Lesson video

Hi there, my name is Mr. Charlesworth, and in today's reading lesson, we're continuing to explore the text, Arthur and the Golden Rope.

During today's lesson, we'll be exploring themes.

These are the big ideas or messages that a text can give us.

I'm really looking forward to working with you today.

Let's get started.

The lesson outcome for today is I can identify and justify the key themes in Arthur and the Golden Rope.

The key words are, my turn, your turn, theme, recurring, convey, analyse, justify.

Let's try those once more.

Theme, recurring, convey, analyse, and justify.

Well done, a theme is a big idea, topic or message that recurs within a story.

Recurring means something that appears repeatedly.

To convey means to communicate a message to the reader directly or indirectly.

To analyse something means to examine it in detail, in order to understand it, and finally, to justify means to show or prove something using evidence.

Don't worry if you're unsure about any of these keywords.

We'll be exploring them throughout the lesson.

Today's lesson is all about exploring themes in Arthur and the Golden Rope.

In the first part of the lesson, we're going to look at how we understand and identify themes.

Before we then move on to justifying and analysing important themes within the text, let's begin by looking at how we understand and identify themes.

Here's a quick recap about what's happened in the text so far, Arthur has run into the forest to hide from Fenrir the wolf, Fenrir sniffs out Arthur, he begins to creep closer and closer.

Arthur is struck with an idea and jumps up ready to attack the wolf.

Fenrir bites off Arthur's hand, however, Fenrir is tricked.

Arthur has used the hand of time, which throws the wolf to the spot.

I wonder what will happen next.

Let's read on, with Fenrir frozen, Arthur and Thor are finally able to subdue the beast.

To subdue means to calm, to capture or to tame.

Another word for this might be to placate.

I'd like you to now read pages 49 to the end of the text.

Pause the video now whilst you read with your partner.

Well done, I hope you enjoyed the resolution to the story.

I'd like you to discuss the following question.

How have the towns folk reactions to Arthur changed? What were they like at the beginning of the text? What are they like now? Pause the video and discuss with your partner.

Well done, their opinions have changed quite a bit.

Let's have a look at an example.

At the beginning of the text, the majority of the towns folk didn't believe in Arthur.

They didn't see any potential in him.

At the end of the text, Arthur is declared a hero by Thor.

The town's folk are overjoyed and want to celebrate with Arthur.

I noticed that he's gone straight to sit with Atrix though away from everybody else.

Perhaps all this adventuring has been too much and he needs to rest.

Here's our first check for understanding.

Can you match the character to the actions they portray in the final section of the text? Have a read through each of the actions and work out which character they match to.

Pause the video now while you match 'em up, well done, let's see if you're correct.

Arthur is beaming full of pride.

Atrix reads the journal full of adventures and creatures that Arthur has seen.

Thor casts a bolt of lightning, which reignites the great fire and saves a town, and Fenrir is tied up with a golden rope.

Well done, if you match them all correctly.

We're now going to look at developing our understanding about themes in more detail.

A theme is a big idea, topic or message that recurs within a story.

Well done for noticing both our keywords.

Within literature, authors use techniques to convey themes to the reader.

These themes often mirror issues and topics that we encounter in our own lives, making the story relatable to the reader.

Examples of themes include friendship, family, love, courage, and betrayal, as well as good versus evil, death, protection, loneliness and survival.

These are just a few examples.

There are many, many more.

Identifying themes within a text involves inference.

Themes are not explicitly stated within a text.

That means it isn't immediately obvious what they might be.

Authors commonly use repetition to convey themes to the reader.

We can identify themes by considering characters' actions and characteristics.

We can also consider themes by identifying repetition, whether that's repeated actions, emotions, or traits that we notice within a story.

We can search for deeper meaning using inference, and finally, we can identify themes by considering the overall message of the story.

Here's our next check for understanding.

Which of the following can be analysed to identify a theme, A, considering the overall message of the story.

B, grammatical structure of a sentence.

C, repetition of similar actions, emotions and character traits or D character's names.

There may be more than one.

Pause video now whilst you answer the question.

Well done, it's A and C.

We can identify a theme by considering the overall message of the story or looking for repeated actions, emotions, or character traits.

We can't understand a theme through the grammatical structure of a sentence or by character's names, even though they may hold symbolism.

When we're looking to identify themes within a story, it's really important to have a reminder of what's happened in the entire narrative.

I'm now going to retell the story of Arthur and the Golden Rope.

A possible theme within the text is heroism.

When listening, consider what other themes recur in the text through the character's behaviours.

This might obviously be focused on Arthur, but you could consider other characters in the story too to draw out additional themes.

