by

ANNA SEWELL

WRITERS 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 Sewells 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 childrens classic though it was originally written for those who worked with horses.

 Chapter 13 of Black Beauty sums up Annas

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. However, some do not learn how to take care of horses, thereby leading to the abuse of 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 these abusive practises in Black Beauty.

SYNOPSIS
Black Beauty is a beautiful recount of the story

of a handsome stallion living in Victorian England. Had a happy childhood in the countryside before being sold to various owners and goes through various hardship and mistreatment. Survived a horrible stable fire and also a serious illness.

 Became a horse for rent and a taxi puller in

working class London. Finally sold to a kind farmer. Retires in peace in the countryside. The novel highlights the issue of cruelty to animals in Victorian England and remains a relevant issue till today. The story is told poignantly and remains a heartwarming story till today.

SETTING
Basically, only two kinds of

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

CHARACTERS

BEAUTY & GINGER

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 found in the novel.

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 good-tempered 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 treatment that she receives.

 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 ones 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 Gordon, lecture on Sewells main theme: the need for kindness to animals.
(i)

VALUES

Love animals and treat them well Animals

are Gods 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 he can hold up his head high and look good.

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 sons 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.

 LETS 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 Beautys point of view that reflects his feelings about himself. Include ways in which he changes over the course of time.

APPENDIX
1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20.

She was proud of her sons breeding and advised him to behave well at all times. Black Beautys first owner. He bought Beauty from Farmer Grey. She likes to bite and she snaps. The coachman of Birtwick Park. She gave Black Beauty his name. She threw Mr. Blomefields boys off her back when they rode her roughly. He saved Beautys life in a fire. He took over James place as a stable boy at Birtwick Park. He provided treatment which saved Mrs. Gordons life. Merrylegs was finally given to him. The coachman at Earshall Park. She insisted that Beauty and Ginger wore checkreins. Beautys new carriage partner at Earshall Park after Ginger left. He died when he fell off from Beauty when he rode her. The cab driver who was Beautys master. His master was killed in battle. He scolded a cab driver for treating his horse cruelly. He bought Beauty from Jerry. 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. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6.

Teacher folds the phrase strips and puts them into the empty tissue 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.

LETS 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.

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.