Black Beauty Questions and Answers
Black Beauty
What happens in chapter 1 of Black Beauty?
In chapter 1, "My Early Home," Black Beauty describes his first home. He recalls the meadow in which he lived with his mother and drank her milk. Eventually, as he got older, he was able to eat...
Black Beauty
What is the theme of Black Beauty?
The underlying theme of Black Beauty—i.e. a theme that's not explicitly articulated—is the fundamental unity of every living thing. In writing the book, Anna Sewell undoubtedly wanted to draw the...
Black Beauty
What is a theme in the chapter "My Breaking In" from Black Beauty?
The chapter titled "My Breaking In" is chapter 3 of Black Beauty. The chapter explores a number of themes that are developed throughout the book, and one such theme is courage. Throughout the book,...
Black Beauty
What is the setting of Black Beauty?
The novel was written "to induce kindness, sympathy, and an understanding treatment of horses" and focuses on the adventures of the horse Black Beauty and the theme of the mistreatment of horses....
Black Beauty
In Black Beauty, who is Joe Green?
Initially, Joe Green is the stable boy for Squire Gordon and Lady Anne at Birtwick Park; he replaces James, who in Chapter 16, after the Squire and his wife have decided to visit friends and stay...
Black Beauty
What are the main events of Black Beauty?
The following events are what I would consider to be the main events of Black Beauty. I would say that Beauty's birth should be the first main event in any list, as the story would not exist...
Black Beauty
In "Black Beauty" by Anna Sewell, who are all of the owners of Black Beauty?
There are nine owners of Black Beauty recorded in the fictional novel. However, there are many more who come into contact with him throughout his life and have a dramatic impact upon him. Black...
Black Beauty
What advice did Black Beauty’s mother give him?
Black Beauty’s mother, Duchess, gives him some advice in chapter 1 of the novel, after he has been playing with the six colts with whom he shares a meadow. They have been playing roughly, kicking...
Black Beauty
Which example does the master give to Langley to explain cruelty to animals in Black Beauty?
Black Beauty's latest master, Mr. Douglas, is deeply upset by a particular display of animal cruelty he witnesses while out riding one day. After his pony makes a wrong turn, a local builder by the...
Black Beauty
Who is Ginger, and why does she behave in the way she does in Anna Sewell's Black Beauty?
Ginger is a second horse belonging to Squire Gordon at Birtwick Park. We first meet Ginger in Chapter 4, Part 1 of Anna Sewell's Black Beauty. She is very angry that a young horse like Black Beauty...
Black Beauty
In Chapter 18 of Black Beauty by Anna Sewell, "Going for the Doctor," I'm stuck on a comprehension question. I have...
Starting in chapter 18 of the novel and reading the excerpt you cited, it would be difficult to discern who John Manly is. This character is first mentioned in chapter four, when Black Beauty is...
Black Beauty
What advice did Polly give to Jerry?
Polly advises Jerry to follow what's called The Golden Rule: Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. Polly tells her husband about poor old Dinah Brown. She's just received a letter...
Black Beauty
What is Black Beauty's message?
In the simplest of terms, I think that Sewell's work tries to bring forth the point that animals are creatures that feel pain, love, and joy. They are not objects who lack the sensibilities of...
Black Beauty
How was Black Beauty different from other colts?
The answer to this question can be found in paragraph 6 of chapter 1. Black Beauty is told from the first-person narrative perspective, and readers are likely to assume that the narrator is human;...
Black Beauty
What literary elements are used in Black Beauty?
While Ann Sewell's Black Beauty became famous for the poignant story of a beautiful and gentle horse as well as the novel's effecting the promotion of humane treatment of horses, the most salient...
Black Beauty
What's your evaluation (opinion) of the book Black Beauty?
My opinion of this book is that it is a wonderful piece of literature. This isn't just because I am an avid horse lover—it's really a special book. I recently read it to my own children. Anna...
Black Beauty
How do we first realize that a horse, not a human, being is telling the story in Black Beauty?
There are several hints in the first few paragraphs of the story that the narrator is the eponymous horse. For example, the narrator describes how he and others like him "looked over a gate at our...
Black Beauty
Who was Rob Roy? Why was he shot?