At the start of the text, we're introduced to Arthur.

Arthur is a very caring and empathetic character.

He's seen at the beginning of the story helping out other people and making the world a better place.

After the destruction of the great fire, the villagers don't have any choice but to send Arthur on his quest.

They're not very happy about it.

They describe him as being quite small and meddling, not the hero they wanted or expected.

Atrix, the wise woman, informs the town of what must be done.

They need to call on the help of a Viking god who can command thunder and reignite the flame.

With all the townspeople injured, Arthur decides to take on the voyage himself.

He sails off to the land of the Viking gods and meets Thor in the Great Hall, he tells Thor about the beast that knocked over the fire, Thor identifies him as Fenrir, a terrifying wolf.

Thor instructs Arthur to fetch two rare items, the sound of a cat's footfall and the root of a mountain.

With these items, Odin is able to craft the golden rope, which they hopefully can subdue Fenrir with.

Arthur's successful in collecting both items and the golden rope is made.

Arthur travels with Thor and the other gods, but they're ambushed by a set of menacing beasts, including Fenrir.

Arthur runs off into the forest and Fenrir approaches.

Arthur jumps out from behind a rock and it looks as though Arthur's hand is bitting clean off.

However, one of Arthur's items from his backpack, the hand of time, has been used instead, Arthur tricks Fenrir and Fenrir is frozen to the spot.

With the help of the other gods, Arthur is able to capture Fenrir with Thor and return to his town.

Thor reignites the fire and the villagers all revere him and Arthur as true heroes.

I wonder what themes you drew out as I was retelling the text.

There are many possible themes that can be drawn out from the text.

Readers may interpret themes and their importance differently.

The themes in Arthur and the Golden Rope could include heroism, resilience and determination, friendship and collaboration and courage and bravery.

It can help us to consider the kind of behaviours or characteristics conveyed by the characters to represent these themes throughout the story.

These can help us identify even more.

Here's our next check for understanding, true or false, all readers will interpret themes in the same way.

Is that true or false? Pause the video now while you decide.

Well done, it's false.

Now, I'd like you to justify your answer.

Is it because A, each reader will bring their own personal experiences to the text? A theme might engage readers differently, or B, a theme can be identified by considering characters' actions and characteristics.

Which justification best fits with this statement above? Pause the video now whilst you decide.

Well done, were you correct? It's A, each reader will bring their own personal experiences to the text.

A theme might engage readers differently.

Whilst themes can be identified by considering a character's actions and characteristics, it doesn't mean that all readers will interpret them in the same way.

In this first task, I'd like you to discuss what other themes appear throughout the story.

We've already drawn out themes of heroism, resilience and determination, friendships and collaboration and courage and bravery.

I wonder what other themes there might be.

Some themes are much more complex and encourage us to consider their meaning.

An example of this is how does Arthur look after his environment.

You can of course refer to the text in your discussion.

Pause the video now and complete the task.

Well done, I wish I could have heard all the discussion and themes that you might have elicited from the text.

Let's have a look at some more examples.

Other themes that you might have discussed include mythology and legends, nature and the environment, restoration that's restoring something that's previously there or lost, a theme of empathy might have come across really strong through characterization, themes of sacrifice and fear.

Perhaps you discuss the themes of brains and brawn.

That's the idea of intelligence and strength.

You might also have thought about themes around leadership and mentoring and also morality, the idea of what's right and wrong.

These are just some of the themes within the text.

I wonder if you had some similar ideas.

In the next part of the lesson, we're going to be justifying and analysing these themes in more detail.

There are many themes that can be identified within Arthur and the Golden Rope.

While remembered, a theme is a big idea, topic or message that recurs.

Let's remind ourselves of some of the themes that we've already looked at.

I wonder which ones you responded most to.

Pause the video now to discuss with your partner the most salient or prominent theme that you noticed.

Well done, we can interpret themes and their importance by analysing the deeper meaning being conveyed by the author.

A good way to do this is to think which themes are conveyed through the relationships between the characters, in this case, between Arthur and the gods.

The most prominent themes are collaboration, working together for a common goal, resilience, so that's persevering in the face of challenge and mentorship, which is guiding others and fostering growth.

We can justify these themes by giving examples of how they appear in the text.

Well done for noticing all our keywords.

Here's our next check for understanding.

Can you match the theme to the correct definition? Have a think back to what we've just learned.

Pause the video now and match.

Well done, collaboration is working together for a common goal.

Determination is persevering in the face of challenge and mentoring is fostering growth in character.

In order to justify, examine and analyse the important themes, we're going to answer a few questions in today's task.

The first of which is how does Joe Todd Stanton convey the themes of collaboration, resilience, and mentorship through Arthur's relationship with the gods? You can use the following sentence stems to support you.

Pause a video while you discuss the question with your partner.

Well done, I wonder which parts of the text you uses evidence to justify your reasoning.

Let's have a look at some examples.

The theme of collaboration is shown through the God's willingness to support Arthur in capturing Fenrir and relighting the great fire of his town.

The theme of resilience is shown in Arthur's ability to never give up.

Arthur demonstrates determination in completing all of Thor's tasks.

Finally, I think the theme of mentorship is shown when Thor encourages Arthur to collect the two rare items. Thor supports Arthur's personal journey and helps him uncover hidden talents.

I wonder how you represented each of the themes.

Did you draw out similar responses? In the second question, we're going to focus on the theme of nature and environment.

Question two is how does Joe Todd Stanton convey the theme of nature and environment and its importance throughout the story? When you're thinking and discussing this question, consider how different characters demonstrate care for nature and the environment.

Are there any characters that do not show care? You can use the sentence stems. Arthur shows care for the environment when, and I think shows a lack of care towards the environment by, this results in, you can of course refer to the text in your answer.

Pause the video now while you complete this section of the task.

Well done, did you focus on the character of Arthur for the first part of the question? In this example, I think that Arthur shows care for the environment by helping creatures and other mythical beings.

He seeks to restore balance to his world.

Arthur has a respect for nature and learns from his interactions with it.

I wonder which character you chose that perhaps doesn't show care for the environment.

Was it Fenrir? I think Fenrir displays a lack of care towards the environment.

He leaves a path of destruction in his wake.

At the start of the text, he extinguishes the town's great fire.

This results in Arthur going off on his quest.

It's important to remember that analysing certain characteristics can help us to consider the kind of qualities that we want to show in ourselves.

Analysing themes can help us to consider human morality and important life lessons and the kind of people we want to be.

Identifying admirable qualities and positive themes within the story can inspire us to nurture these qualities within ourselves.

Arthur provides the reader with several positive qualities.

He has a strong sense of what is right and wrong.

His quest is driven by the desire to help out his townspeople, even though they don't always respect him as they should.

Understanding the impact of negative qualities such as selfishness can help us know the kind of people that we don't want to be.

Fenrir demonstrates these when he causes harm to everyone in Arthur's village.

In our final check for understanding, I'd like you to identify which of the following qualities could be nurtured in readers by empathising with Arthur? Well remembered empathy is like stepping into the shoes of another person, seeing life through their eyes and their perspective.

Is it the qualities of A, resilience and determination? B, cowardice and fear, or C, selfishness and greed that readers might empathise with Arthur.

Pause video now whilst you decide.

Well done, it's A, resilience and determination are both qualities that readers might empathise with Arthur and hope to model in themselves too.

In this final part of the task, I'd like you to discuss the overall message of the text.

What overall message do you think Joe Todd Stanton was trying to convey through his exploration of themes? Consider what lesson you think you can learn from the story.

You might like to use the sentence stem.

I think the overall message Joe Todd Stanton conveys is, or, the greatest lesson I learned from the story of Arthur and the Golden Rope is, the overall message when reading this text is going to be very personal and unique.

There's no right or wrong answers here.

You can of course refer to the text in your answer.

Pause the video now whilst you complete the task.

Well done, I'd have loved to have heard all your responses.

There are lots of possible ideas here, so here are just two examples.

I think the overall message Joe Todd Stanton conveys is that strength can come from within through determination to do well and the desire to make the world a better place.

You might have also said the greatest lesson I learned from the story of Arthur and the Golden Rope is that heroes do not have to look or act a certain way.

Arthur is an unlikely hero.

He exhibits qualities that me and my friends have.

These just two possible responses.

Each of yours will be unique and personal to you.

I hope you've enjoyed exploring themes in today's lesson.

It's a great way to analyse and examine the impact that the text can have on you as a reader.

In today's lesson, we've been exploring themes in Arthur and the Golden Rope.

We've understood that a theme is a big idea, topic or message that recurs within a story, and authors use these to convey deeper meaning.

We've understood that considering behaviours and characteristics help us to identify recurring themes.

These are repeated.

We can justify the importance of a theme through showing how it appears in the text.

We've learned that analysing themes can help us to identify important lessons on human morality, which can positively impact the type of people we want to be.

Finally, Arthur and the Golden Rope explores a wide range of variety of important themes, including what it means to be a hero.

I've really enjoyed exploring this text with you and discussing and exploring its themes too.

I look forward to working with you again soon.