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You will be both grieved and amused to learn that out of about 60 reviews [of Out of the Silent Planet], only 2 showed any knowledge that my idea of a fall of the Bent One was anything but a private invention of my own. But if only there were someone with a richer talent and more leisure, I believe this great ignorance might be a help to the evangelisation of England: any amount of theology can now be smuggled into people's minds under cover of romance without their knowing it (letter to Sister Penelope, 9 August 1939)
[In all my books] there is a guiding thread. The imaginative man in me is older, more continuously operative, and that sense more basic than either the religious writer or the critic. It was he who made me first attempt (with little success) to be a poet. It was he who, in response to the poetry of others, made me a critic, and, in defence of that response, sometimes a critical controversialist. It was he who after my conversion led me to embody my religious belief in symbolical or mythopeic [sic] forms, ranging from Screwtape to a kind of theologised science‑fiction. And it was of course he who has brought me, in the last few years, to write the series of Narnian stories for children (letter to the Milton Society, 28 December1954)
I believe in Christianity as I believe that the Sun has risen, not only because I see it, but because by it I see everything else ("Is Theology Poetry?" Paper read at the Oxford University Socratic Club, 6 November 1944)
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COURSE DESCRIPTION: This course offers a comprehensive view of the life and works of C. S. Lewis with a focus upon how his imagination helped to shape his apologetics. In addition to reading selections from his letters, journals, poems, fiction, non-fiction, and apologetics, students will view and discuss important new video productions in order to gain a perspective on the ideas, thoughts, and opinions of the most popular Christian author of the twentieth century. Because Lewis has powerfully influenced so many people, this course will explore his approach to making Christianity intellectually reasonable, theologically winsome, and spiritually compelling.
Required:
Spirits in Bondage (1919)
The Pilgrim's Regress (1933)
The Screwtape Letters (1942)
Perelandra (1943)
The Great Divorce (1945)
The Voyage of the Dawn Treader (1952)
Mere Christianity (1952)
Surprised by Joy (1955)
Till We Have Faces (1956)
A Grief Observed (1961)
Of Other Worlds: Essays and Stories (1966)
God in the Dock (1970)
Recommended:
C. S. Lewis: A Companion and Guide, Ed. Walter Hooper (1996)
Jack: A Life of C. S. Lewis by George Sayer (1988; reprinted 1994)
C. S. Lewis, Poet: The Legacy of His Poetic Impulse by Don W. King (2001)
A Handbook to Literature, Eds. William Harmon and C. Hugh Holman
MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers (6th ed), Ed. Joseph Gibaldi.
Also, see Oxford Reference Online www.oxfordreference.com for some basic reference assistance. It contains desktop access to 100 key Oxford dictionaries and reference works. The Core Collection brings together 100 language and subject dictionaries and reference works - containing well over 60,000 pages - into a single cross-searchable resource. Also, see the Oxford English Dictionary, the grandfather of all dictionaries at http://dictionary.oed.com
COURSE OBJECTIVE: The central objective of this course is to discover the relationship between Lewis' imagination and his apologetics. As a part of our study we will focus on Lewis' poetry as well as letters and diary entries that reveal something of his imaginative life. Furthermore, we will consider how his prose, particularly his fiction, reflects a poet's eye, ear, and hand. In a related manner, we will see how his love of logos may have led him to a love for the Logos.
In addition, we will discuss several questions as we move through the readings, including but not limited to:
- What is Lewis' understanding of myth? How is his concept of myth different from the one commonly held? How does an understanding of his notion of myth inform a deeper appreciation of Lewis' work?
- What does "joy" mean for Lewis? How important is joy in his work? Can we trace its appearance in his work? Does his understanding of joy change over time? If so, how and why?
- What is Lewis' view of Scripture? What important biblical/theological ideas does he explored in his imaginative and apologetic works?
What are Lewis' strengths as a writer? Weaknesses?
- What is the relationship between Lewis' faith in Christ and his activities as scholar, literary critic, social critic, and artist? What is a Christian scholar, Christian literary critic, Christian social critic, or Christian artist? Where does Lewis "fit" best?
Are Lewis' apologetics "relevant" to a postmodern generation? How so? How not?