Rob Roy is Black Beauty's brother. Rob Roy is killed because his leg is broken during a hunting accident. The hunt is described in chapter two of Anna Sewell's classic tale Black Beauty. During...
Black Beauty
What are four main events in Black Beauty?
Anna Sewell's classic, Black Beauty, is a novel that advocates for the humane treatment of animals, especially the horse. Therefore, the main events of Beauty's life center upon his fortunes and...
Black Beauty
What is the main problem in Black Beauty?
The central problem in Anna Sewell’s novel is how the horse Beauty can overcome the difficulties he experiences at the hands of his various owners. The novel is unusual in having an animal...
Black Beauty
Who is Ginger in the novel Black Beauty?
Ginger, a pretty chestnut horse, is the stablemate of Black Beauty while he lives at Birtwick Park. After Black Beauty grows to adulthood, he is sold to Squire Gordon in Birtwick Park. There he...
Black Beauty
How does Ginger die?
In Anna Sewell's classic novel Black Beauty, Ginger is Black Beauty's friend. She is a chestnut mare with bad manners. She has a tendency to kick or bite. Black Beauty and Ginger meet at Birtwick...
Black Beauty
What was the first thing Black Beauty learned?
Black Beauty by Anna Sewell is a novel that discusses animal abuse. Black Beauty is a well-bred horse whose life takes him from owner to owner. Some of his owners are kind, and some are cruel....
Black Beauty
What is the rising action in Anna Sewell's Black Beauty?
Rising action is defined as all action leading up to the climax. The climax is the turning point in the story, the moment rising action becomes falling action leading to the resolution; it is often...
Black Beauty
In Anna Sewell's novel Black Beauty, what was Black Beauty's total number of homes?
In Anna Sewell's novel Black Beauty: The Autobiography of a Horse, the title character's first home was his place of birth. He was born on a farm and raised on a "large pleasant meadow." He notes...
Black Beauty
I'm having trouble understanding the story of Black Beauty. My homework is to list ten character traits of Ginger....
Most of the adjectives describing Ginger are appropriate; however, it may be better to substitute other descriptors for "aggressive," "wild," and "bad tempered." Ginger is a horse that acts as an...
Black Beauty
Explain how Black Beauty's decision not to cross the bridge changes the story. Use at least two details from the...
The sequence that this question is asking about can be found in chapter 12, which is titled "A Stormy Day." Beauty is the horse that has been charged with taking Gordon and John on a somewhat...
Black Beauty
Why does James call Merrylegs a rogue in Anna Sewell's Black Beauty?
In Chapter 9 of Anna Sewell's Black Beauty, Merrylegs is brought back into the stable by James, who says to him, "There, you rogue, mind how you behave yourself, or we shall get into trouble."...
Black Beauty
Why does Black Beauty get sick in Anna Sewell's story?
In Part 1, Chapter 19 of Anna Sewell's Black Beauty, soon after Little Joe Green replaces James Howard as the stable boy at Squire Gordon's Birtwick Hall, Mistress Gordon falls ill in the middle of...
Black Beauty
What did Black Beauty remember about his early life?
Black Beauty remembers a lot about his early life, which is just as well, as it forms an idyllic contrast to the more troubled times he encounters in later years. Given his carefree start in life,...
Black Beauty
What lesson does Black Beauty learn at Birtwick Park?
In Anna Sewell's Black Beauty, the title character is sold as a young horse to Squire Gordon, who lives at Birtwick Park. Beauty has a good life there, but he must get used to some things. He is a...
Black Beauty
How did the fire start in Anna Sewell's Black Beauty? Why was Ginger moving worriedly inside the stable? Why does the...
In Chapter 16, Black Beauty of Anna Sewell's story narrates the account of how he had been subjected to a stable fire. He and Ginger had been chosen to drive Squire Gordon and his wife to visit...
Black Beauty
How did the master treat horses and children in Chapter 1 of the novel Black Beauty?
In Chapter 1, the master is portrayed as a kind man. He provides the horses with good food and quarters, and he speaks to them kindly--as kindly as he speaks to his own children. Black Beauty's...
Black Beauty
What do readers learn about Black Beauty's grandparents?
