About Clive Staples Lewis

Born in Belfast, Ireland on November 29, 1898, C.S. Lewis was already extremely imaginative as a child. He and his brother Warren created a fantastical world full of imaginary animals and tales of feats and heroism. After his mother passed away when he was 10, Lewis continued receiving an education before entering the English army during WWI, though he didn’t remain long in combat. He went to Oxford University and, after graduating from there, joined a “informal collective of writers and intellectuals who counted among their members Lewis’s brother, Warren Lewis, and J.R.R. Tolkien” (“C.S. Lewis Biography”). A Christian turned atheist, these meetings with literary greats and other intellectuals reinforced the Christian upbringing Lewis received as a child, and he began to expound upon Christian truths in his writing. He became a literary professor in 1954 at Cambridge University and worked there for nine years until his resignation and death soon after on November 24, 1963. His most famous works include Mere Christianity, The Chronicles of Narnia, and The Screwtape Letters, as well as The Great Divorce and The Pilgrim’s Regress which contain Christian truths which he based off of his own Christian conversion and struggle for the faith.
("C.S. Lewis Biography." Bio.com. A&E Networks Television, n.d. Web. Feb. 2013.
http://www.biography.com/people/cs-lewis-9380969page=2.)

Monday, February 11, 2013

AP Multiple Choice Questions Explanation

The Screwtape Letters


1.   A. is not correct because the quote does not contain any descriptive words about physical aspects or sounds.
B. is correct because prayer in a Christian context should be portrayed in a positive light, but this quote portrays it negatively which is where the satire/irony comes in play.
C. is not correct because no phrases or words are repeated in successive clauses.
D. is not correct because the purpose of the quote is not to reference a well-known story or past event.
E. is not correct because no object stands for itself as well as for something else.

2.   A. is not correct because the letters are written from a demon perspective.
B. is not correct because there is no mention to Germany or its dictator in this passage.
C. is correct because the Devil’s enemy is Jesus Christ.
D. is not correct because politics are not mentioned in this passage.
E. is not correct because there is no mention of political order such as socialism in this passage.

3.   A.-D. are not correct because there is mention of all three methods given in the passage.
E. is correct (text support—“keep the patient from the serious intention of praying altogether”, “you must fall back on a subtler misdirection of his intentions”, and “they can be persuaded that their bodily position makes no difference to their prayers”).

4.   A. is not correct because this passage is satire, so Lewis does believe in prayer.
B. is not correct because Lewis writes, “it bears a superficial resemblance to the prayer of silence practiced by those who are very far advanced in the Enemy’s service”.
C. is not correct because again this piece is satire.
D. is correct because this passage shows how man is easily manipulated by evil when praying so correct prayer is difficult.
E. is not correct because this passage, as well as the novel, shows how the patient is manipulated by the devils.

5.   A.-D. are not correct because the letter is written as Screwtape narrates, hence the first person.  However, the reader doesn’t know everything like an omniscient narrator would provide, hence the limited aspect.  Thus E. is correct.

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