Wednesday, Jan.31 ~ Go over Part III of Spirits in Bondage

Journal 8: Focus on one or two assigned poems from Part III. Explain the poem and how it answers any of the J7 questions.

We will discuss J7 & J8 on block day.

Tuesday, Jan.30 ~ Spirits in Bondage, Part III

Discuss J6.

Journal 7: Spirits in Bondage Part III "The Escape"

• Make sure you cite specific poems with your reasoning.

1. How has Lewis progressed toward the end of the collection (and toward what beliefs)?
2. What main themes/questions seem most prevalent and unifying to this work? 
3. What beliefs and implications would you say Lewis has toward the topic of pain by the end of Spirits? 

Monday, Jan.29 ~ Spirits in Bondage Part II

A Grief Observed essays due (discussion too!)

Next up, we look at the rest of the poems in Spirits in Bondage this week. Your goal is to see what kind of issues/thought processes Lewis had as a kid between the ages of sixteen-nineteen while under the tutelage of The Great Knock. His ideas of pain and meaning in life were a base for his examination of pain in our next book, The Problem of Pain. In it, he lays out his major theological issues that come from his perspective on pain and why it held back his belief for the better part of a decade (or two if you consider his mother's death).

Lewis in 1917 (left) with friend Earnest "Paddy" Moore (right) during WWI.
Moore was later killed in active duty. Lewis, as promised
cared for Moore's mother upon return until she died. 

Today, let's make a goal of reading through Part II (Poems XXII - XXIV).

• First, we review Part I
• Next, work with a partner to read Part II poems out loud and discuss/record Journal 6.

Journal 6: Spirits in Bondage Part II "Hesitation"

• Make sure you cite specific poems in your reasoning.
• Here is the book in full. 

1. First, using this timeline, what key experiences did Lewis have while writing this collection (poems were written between 1915-1918 and published in 1919 under the advice of the Hard Knock). 
2. Now, some quick internet research. Take a few minutes with your partner to search around and find out what kind of experience Lewis had in war. (Start with a couple of paragraphs from the "Background" section here. Then move on to these questions: What action did he see? What were the circumstances of his discharge?) 
3. Considering Part I as well, how does Part II add in expressing the process of a war-torn soldier returning to normal life in oxford as a student? 
4. What questions/philosophical issues can you see him processing? do any of these relate to ideas he examines more fully in his later texts? If so how? 

A Grief Observed: Writing Prompts

Due Monday, Jan. 29 (typed and printed)

Please be prepared to share the ideas from at least one of your choices with the class.

Length should ideally be 2-4 pages (MLA style).


Write a well-thought response to one or two of the following questions. Make sure you cite textual references from the book to explain your ideas. 

A. Psychological: After reading the experience from Lewis' perspective, how would you encourage a person experiencing grief?

B. Reader Response: What passages/quotes from the text did you find most interesting or relatable? Explain the significance.

C. Psychological/Theological: Can hard questions serve to strengthen faith and/or one's mental health? In what ways did Lewis' questions bring his own healing?

D. Intertextual: How did Lewis' interaction with Scripture serve as a source of strength for him?

E. Biographical: Considering that this is one of Lewis' last works, can you see any changes (growth or digression) in his ideas? Possibly the ideas of theology, love, gender, vulnerability, or another area that comes to mind for you. Some texts that might be particularly relevant include Spirits in Bondage, Screwtape Letters, The Abolition of Man, Mere Christianity, The Four Loves or the fictional works. If you want to jump ahead to The Problem with Pain you are welcome to.

F. Psychological: Read through some psychology articles about the grieving process (These two are pretty good for starters). Then evaluate Lewis' process from a psychological perspective. Was his process healthy? Does it seem like there may be another area he needs to address?

G. Theological/Reader Response: “Poi si torno all’ eternal fontana” ends the book. It is a quote from Dante, when Beatrice turns away from him toward the eternal fountain. This quote suggests that Lewis doesn’t dismiss his grief or feel free of it, but he is more at peace with God, like Joy in her last words to the chaplain (76). How can we find peace, with God and with our situation, in times of grief? Think of a difficult time you’ve walked through or are perhaps still experiencing. Were you able to find peace? Why or why not?

H. Formalism: The end of the book is like the beginning, if only in the questions it doesn’t answer and the doubts that are still raised by the horrible occurrences of this world. How comfortable are you with the uncertainties that Lewis still has? Do you wish he had wrapped it up neatly, or do you take comfort in where he lands at the end?

I. Theological: In Chapter IV, Lewis mentions that both the way God intends or allows pain as well as the possibility of reunion with Joy are both "blank checks" that cannot be cashed. He must find his resolve on things that can be proven. Take your pick of these two issues.
Option 1: How can God be both loving and allow such pain?
Option 2: What is the evidence for weather we see the dead in the afterlife or not (and if we do, what will be left of our earthly relationships)?

Wednesday, Jan. 24 ~ A Grief [already] Observed

Please post your chapter 4 discussion points below.

Tuesday, Jan.23 ~ AGO Ch.III

Discuss AGO Ch.III

• Let's up the ante this time by grounding our discussion questions in the text. Using the commentary feature, please post a short quote from our chapter followed by your discussion question or concept.

