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Intertextuality 1
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Comprehension
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Intertextuality is the connection that some texts have with each other. Texts make connections
through their story-lines, settings, themes, contexts, characters and language. A whole text
may be transformed into a modern text, or a text may borrow from or refer to another text.
For example, the teenage romance film 10 Things I Hate About You borrows heavily from
Shakespeare’s The Taming of the Shrew.
A famous story such as the legend of King Arthur may exist in various forms such as
a movie, poem, novel, comic strip, cartoon or biography. The three texts that follow are all
derived from the original legend of King Arthur. Read them and answer the questions.
Novel
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King Arthur and the Knights of the
Round Table
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hat is the strangest sight in the world!’
exclaimed Arthur to Merlin. They were sitting
in a deep embrasure in the castle walls, gazing at
the road which wound up to the castle from the
town. Four ox-carts were struggling along the road,
weighed down by an enormous burden.
‘A Round Table,’ continued the king. ‘Yes, it’s a
huge Round Table.’
Merlin sprang up from his chair and stared
out of the window in great excitement. ‘It must
be the famous Round Table of King Leodegrance!’
he said. ‘This famous table was specially made
to the king’s requirements to hold two hundred
and fifty knights, the flower of Welsh knighthood.
I never thought to see the day when Leodegrance
parted with the Round Table.’ But after a great deal
of reflection, the King of Cameliard had decided
to send the Round Table to Camelot, as a token
of his loyalty to Arthur, and as a wedding present
for his daughter. The days in which Leodegrance
could summon up two hundred and fifty knights
were long since past; the effects of numerous wars
with pagans and chieftains had been to reduce
his chivalry to nearer fifty than two hundred and
fifty. The empty seats at the table mocked him. He
decided to pass the table on to a younger man.
Arthur received the gift with joy.
‘This table is an inspiration to me,’ he told
Gwenevere and Merlin. ‘You know that it is my
dearest wish to drive the invaders back into the
sea, and extend my kingdom from shore to shore.
I shall found the Fellowship of the Round Table.
Every knight who takes the oath of the Round Table
shall be pledged to dedicate his life to the service
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be many years before every place is filled at the
table, for as yet your knighthood does not number
anything like two hundred and fifty. But in time
every place shall be filled.’ Then Merlin pointed to
one seat, above which no name was written. As he
pointed, letters of fire formed over the seat:
‘No one shall sit here, unless he be the best
knight in all the world.’
‘What can this mean?’ exclaimed the king,
crossing himself.
‘That is the Seat Perilous,’ said the wizard. ‘Even
Sir Lancelot may not sit in that seat.’ For the time
being he refused to say more.
Then all the king’s knights took their appointed
places, and swore the triple oath of the Round
Table. Following Sir Lancelot, there was Sir Kay and
Sir Bedevere, Sir Gawaine, Arthur’s proud nephew,
Sir Egremont, Sir Walter, and many others.
from King Arthur and the Knights of the
Round Table by Antonia Fraser
PA
of God, the hammering of his enemies and the
protection of the weak.’
Merlin nodded in agreement.
‘The Round Table should stand for all that
is best in chivalry,’ he answered. ‘In the days of
Leodegrance’s prime it stood for high adventure.
There are still many adventures to be had in Britain
today, and many battles to be fought before the
pagans are routed and the evil witches cast down.’
Between them Arthur and Merlin planned a
triple oath for the Knights of the Round Table.
First to step forward to swear the oath of the
Round Table was Sir Lancelot. As he did so a clap of
thunder resounded through the castle hall, and the
room was plunged in darkness. When the gloom
cleared it could be seen that above each seat of the
Round Table a name was written in letters of gold.
Many of the names were still unknown to Arthur.
Merlin solved the mystery.
‘This miracle shows that God’s blessing is upon
the Round Table,’ explained the wizard. ‘It will
Reading for understanding
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 1 What is the novelist’s purpose in the passage?
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 2 As the action begins, what are Merlin and King Arthur doing?
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 3 What evidence can you find to show that the table was very large and heavy?
 4 Why had the table been specially made?
 5 What was Arthur’s ‘dearest wish’?
 6 What pledge would each knight, who took the oath of the Round Table, have to make?
 7 What happened as Sir Lancelot stepped forward to swear the oath of the Round Table?
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 8 What could be seen when the gloom cleared?
 9 What explanation did Merlin give for the miracle that had occurred?
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10 Why were many of the names above the seats at the Round Table unknown to Arthur?
11 Use the back-of-the-book dictionary to find the meanings of these words:
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a embrasure: bpagans: cchivalry: SA
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Cartoon
13 marks
Reading for meaning
1
The cartoonist has based the cartoon on the legend of King Arthur. How has he indicated
that the speaker is King Arthur?
2
What important feature of the Arthurian legend have both the cartoonist and the novelist
focused on?
3
What is the cartoonist’s purpose?
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How has the cartoonist given the legend a modern setting?
5
What impression has the cartoonist given of King Arthur’s knights?
6
What techniques has the cartoonist used to make fun of King Arthur and his knights?
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6 marks
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Movie still
Reading for meaning
1
What is the setting?
2
How are King Arthur’s knights different from those in the cartoon?
3
Why do you think this would be a good still to promote the movie?
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What use is made of light and dark in this shot?
5
Where is King Arthur positioned in this shot? Why has this been done by the director?
6
Where is the viewer positioned?