What is the literary legacy of C. S. Lewis? How is his influence apparent? Is his a lasting contribution or a temporary one?
LEARNING OUTCOMES:
1. That you read and analyze important imaginative and apologetic works of C. S. Lewis. (MCEO 2 and 3).
2. That you journal/blog regularly regarding the Lewis works we are studying (MCEO 2 and 3)
3. That you write a literary analysis on Lewis and demonstrate your ability to gather information and present it effectively by combining summary with analysis, application with theory, and research with synthesis (MCEO 2 and 3).
4. That you engage in sustained research on Lewis. (MCEO 2 and 3).
7. That you utilize Moodle for class management, including accessing notes, checking grades, participating in class discussions, and related activities (MCEO 2, 3, and 4)
8. That you turn in all important written assignments via email attachments
(MCEO 2, 3, and 4).
9. That you learn to value the literature covered in this course as something that can enrich your life, revealing the complexity of the human experience and informing your spiritual life (MCEO 2 and 3).
COURSE OUTLINE:
Jan. 26: Surprised by Joy; overview of Lewis's life up to WWI
Feb. 2: Spirits in Bondage; overview of Lewis's life through 1930
Feb. 9: Atheist, theist, Christian; The Pilgrim's Regress
Feb. 16: Lewis on Hell; The Screwtape Letters. Journal/Blog 1 due.
Feb. 23: The "birth" of an apologist; God in the Dock.
Mar. 2: Lewis, apologetics, and World War II; Mere Christianity,Part 1
Mar. 9: Lewis, apologetics, and World War II; MC, Part 2. Journal/Blog 2 due.
Mar. 23: Lewis on writing and myth; Of Other Worlds: Essays and Stories
Mar. 30: Retelling the myth of the Fall; Perelandra
Apr. 6: Lewis on Heaven; The Great Divorce; Journal/Blog 3 due.
Apr. 14: Lewis on Narnia; The Voyage of the Dawn Treader.
Apr. 17-19: Inklings Fellowship Conference
Apr. 27: Lewis on love; Till We Have Faces
May 4: Lewis on a broken heart: and A Grief Observed; Journal/Blog 4 due.
May 11: Student presentations and retrospective.
May 18: Final exam
EVALUATION: Your final grade in the course will be developed by the following:
- Class participation including regular attendance, quizzes, involvement in class and small group discussions, group projects, reading of assigned material, in and out of class short writing assignments, and attending the Inklings Fellowship Conference will count 30%.
- A book review of an assigned significant critical study related to the course (see the Bibliography) will count 10%. Due by midnight Apr. 20, 2009 via email attachment.
- An approved individual creative project--including an oral presentation component in class--will count 10%; due during the final class meeting, May 11, 2009.
- A literary analysis of 1,250-1,500 words--including an oral presentation component in class--will count 10%; due during the final exam period.
- Daily/weekly journaling/blog based on your reading and responding to Lewis's books. As a rule of thumb, you should journal/blog three to five times each week (roughly 200 words+ for each journal entry). In your journals/blogs you should reflect, react, respond, question, speculate, and so on with regard to what you are reading. Journals/Blogs will count 40%.
- There are a total of 1000 pts possible in the course. Final grades will be compiled using the following guidelines:
1000-900 A to A-
899-800 B+ to B-
799-700 C+ to C-
699-600 D+ to D-
599-0 F
LIBRARY:All students are encouraged to take advantage of the services and resources available from the library. You can search the online catalog and the library’s databases by going to http://www.montreat.edu/library/. Select “Catalog” to search the online catalog or “Electronic Resources” to search the databases. The catalog lists all of the books in the Montreat College library as well as the holdings of five other colleges. You may check out books from all of these libraries. In addition, you may request books or journal articles via interlibrary loan. From the online catalog, you can also check on reserve materials by selecting “Reserve Desk” and searching by instructor name or course name.
