 1) Divide the class into groups of 4 – 6 students.

Each group will have two writers and

several runners. Runners will try to locate the sentence strips at various places in the class room. They are not allowed to bring any paper or pen when reading from the strip. Runners run back and forth between the location of the sentence strips and the writers. Writers write down whatever the runners dictate to them. Students arrange the events according to sequence.

BEAUTY & GINGER