Study Help
Essay Questions
1. Compose an essay comparing and contrasting the Wart and Kay's development as characters. What characteristics do they share? How does White make them seem both similar and dissimilar to the reader?
2. Describe the different father figures found in the novel. How does each figure contribute to the Wart's maturity?
3. Compare and contrast White's version of Arthur's childhood with Malory's. What aspects of the young king's personalities do both writers stress? How are the portrayals different?
4. Compare and contrast White's version of the Arthur saga with any Arthurian films.
5. Discuss how the Wart is like other youthful literary protagonists, such as Tom Sawyer, Huckleberry Finn, or Holden Caulfield.
6. Compose an essay in which you trace the development of Arthur's character through any two successive volumes of The Once and Future King.
7. Compare Arthur to any other literary hero, such as Beowulf or Odysseus. What heroic qualities do the figures share?
8. Read the poem Sir Gawain and the Green Knight and explain how it teaches the reader the values and assumptions behind chivalry.
9. Describe in what ways White's is novel like a beast fable by Aesop. Consider the use of animals for the teaching of morals.
10. Choose any two minor characters (such as King Pellinore or the Dog Boy) and explain how they contribute to any of the novel's main themes.