If there could ever be such a thing as a snobbish horse, then Black Beauty's mother would be it. She's obsessed with good breeding and wants her son to know that he comes from the very finest...
Black Beauty
In Black Beauty, what is the advice given by his mother?
As Beauty grows he begins his training. His master first gets Beauty used to the bit and bridle, then he places a saddle upon the horse's back. After a few days of this practice, the man tightens...
Black Beauty
The first time Black Beauty experiences the pain and suffering caused by the bearing rein is when Squire Gordon sells...
The bearing rein, called a check-rein in Black Beauty, is a piece of tack that runs from the horse's back, over the head, and attaches at the bit. It's function is to hold the horse's head at a...
Black Beauty
Describe the place in which Darkie was kept.
Darkie is the first name under which we encounter the equine protagonist of Black Beauty by Anna Sewell. In the first chapter, Darkie is living with his mother in a pleasant meadow. The meadow...
Black Beauty
In Black Beauty by Anna Sewell, what does the master do when Black Beauty won't go across the bridge?
In the novel Black Beauty, the horse has many masters, good and bad. In Chapter 12, Black Beauty's master and his friend John had to travel on business and used Black Beauty as their carthorse. It...
Black Beauty
What breed is Black Beauty?
This is a difficult question to answer, as nowhere in the book is it explicitly stated what exact breed Black Beauty is. We are, however, given some descriptions of his appearance, such as the fact...
Black Beauty
What is the resolution of Black Beauty? How is the problem solved?
I would say that the main conflict in the story is Beauty's mistreatment at the hands of one terrible owner after another. To be fair, Beauty's first couple of owners are wonderful; however, once...
Black Beauty
Who owned Black Beauty and his mother in Anna Sewell's novel Black Beauty?
Anna Sewell's Black Beauty was a rather ground-breaking work because it was one of the first novels to portray an animal as animal rather than as an animal with human characteristics. At the...
Black Beauty
What are differences between Anna Sewell's Black Beauty and the movie?
There are a few notable differences between the original book and the eventual film retelling of the story. While it is desirable to translate everything from text to the silver screen accurately,...
Black Beauty
In the chapter titled "The Devil's Trade Mark," who said, "I never saw him so angry before," and who is "I" referring...
The "I" in question is James Howard, who is relating the story to John of a rather unpleasant young man called Bill. As the chapter begins, we see Bill mistreating a pony, in return for which he...
Black Beauty
Where was Black Beauty born and raised in Black Beauty by Anna Sewell?
Black Beauty is born and grows up in the English countryside. Beauty remembers first a pleasant meadow in which he lives with his mother. He has many a happy day, frolicking in this meadow and...
Black Beauty
Why did Black Beauty's master send him to the neighbor's meadow?
In Chapter 3, "My Breaking In," Black Beauty describes how his master decides to break him in after Squire Gordon comes to visit him and decides that he will take Black Beauty after the horse is...
Black Beauty
What is the point of view in Black Beauty?
Black Beauty is told using a first-person point of view from the perspective of the titular horse. It is an autobiographical memoir, meaning that Black Beauty is telling his story as he looks back...
Black Beauty
What is an assessment of the moral values of Beauty in the novel Black Beauty?
Black Beauty is the moral director of Anna Sewell's animal autobiography. As narrator, he tells about incidents which illustrate the need for understanding and kindness toward horses. For example,...
Black Beauty
How does Black Beauty describe Earlshall?
In "Earlshall," Part 2, Chapter 22 of Anna Sewell's 1877 novel Black Beauty, Beauty is being taken to his new home at Earlshall Park after having lived at Birtwick Park for the past three years...
Black Beauty
What is the conflict and resolution of Anna Sewell's Black Beauty?
Black Beauty has more than one single conflict. A big part of the story is a coming of age story for Beauty, and he spends the first parts of his life living in near idyllic conditions. Despite...
Black Beauty
What is Merrylegs's experience with the boy in Black Beauty?
Merrylegs is generally a good-natured horse, who doesn't mind giving rides to children. It's always a joy for Merrylegs to give rides to girls, and he's always extra careful to ride as smoothly and...
Showing 1-50 of 137