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Confusing pairs
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Spelling and vocabulary
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6 marks
guerilla desert formerlyallowed alley
gorilla dessert formallyaloud ally
serial
incite
gaitlutefeat
cerealinsightgate loot feet
vacationloose
vocationlose
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illicit
elicit
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rein
reign
confident
confidant
A word for a phrase
Find words in the spelling list that match each of the following definitions. Some letters have
been given to help you.
_ _ _ _ l l _
 2permitted
_ l l ____
 3illegal
_ l l ____
 4 in a correct manner
_ _ _ _ _ l l _
 5 a narrow street
_ l l _ _
 6 a trustworthy person
_ _ _ _ i _ _ _ _
 7 a manner of walking
_ _ i _
 8 an understanding
_ _ _ i _ _ _
 9 to succeed in getting information
_ _ i _ _ _
10 a profession
_ _ _ _ _ i _ _
11 to mislay
_ _ _ e
12 in earlier times
_ _ _ _ e _ _ _
13 an old stringed instrument
_ _ _ e
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 1 the largest type of ape
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14 a sandy area of barren country
_ _ _ e _ _
15 not tight
_ _ _ _ e
16 parts of the legs
_ _ e _
16 marks
Missing words
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Use words from the spelling list to complete the following expressions. The first letters have
been given to help you.
1
g
2
amazing i
3
a back a
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annual v
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two left f
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a queen’s r
5
l
clothing
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an impressive f
6
i
drugs
14
chocolate d
7
i
a riot
15
horse’s r
8
c
16
d
warfare
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Language
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student
stolen l
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breakfast c
island
16 marks
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Back-of-the-book dictionary
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The word ‘vacation’ comes from the Latin word vaco (vacatum) which
means ‘to be empty, vacant, unoccupied’. If you are on vacation, you
are having a rest from work. Use the back-of-the-book dictionary to
write down the meanings of these words that are derived from vaco.
evacuate: SA
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vacuum: vacant: vacuous: vacate: 5 marks
Active and passive voice
When the subject of a sentence is doing the action, the verb is said to be in the active voice:
King Arthur ruled Britain wisely. (active)
However, when the action is done to the subject, the verb is said to be in the passive voice.
King Arthur was always helped by the wizard Merlin. (passive)
Both the active and passive forms of verbs are used in English. Usually, the active voice is
more direct and personal than the passive voice.
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Changing the subject—active to passive
Rewrite each of the following sentences in the passive voice. The first one has been done to
help you. Some of the sentences may have more than one correct answer.
1
Arthur pulled the sword from the stone.
The sword was pulled from the stone by Arthur.
The wizard Merlin loved the Lady of the Lake.
3
Merlin took Arthur to a magical lake.
4
The Lady of the Lake gave Arthur a magic sword called ‘Excalibur’.
5
Wearing the scabbard of ‘Excalibur’ protected Arthur from being hurt.
6
Arthur instructed Sir Bedevere to throw ‘Excalibur’ into the magic lake.
7
Sir Bedevere threw the sword into the lake.
8
The hand of the Lady of the Lake caught the sword.
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2
8 marks
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Changing the subject—passive to active
Rewrite each of the following sentences in the active voice. The first one has been done to help you.
1
Sir Lancelot was loved by Queen Gwenevere.
Queen Gwenevere loved Sir Lancelot.
‘Excalibur’s’ scabbard had been stolen from Arthur by Morgan Le Fay.
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2
3
The royal palace was established by Arthur at Camelot.
4
Arthur and Gwenevere were given a huge round table as a wedding present by King
Leodegrance.
5
The Saxons were defeated by the Knights of the Round Table at Mount Badon.
6
The princess in the tower was rescued by one of the knights.
7
Arthur’s kingdom was destroyed by the treachery of Mordred.
7 marks
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Hints for writing
Creating imaginary characters
Successful novelist John Marsden has the following advice for writers who want to create
memorable characters.
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To make your major characters come to life you must endow them with unique details.
Something about the way they dress, for example? The jewellery they wear? Do they have
tattoos, braces, glasses, facial hair, make-up, painted nails? Is there something odd about
them? Perhaps they wear two watches, or carry a spare pair of socks in their pocket, or wear a
badge with a picture of Big Bird.
Of course it’s in their attitudes, opinions, thoughts, personalities that your characters will
truly express their uniqueness, but the little details of dress and appearance help.
Think about behaviour too. Perhaps you could have a character chewing the back of their
hand whenever they listen to someone, or refusing to speak when they drive, or irritatingly
humming the same tune for weeks on end. These mannerisms are all important to help the
reader think of people as individuals.
from Everything I Know About Writing by John Marsden
Lancelot
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In the following detailed description of Sir Lancelot, from her novel The Light Beyond the
Forest, writer Rosemary Sutcliff uses techniques that John Marsden advocates.
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Now Sir Lancelot of the Lake was an ugly man, with
an ugliness such as women love. His dark face under
the thick badger-streaked hair looked as though it
had been put together in haste, so that the two sides
of it did not match. One side of his mouth was grave
with heavy thought, while the other lifted in joy; one
eyebrow was level as a falcon’s wing and the other
flew wild like a mongrel’s ear. He had lived forty-five
summers and winters in the world, and loved and
sorrowed and triumphed and fought to the utmost,
and every joy and sorrow and striving had set its
mark on him.
from The Light Beyond the Forest by Rosemary Sutcliff
Now try to create a fictional character of your own from one of these genres:
fantasy
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science fiction
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historical fiction
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horror
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