BIBLIOGRAPHY:As you begin to do research, following journals may be helpful: Mythlore, The Bulletin of the New York C. S. Lewis Society, The Chronicle of the Oxford C. S. Lewis Society, The Canadian C. S. Lewis Journal, SEVEN: An Anglo-American Literary Review, Chronicle of the Portland C. S. Lewis Society, Lamp-Post of the Southern California C. S. Lewis Society, and The Lewis Legacy. The two major collections of Lewis material are located at the Marion E. Wade Center at Wheaton College, Wheaton, Illinois, and at the Department of Western Manuscripts at the Bodleian Library, Oxford University, Oxford, England. Other online C. S. Lewis sites include The Cumberland River Lamp Post, Into the Wardrobe; C. S. Lewis Foundation; and C. S Lewis Inklings Resources Web Site.
In addition to many of the books listed below that are on three-day reserve, the library (or the MCLN) holds other journals that may be of help in doing research for this course. Of much interest to you, however, will be the multiple resources available via electronic databases, especially JSTOR.
Biographical Information:
Bremer, John. "Clive Staples Lewis, 1898-1963: A Brief Biography." In The C. S. Lewis Readers' Encyclopedia. Eds. Jeffrey D. Schultz and John G. West. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1998.
Carpenter, Humphrey. The Inklings: C. S. Lewis, J. R. R. Tolkien, Charles Williams, and Their Friends. London: Allen & Unwin, 1978.
Como, James, Ed. C. S. Lewis at the Breakfast Table and Other Reminiscences.New York: Macmillan, 1979.
Davidman, Joy. Out of My Bone: The Letters of Joy Davidman. Ed. Don W. King. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, forthcoming spring 2009.
Downing, David. The Most Reluctant Convert: C. S. Lewis’s Journey to Faith. Downer’s Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2004.
Dorsett, Lyle. And God Came In: The Extraordinary Story of Joy Davidman. New York: Macmillan, 1983.
Green, Roger L. and Walter Hooper. C. S. Lewis: A Biography. New York: Harcourt, Brace, Jovanovich, 1974.
Gresham, Douglas. Jack’s Life: A Memoir of C. S. Lewis. New York: Broadman Holman: 2005.
-----------. Lenten Lands: My Childhood with Joy Davidman and C.S. Lewis. New York: Macmillan, 1988.
Griffin, William. Clive Staples Lewis: A Dramatic Life. Harper and Row, 1986.
Jacobs, Alan. The Narnian: The Life and Imagination of C. S. Lewis. HarperSanFrancisco, 2005.
King, Don. “Fire and Ice: C. S. Lewis and the Love Poetry of Joy Davidman and Ruth Pitter.” SEVEN: An Anglo-American Literary Review 22 (2005): 60-88.
---------. Hunting the Unicorn: A Critical Biography of Ruth Pitter. Kent, OH: Kent State University Press, 2008.
---------. “Joy Davidman and the New Masses: Communist Poet and Reviewer.” The Chronicle of the Oxford C. S. Lewis Society 4, no. 1 (February 2007): 18-44.
Lewis, C. S. All My Road Before Me: The Diary of C. S. Lewis. Ed. by Walter Hooper. New York: Harcourt, Brace, Jovanovich, 1991.
------------. Collected Letters of C. S. Lewis: Family Letters, 1905-1931. Volume 1. Ed. Walter Hooper. London: HarperCollins, 2000.
------------. Collected Letters of C. S. Lewis: Books, Broadcasts, and War, 1931-1949, Volume 2. Ed. Walter Hooper.London: HarperCollins, 2004.
------------. Collected Letters of C. S. Lewis: Narnia, Cambridge, and Joy, 1950-1963, Volume 3. Ed. Walter Hooper.London: HarperCollins, 2006.
------------. Letters of C. S. Lewis. With memoir by Warren Lewis. New York: Harcourt, Brace, Jovanovich, 1966. Expanded and updated by Walter Hooper. Fount, 1988.
------------. They Stand Together: The Letters of C. S. Lewis to Arthur Greeves (1914-1963). Ed. by Walter Hooper. New York: Macmillan, 1979.
Lewis, Warren. Brothers and Friends: The Diaries of Major Warren Hamilton Lewis. Eds. Clyde S. Kilby and Marjorie Lamp Mead. San Francisco: Harper & Row, 1982.
Sayer, George. Jack: C. S. Lewis and His Times. San Francisco: Harper & Row, 1988.