Tonight we finish the book!

• Prepare for a similar post tomorrow. We will have a writing assignment on block day based on the text so bring your text and or notes/annotations etc...

Monday, January 22 ~ A Grief Observed, Ch.II

Please post your three discussion points in the comments below. We will choose a few to discuss.

HW: Journal 5

• Record three more discussion points for Chapter 3. 
• Consider his metacognitive thoughts... What progress is it making? 

Steps of Grief

denial
anger
bargaining
depression
acceptance

Block Day, January 18 ~ A Grief Observed Ch. 2

Discuss J2, Ch.1 of AGO

Early Poems

• Let's look at some of the poems from Lewis' first published book. It is a collection of poems written when he was very young during and after his return from the war. From reading the collection as he published it, it looks to me much like a person processing the depression and complexity of emotion that came from the war experience. 

Journal 3

1. What themes seem to be trending in these poems? (BTW- what I've given you are all from the first "movement" within the book. Lewis said they were unified. Can you find unity within them?)
2. What thoughts can you see of Lewis about Greek mythology? What struggles and associations can you infer from his references to mythology? 
3. What conclusions can you gather about the way Lewis dealt with pain then (ages 18-21 or so) and in A Grief Observed (Age 62 or so). 

Journal 4

• For AGO Ch.2, please record three bullet points to discuss from the reading. These could be discussion questions, beautiful passages to share (and why), or concepts to discuss. 

Wednesday, Jan.17 ~ AGO Ch.1

First, discuss J1 & the Introduction.

Chapter 1
Before you read, discuss...

• In your own experience, what could you explain about grief? What does it feel like? 

HW: Journal 2 (on AGO Ch.1)

1. How does Lewis describe grief?
2. Make a list of things he fears.
3. Make a list of the hard questions he is asking.
4. What parts of Lewis' experience have you shared? Are any parts of his experience unexpected to you?
5. How does Lewis dispel the assumption of a dichotomy between hope in Christ and mourning a searing loss? (Meaning that hope in Christ is not cancelled by mourning, nor does mourning have to end to make way for Hope. These two exist simultaneously, harmoniously even.)
6. What would you call this stage of grief as he has explained it in Ch.1? 

Tuesday, Jan. 16 ~ Welcome Back!

For starters...

• Shall we share some highs and lows of break? 

A quick overview of Semester 2 texts. I originally wanted to begin with The Weight of Glory but have rethought our process. Semester 1 contained a good deal of fiction and imagination with a bit of theology. Semester 2 leads us to some heavier texts as well as what is often considered his most complex fiction, Till We Have Faces, which is a retelling of the Greek tale, Cupid and Psyche. The texts I hope to cover this semester include: 

• A Grief Observed (Personal Narrative, Autobiographical)
• The Problem with Pain (Theological)
• An Experiment in Criticism (Literary Criticism Theory)
• The Weight of Glory and several other essays (Editorial)
• Till We Have Faces (Allegorical Nonfiction)
• and a related work of your choice. 

Rational to begin with A Grief Observed:

• So far, we have read several works by Lewis, most driven by his literary or theological explorations. Because we have not read his autobiography or any of the several biographical books written about him, what we know of him is mostly what we have inferred from his texts. A Grief Observed is unique because it chronicles perhaps his toughest stage of life in which his wife dies along with all of the deep questions he delves into with the process of grief. This novel carries Lewis' signature logic and humor, but exposes a raw element of his personality and honest questions from the mature point of view of Lewis in his later years. Unlike his apologetic works which focus on his goal of creating a logical worldview in which spirituality and the belief in God are viable and even intellectual realities, this novel is his honest (and at first published confidentially under the pseudonym of N. W. Clerk) questions posed to God and himself more than any onlooker. A Grief Observed explores the core of a person facing his biggest fear come true and finding an intellectually honest reconciliation of unanswerable questions and identities. For this reason, this novel holds a treasure to be discovered about Lewis in who he was as a thinker, a theologian, a writer, an apologist and a believer.
• For you as high school students and me as a person in the middle of my life, we are both caught in the grind of daily stresses and multiple life roles; we are students of unknown futures, and most joyfully, we are marvelers at all the wonder and magic that comes in unexpected moments  and people along the way. I find this book especially valuable in teaching me to seek out the beauty that I know is temporary, not just because it will one day be gone, but because it is by the enjoyment that we make it real. Lewis models to us what it means to ask real questions to God and oneself unashamedly. This is courage we all need to live a full, meaningful life.
• "Reading A Grief Observed is to share not only in C. S. Lewis’s grief but in his understanding of love, and that is richness indeed" (Madeleine L'Engle)

A journal to start:

2018 - Journal 1 (Here is a pdf to begin A Grief Observed.)

1. What is the best advice you've ever heard (or given) in the case of a lost loved one? The worst? Why? 
2. Why do you suppose Lewis published this under a pseudonym? 
3. After reading Gresham's Introduction, describe the mentality that we as young people may not understand about the grief Lewis experienced as an older person.
4. What was the context of the role of a British gentleman that Gresham wanted to discuss as an explanation for his own childhood behavior before the novel began? 

HW: Read the Introduction by Gresham, his step-son (The forward by L'Engle is optional) and complete J1.