King Arthur and His Knights of the Round Table

Use these questions or activities to help gauge students’ familiarity with and spark their interest in the context of the work, giving them an entry point into the text itself.

Short Answer

1. What is the difference between “history” and “myth”? What role does myth play in our understanding of history? What ideas are suggested by the phrase “national myth”?

Teaching Suggestion: Students are likely to have a solid understanding of the denotative differences between “history” and “myth.” They may initially claim, however, that there is no role for myth in our understanding of history. Encourage them to think more deeply about what history really is and about history as a story, shaped and reshaped in order to support culture as it changes. The purpose of the final question in this prompt is to introduce students to the idea of stories that form the basis of national identity, not to ask them to generate a precise definition of the phrase “national myth.”

• This transcript, an excerpt from a podcast with historian Nathan Connolly, explains how historical narratives can be as biased and inaccurate as any story.
• This article by Taylor Pace, hosted on the Arcadia website, explains the functions of national myths. (Note: This article’s length and complexity make it an excellent teacher-facing resource; students might be offered an abridged version, depending on their reading levels.)
• This 6-minute video from the New York Times discusses the formation of national identities.

2. Can you think of a story from the early days of your own country that is probably not true but that people treat like a historical fact? How many legendary heroes from your country’s past can you name? Do stories like this have to be true in order to be valuable?

Teaching Suggestion: If you suspect that students will have trouble generating examples of stories and heroes on their own, you might prepare a short list in advance to discuss with them. For American students, for instance, you might bring up the mythic stories of George Washington and the cherry tree and Betsy Ross sewing the first American flag. Encourage students to think broadly about the idea of legendary heroes—these might include real people whose exploits are exaggerated, like Paul Revere, or entirely fictional people like Paul Bunyan. Students may enjoy debating the issue of whether or not factual accuracy affects the value of these kinds of stories. The resources listed below are intended to enrich a discussion of this topic.

• This analysis, by Scott T. Allison and George R. Goethals, hosted on the University of Richmond website, considers two valuable aspects of hero stories. (Note: Due to length and complexity, this resource is intended to be teacher-facing.)
• This 4-minute video from TED-Ed explores the ways that fiction can impact the real world.

Short Activity

You are about to read about one of Britain’s legendary heroes: King Arthur. Arthur’s story is a key part of British identity, and he is used to model important historical British values. Imagine that you were going to start an entirely new country of your own, and you needed a legendary hero to help form your national identity. Draw a picture of this hero, and then underneath the picture write a few sentences explaining who they are and what national characteristics they embody.

Teaching Suggestion: Students may enjoy sharing their work with a small group or even presenting it to the rest of the class. You can extend this activity by asking students which values came up most often in their classmates’ descriptions of the national characteristics embodied by their heroes. You might also ask whether, after reflection, they think that there are important values that were not emphasized much.

Differentiation Suggestion: Students with visual impairments may not be able to complete this activity as written. Instead, they might simply describe their heroes in a paragraph before writing their brief commentary about the national characteristics the hero embodies.

Personal Connection Prompt

This prompt can be used for in-class discussion, exploratory free-writing, or reflection homework before reading the novel.

The knights in King Arthur and His Knights of the Round Table follow a code of honor that reflects the values of their own society. If you were in charge of developing a code of honor for a group of modern “knights,” what would your rules for their behavior be? Why do you think these rules are important?

Teaching Suggestion: Students who are more concrete thinkers may become focused on the idea of modern knights—you might wish to explain in advance that the prompt is asking about any people who have an official position that requires them to defend their leaders and their countries and uphold the country’s highest values. The primary intent of the question is not to establish a modern equivalent for knights but instead to prepare students to think about how our own values might be similar to or different from the values expressed in King Arthur and His Knights of the Round Table. This prompt and the Short Activity described above it are intended to complement one another, but each can be completed without the other. If students do complete the Short Activity before tackling this prompt, you might ask them to consider what specific rules for behavior would be a natural outcome of the values implied by their work on the Short Activity.