Use these essay questions as writing and critical thinking exercises for all levels of writers, and to build their literary analysis skills by requiring textual references throughout the essay.

Differentiation Suggestion: For English learners or struggling writers, strategies that work well include graphic organizers, sentence frames or starters, group work, or oral responses.

Scaffolded Essay Questions

Student Prompt: Write a short (1-3 paragraph) response using one of the below bulleted outlines. Cite details from the novel over the course of your response that serve as examples and support.

1. Explain how the novel shows the bearing rein to be harmful for horses.

• What harmful impacts does Sewell show the bearing rein to have on horses? (topic sentence)
• Identify 3 examples where horses talk about how the use of the bearing rein harms them, and use evidence from the text to support the harm they describe.
• In your concluding sentence or sentences, explain how these story details support Sewell’s goal of advocating for bearing reins to be abolished.

2. Explain how the novel depicts Black Beauty as a heroic protagonist, even though he is a horse.  

• What does Black Beauty do to make him a heroic figure? (topic sentence)
• Identify 3 situations where Black Beauty acts in a traditionally heroic way (for example, saving someone’s life), and use evidence to show that characters in the novel admire his heroic behavior.