L.O.

To analyse the
story The Rain Horse by
Ted Hughes

Starter
In pairs, come up with six different
words that describe each picture.
Write on your mini-whiteboards

Overview
In this story, the description of the
blinding rain and the mysterious and powerful horse
is richly poetic, appealing to all senses.
The hills and fields described in the story are
reminiscent of the countryside in the Calder Valley
where he was born.
The story, recounted in chronological third-person
narration, depicts an increasingly terrifying clash
between the young man and the horse which
watches him intently.
The horse is initially described in terms of other
animals: a cat, dog and leopard.

Beginning
As the story opens, a man the only person in
the story is walking down a country road.
He is returning to a farm he left twelve years ago.
Suddenly, a horse seems to be watching him,
almost stalking him. The horse seems to be
intently looking at him.
The horse seems to behave towards him in a
threatening fashion.

Middle
He tries to evade the horse, but he follows him
down the road, acting in an increasingly
threatening way. It begins to rain so he seeks
shelter. The horse somehow seems personally
intent on harming him.
He begins to fear the horse may be mad. He
picks up some rocks and throws them at the
horse, hitting him several times but the horse
only retreats a bit. He then begins to throw even
more rocks at the horse but cannot hit him.

End
As the story ends and he reaches the
horse barn where he spent time
twelve years ago, he begins to
wonder if any of this really
happened.
It leaves us to ponder what the
symbolic meaning of the horse might
be