The Acts of King Arthur and His Noble Knights

• Genre: Fiction; fantasy
• Originally Published: 1976
• Reading Level/Interest: Grades 9-12; college/adult
• Structure/Length: 7 chapters; approx. 416 pages; 11 hours and 18 minutes on audio
• Protagonist and Central Conflict: King Arthur, Queen Guinevere, Sir Lancelot, Morgan le Fay, and other memorable characters come together in this collection of related stories that retell the legends of King Arthur and his court at Camelot.

John Steinbeck, Author

• Bio: Born in Salinas, California, in 1902; died in New York in 1968; attended Stanford University but did not graduate; worked as a manual laborer before achieving success as a writer
• Other Works: East of Eden (1952); The Grapes of Wrath (1939); Of Mice and Men (1937)
• Awards: Nobel Prize in Literature (1962); Pulitzer Prize for Fiction (1940); National Book Award (1940)

CENTRAL THEMES connected and noted throughout this Teaching Unit:

• The Code of Chivalry
• Dark and Light Magic
• Destiny Is Inescapable

STUDY OBJECTIVES: In accomplishing the components of this Unit, students will:

• Gain an understanding of the cultural and historical context of the age of chivalry that dictate the behavior of King Arthur and his knights.
• Study short, paired texts and other resources to make connections via the text’s theme of the uses and misuses of Dark and Light Magic.