Essay Questions

"The Trial of an Ox for Killing a Man" is an example of the chap book genre. How did this genre affect modern literature?

The chap books were an important medium to bring entertainment and information to a wide audience in the early 19th century. The books were cheaply printed and anonymously published short stories that discussed morals, love, lust or history. While the accounts of real world events were often widely inaccurate, especially rural populations depended on them. Modern literature and culture benefit from these books, as often they used old folk tales as their source material. Without these books, many of these folk tales would have been lost to history. Additionally, the books give modern linguists and insight into the life realities and interests of the common population. This can be contrasted to the classics, which were mainly read by the upper class.

"The Trial of an Ox for Killing a Man" can be described as a fable. How can this view be supported or refuted?

A fable is a clearly defined literary genre. It uses animal characters that often represent a stereotypical type of person and has a clear moral at the end. Fables have been a part of European literature since Ancient Greece. "The Trial of an Ox for Killing a Man" is a good example of a more modern interpretation of the genre. It uses animal characters that all represent specific traits and have no character development. The story also gives the audience a clear moral, however, unlike the original fable, this moral is not clearly written at the end of the book. Disregarding this small detail, this chap book can be defined as a fable.

"The Trial of an Ox for Killing a Man" depicts a court hearing. What general opinion of the judiciary system is evident in the descriptions?

The unknown author of the chap book fills different positions within the court with animal characters. From the choice of animal alone, one can deduct that the judiciary system is seen as a rather perfect system. The lion is the judge and only shows wise and fair characteristics. The lawyer is the tiger, who gives an eloquent and sophisticated speech. The court assistant, the bear, is interrogating the witnesses in a non-threatening way. Finally, the verdict given by the judge is met with full approval by the public. The whole story contains no evidence that there are any negative elements in the judiciary system.