View a FREE sample

This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. Why was there so much traffic in Chapter 43?

2. How were the war horses loaded onto the ship to go to war?

3. What caused Black Beauty’s sight to get worse?

4. Why did Jerry borrow a cart from the butcher for his Sunday drive in Chapter 36?

5. What made Ginger incredibly sad in Chapter 27?

Short Essay Questions

1. What did Jerry do in Chapter 37 to show that he had real consideration for Black Beauty?

2. What characteristics made Wright a “Real Gentleman,” as the chapter title and Jerry call him?

3. What evidence in Chapter 27 is there that Black Beauty and Ginger were aging a bit?

4. What clues told Ned and Robert right away that something was off with Reuben when they found Reuben and Black Beauty?

5. What message about alcohol might the author be sending readers Chapter 25?

6. Based on Captain’s retelling of his war experience, how does war for horses compare to war for humans?

7. How is Mr. Filcher a good example of how men can be both good and bad?

8. What was Seedy Sam’s speech about? What were his main points?

9. What does it tell readers that Black Beauty compared Jerry to John Manly?

10. Black Beauty uses heavy sarcasm in Chapter 29. What is he describing and why might he be using sarcasm?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Black Beauty is a story told from a horse’s perspective. What are the challenges for an author of having the story told from having a horse’s perspective? What are the challenges for a reader?

Essay Topic 2

Gender roles have change throughout history, but they are always there. What are the gender roles in Black Beauty’s time? Do any characters defy their gender role? If so, who and how?

Essay Topic 3

Each horse Black Beauty meets has a name; the inspiration for some names is obvious, while others are more thought provoking. What do the names of the different horses – including the various names Black Beauty is given throughout the novel – tell readers about the horse and/or its owner? Do the horse’s names symbolize anything?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 1,211 words (approx. 5 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample