This class investigates the fiction and nonfiction of CS Lewis, literary scholar and Christian apologist probably best known for his Narnia series. We will aim to become better readers and thinkers in the manner that Lewis himself prescribed for his students: by simply reading lots and discussing what you read with other learners.

Thus, your energetic participation is essential. We will operate like a seminar: you must not only read all the assigned texts before they serve our class discussion but come prepared everyday with probing observations and questions to fuel an in-depth discussion with a small number of committed peers. By the end of the course, we will know more about Lewis and his interests from what he wrote: pedagogy, theology, autobiography, science fiction, and myth.

Summer 2006 meets MTWRF from 8-10 am in Jackson 111

Instructor Jennifer Strange

Office Jackson Hall 312 and Hamilton Hall 220

Phone 869.5073

Email jstrange@centenary.edu

Office Hours by appointment

Texts [top]

We will read photocopied excerpts from Lewis' academic papers and The Screwtape Letters (original publication, 1942), along with other pieces as they become relevant. You should purchase, however, the following books (available at the Centenary bookstore):

• Lewis, CS. The Abolition of Man. 1943. San Francisco: HarperCollins, 2000.
• ---. The Four Loves. 1960. San Diego: Harcourt, 1991.
• ---. A Grief Observed. 1961. San Francisco: HarperCollins, 2001.
• ---. Out of the Silent Planet. 1938. New York: Scribner, 2003.
• ---. Till We Have Faces: A Myth Retold. 1956. San Diego: Harcourt, 1984.

Assignments [top]

All writing assignments must be typed in a reasonable font with normal 1-inch margins on all four sides. Use MLA documentation everywhere and provide a Works Cited list indicating all sources (even if you only reference our primary course texts).

Short Responses

Every Friday morning, submit a one-page response to our in-class discussions that week, adding your new ideas and arguments. Briefly summarize what you found interesting or troublesome, and write the bulk of your page on your own responses or new thoughts.

Term Paper

Craft a 5- to 7-page paper investigating some component what we have read together. Your thesis must be an argument, and the body of your paper must consist of primary evidence from our common texts as well as your own outside research. Your subject should reflect some component of the Lewisian interests we will have covered throughout our month together: pedagogy, theology, autobiography, science fiction, and myth. We will work together to compose compelling and accomplishable claims; your grade will reflect your written ingenuity, persuasion, organization, clarity, and coherence.

Choose Your Own Text

Choose any book by CS Lewis (except for Mere Christianity or The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe, unless you make a very good argument for it) not on our syllabus and write a 3-page paper comparing and contrasting it with one or more of the texts we have read together. Prepare an in-class presentation on the book when you inform the rest of us about it, convince us all to read it, and then explain your paper's argument to us.

Grading [top]

Your final grade (A = 100-90, B = 89-80, C = 79-70, D = 69-60, F = 59-0) reflects the following:

• Short writings—20%
• Term paper (final)—30%
• "Choose Your Own Text" paper—20%
• "Choose Your Own Text" presentation—10%
• Participation—20%

Two absences of any kind result in one letter grade off the final grade—if you miss more than two classes, I suggest you drop the course. One tardy (unless unavoidable, like the earth breaks open and you drop in and you have to hang from a weak limb until some nice person helps you) equals 1/2 of an absence, so come on time. In a course as short as this one, I will look quite astonished if you suggest you must miss any class, but do try to consult me in advance if this must happen.

Unless otherwise indicated, all work must be individual. Evidence of collusion (working with another student or tutor) or plagiarism (use of another’s ideas, data, and statements without proper acknowledgment) violates the Honor Code and will be reported.

Calendar [top]

Week 1: June 5-9

• Monday: introductions and selections from The Screwtape Letters
• Tuesday: The Screwtape Letters
• Wednesday-Thursday: The Abolition of Man (since Planet isn't in yet)
• Friday: Out of the Silent Planet (through Chapter 7 at least)

Week 2: June 12-16

• Monday-Tuesday: Out of the Silent Planet continues
• Wednesday: Till We Have Faces
• Thursday: Short Response due (preview your argument for the Choose Your Own Text paper due next week or the term paper due at the end of the month), Till We Have Faces continues
• Friday: prepare to share Choose Your Own Text thesis with the class and discuss, Till We Have Faces concludes

Week 3: June 19-23

• Monday-Tuesday: no class
• Wednesday: The Four Loves, submit "Choose Your Own Text" paper
• Thursday: "Choose Your Own Text" presentations (Casey, Adam, EJ, Julia)
• Friday: "Choose Your Own Text" presentations (Taylor, Rebecca, Ashley, Ricquel, Travis, Morgan), Short Response previews term paper argument

Week 4: June 26-30

• Monday: The Four Loves, Chapter 14 of Surprised by Joy
• Tuesday: A Grief Observed, Dr. Kathy Fell guest lectures
• Wednesday: A Grief Observed
• Thursday: watch "Shadowlands" in class, Short Response due
• Friday: term paper due