The Chronicles of Narnia | Academic Skills & Writing Strategies

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Oral reports: tell us about the C.S. Lewis book you read. Also, give me the reference for the book you read, using the MLA format. A big thank you to all of you who presented today. I especially want to thank those of you who read some more difficult books, e.g. Till We Have Faces (顔を持つまで), Out of the Silent Planet (in Japanese 沈黙の惑星を離れて―マラカンドラ火星編 (別世界物語)) and Mere Christianity (キリスト教の世界）. I hope you will be inspired to read more.
Mini-lecture on some key ideas or themes in C.S. Lewis’ books:
1. Seeing and believing. In “Prince Caspian“, at first only Lucy can see Aslan while the older children do not, and they do not believe Lucy at first. In “Till We Have Faces” 顔を持つまで, the older sister Orual cannot see the palace where her beautiful sister, Psyche, lives, because Orual is jealous and does not accept that Psyche can be happy without her. In the New Testament, in Matthew 5:8, it is written “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.” Perhaps Lewis’ message is that the pure in heart can see certain things that others (who are not pure in heart) cannot see.
2. Natural Law. Lewis believed that there was a natural law that all people everywhere understood. This law is deeper than religion, because it can be found in almost every religion on Earth. In “The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe”, Lewis writes about Edmund on page 97, “deep down inside him he really knew the Witch was bad and cruel.” There is more to the Natural Law than this, but this is a good example of it.

Homework: Quiz questions for chapters 10 and 11:

Chapter 10 questions:

QUIZ

Which of the following things could the Beavers not take?
- ham, tea, sugar, loaves, matches, handkerchiefs, sewing machine
At the Beavers’ house, which character stayed calm?
Can the Beavers and the children get to the Stone Table before the witch? Why/why not?
Was it snowing when they began their journey?
What did they do in “the old hiding place for beavers”?
What presents did Father Christmas give to
- Peter?
- Susan?
- Lucy?
- everyone?
Who is “the true King”?

Chapter 11 questions:

QUIZ

What sort of time had Edmund been having?
Was the Witch nice to him?
Did she give him Turkish Delight?
What did she give him to eat and drink?
What should Maugrim do to whatever he finds in the Beavers’ house?
Could the wolves follow the children’s trail? Why/why not?
Why was Edmund cold in the sledge?
Who gave the animals the plum pudding?
What does the Witch do to the animals?
What does Edmund say just before she does this?
How does the Witch react when she sees the animals eating and drinking and enjoying themselves?
What happens to the weather?
“Winter is over, spring has come.” Why?