King Arthur and His Knights of the Round Table

Reading Check and Short Answer questions on key points are designed for guided reading assignments, in-class review, formative assessment, quizzes, and more.

Book 1, Chapters 1-4

Reading Check

1. To whom does Arthur want to give the sword that he pulls from the anvil?

2. What kind of creature are the dogs chasing when Arthur’s wedding feast is interrupted?

Short Answer

Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. Who is Arthur’s biological father, and why did Arthur not grow up with him?

2. Why does Merlin take Balyn’s sword, and what does he do with it?

3. After her first failed attempt to kill Arthur, how does Morgana try again after Arthur returns to Camelot?

Paired Resource

“The Enduring Fascination with Legendary Swords”

• This BBC Culture article by Quinn Hargitai explores the characteristics of legendary swords that make them persist in popular imagination.
• This resource relates to the theme of Fate and God’s Will.
• According to this article, what are the main characteristics of legendary swords that make them so popular? Which of these characteristics do you see reflected in the swords that are introduced in King Arthur and His Knights of the Round Table? What do the various swords in the story demonstrate about the characters’ personalities and their destinies?

Book 2, Chapters 1-5

Reading Check

1. Whose wish was it that Arthur knight Launcelot?

2. Who is the minstrel that arrives at Camelot and sings the story of Tristram of Lyonesse?

Short Answer

Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. What happens when Gawain cuts off the Green Knight’s head?

2. What does the story of Gareth’s rescue of Liones demonstrate about how important heredity is to determining status at this time in Britain?

3. When Yder returns to Caerleon, why does Geraint refuse to go with him?

Paired Resource

“The Myth of Gawain and the Green Knight”

• This TED-Ed video retells the Green Knight’s story.
• This resource relates to the theme of Knightly Codes and Oaths of Virtue.
• What is the same and what is different in this telling of the Green Knight’s story? What point does this story seem to make about the code of honor the knights are supposed to live by? Is this the same point that King Arthur and His Knights of the Round Table conveys? Which source is more interested in the complexity of the story, and which source is more interested in conveying a simple moral? What does this have to do with the function of mythic stories in teaching national virtues?

Book 2, Chapters 6-8

Reading Check

1. What does Arthur give as an answer when he returns to Tarn Wathelyne?

2. On Easter, who does the hermit predict will be born sometime during the year?

Short Answer

Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. What challenge does Gromer Somer Joure pose to Arthur in return for mercy?

2. What surprise does Percivale receive when he meets Lady Blanchefleur at Castle Carbonek?

3. How does Elaine die?

Paired Resource

“The History of the Holy Grail” and “Is the Quest for the Holy Grail Over?”

• The first resource is an article by James Hardy from the History Cooperative and discusses the history of the Grail story.
• The second resource, an article by Christopher Klein from the History Channel, discusses theories about where the Grail went after it disappeared.
• This resource relates to the themes of British Nationalism and Mythological History and Fate and God’s Will.
• What is historically questionable about the idea of British knights of the early sixth century searching for the Grail? Why were British people in the Middle Ages, when many of the Arthurian legends were written, so concerned with the whereabouts of the Grail? If the Grail turned out to be a real thing, what would that prove? If it were located in England, what would that prove? How do you see these ideas reflected in King Arthur and His Knights of the Round Table?

Book 3, Chapters 1-4

Reading Check

1. Who pulls the second sword from the stone where Merlin lodged it?

2. Who arrives on the enchanted ship after Percivale prays through the night?

Short Answer

Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. After the joust, why does one of the women weep for Launcelot?

2. What story does the White Knight tell Galahad about the mysterious shield?

3. What terrible choice does Bors have to make at the fork in the road?

Paired Resource

“The Cask of Amontillado”

• This brief, classic Edgar Allan Poe short story relates the revenge of Montresor on his enemy, Fortunato.
• This resource relates to the theme of The Overpowering Nature of Sin.
• Why might Poe have chosen to focus on Montresor’s mental state rather than on the specifics of what Fortunato has done to him? How would you describe Montresor’s mental state? What does this say about the desire for revenge? How does Lionel react when Bors chooses to save the woman from the evil knight instead of saving Lionel? Does Lionel seem able to listen to reason? What does this say about Lionel’s mental state? Are King Arthur and His Knights of the Round Table and “The Cask of Amontillado” making similar claims about extreme anger and the desire for revenge?
• “The Cask of Amontillado” on SuperSummary

Book 3, Chapters 5-7

Reading Check

1. After making his confession to Naciens and leaving the chapel, where does Gawain find Launcelot?

2. Who is the Grail Maiden?

Short Answer

Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. Why do the knights of the Castle of the Maiden try to take Dindrane?

2. How does Gawain’s behavior during the feast at Castle Carbonek differ from Launcelot’s?

3. What happens to Galahad after he presides at the wedding of Percivale and Blanchefleur?

Paired Resource

“Is There Any Truth to the King Arthur Legends?”

• This 6-minute video from TED-Ed explains the historical and literary sources of the Arthur legend.
• This resource relates to the theme of British Nationalism and Mythological History.
• What might Geoffrey of Monmouth’s motives have been for creating the Arthur story? Even though most British adults realize that Arthur is more myth than history, how do you guess they may feel about this story? What specific values do you think the stories of King Arthur were meant to encourage in British people? Do you think all of these values are still important today? Are some more important than others?

Book 4, Chapters 1-3 and Epilogue

Reading Check

1. Who attacks and kidnaps Guinevere in the woods during her a-maying party?

2. Where does the final battle between Arthur and Mordred take place?

Short Answer

Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. What do Mordred and Agravain overhear in the garden?

2. How does Gawain’s desire for revenge weaken Arthur’s position as king?

3. How does Arthur know when Bedivere has finally thrown Excalibur into the lake?

Recommended Next Reads 

The Sword in the Stone by T. H. White

• White’s classic middle-grade version of the Arthur story focuses on Arthur’s youth and his relationship with his mentor, the wizard Merlin.
• Shared themes include Knightly Codes and Oaths of Virtue, British Nationalism and Mythological History, and Fate and God’s Will.
• Shared topics include the Arthurian legends, magic, leadership, mentorship, nobility, morality, and adventure.
• The Sword in the Stone on SuperSummary

Sword of the Rightful King by Jane Yolen

• In this middle-grade fantasy, Yolen focuses on the period immediately after Arthur takes the throne, and on Merlinnus’s trick to rally the people behind the young king—a trick that goes terribly wrong when someone other than Arthur pulls the sword from the stone.
• Shared themes include The Overpowering Nature of Sin, Knightly Codes and Oaths of Virtue, British Nationalism and Mythological History, and Fate and God’s Will.
• Shared topics include the Arthurian legends, magic, leadership, mentorship, nobility, morality, and adventure.
• Sword of the Rightful King on SuperSummary