Wilson, A. N. C. S. Lewis: A Biography. HarperCollins: San Francisco, 1990.
Brown, Devin. Inside Narnia: A Guide to Exploring The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 2005.
Downing, David. Into the Wardrobe: C. S. Lewis and the Narnia Chronicles. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 2005.
Ditchfield, Christin. A Family Guide to Narnia: Biblical Truths in C. S. Lewis’s The Chronicles of Narnia. Wheaton: Crossway Books, 2003.
Duriez, Colin. A Field Guide to Narnia. Downer’s Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2004.
---------. The C. S. Lewis Chronicles. New York: BlueBridge, 2005.
Ford, Paul. A Companion to Narnia. San Francisco: HarperCollins, 1994.
Schakel, Peter. The Way into Narnia: A Reader’s Guide. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2005.
Ryken, Leland and Marjorie Lamp Mead. A Reader’s Guide Through the Wardrobe: Exploring C. S. Lewis’s Classic Story. Downer’s Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2005.
Critical Information:
Adey, Lionel. C. S. Lewis: Writer, Dreamer, & Mentor. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1998.
Downing, David. Planets in Peril : A Critical Study of C. S. Lewis' Ransom Trilogy. Amherst: University of Massachusetts Press, 1992.
Duriez, Colin. The C. S. Lewis Encyclopedia : A Complete Guide to His Life, Thought, and Writings. Crossway Books, 2000.
Dorsett, Lyle. Seeking the Secret Places: The Spiritual Formation of C. S. Lewis. Grand Rapids: Brazos Press, 2004.
Edwards, Bruce, Ed. C. S. Lewis—Life, Works, and Legacy. 4 vols. Westport, CN: Praeger, 2007.
-----------The Taste of the Pineapple: Essays on C. S. Lewis as Reader, Critic, and Imaginative Writer. Bowling Green, OH: Bowling Green State University Popular Press, 1988.
Ford, Paul. A Companion to Narnia. San Francisco: HarperCollins, 1994.
Gilbert, Douglas, and Clyde S. Kilby, Eds. C. S. Lewis: Images of His World. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1973.
Glyer, Diana. The Company They Keep: C. S. Lewis and J. R. R. Tolkien as Writers in Community. Kent, Ohio: Kent State University Press, 2007.
Goffar, Janine. C. S. Lewis Index: A Comprehensive Guide to Lewis's Writings and Ideas. Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books, 1995.
Hooper, Walter. C. S. Lewis: A Companion and Guide. London: HarperCollins, 1996.
Howard, Thomas. The Achievement of C. S. Lewis: A Reading of His Fiction. Wheaton, Illinois: Harold Shaw Publishers, 1980.
Kilby, Clyde. The Christian World of C. S. Lewis. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1964.
King Don. C. S. Lewis, Poet: The Legacy of His Poetic Impulse. Kent, OH: Kent State University Press, 2001.
Kort, Wesley A. C. S. Lewis: Then and Now. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2001.
Lindskoog, Kathryn. Finding the Landlord: A Guidebook to C. S. Lewis'sPilgrim's Regress. Chicago: Cornerstone Press, 1995.
Lindsley, Art. C. S. Lewis’ Case for Christ: Insight from Reason, Imagination and Faith. Downer’s Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2005.
Martindale, Wayne. Beyond the Shadowlands: C. S. Lewis on Heaven and Hell. Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books, 2005.
Menuge, Angus, Ed. C. S. Lewis: Lightbearer in the Shadowlands: The Evangelistic Vision of C. S. Lewis. Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 1997.
Mills, David, Ed. The Pilgrims' Guide: C. S. Lewis and the Art of Witness. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1998.
Myers, Doris. Bareface: A Guide to C. S. Lewis’s Last Novel. Columbia, MO: University of Missouri Press, 2004.
---------. C. S. Lewis in Context. Kent, OH: Kent State University Press, 1994.
Nicholi, Armand M. The Question of God: C. S. Lewis and Sigmund Freud DebateGod, Love, Sex, and the Meaning of Life. New York: Free Press, 2002.
Payne, Leann. Real Presence: The Christian Worldview of C. S. Lewis as Incarnational Reality. Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books, 1988.
Schakel, Peter and Charles Huttar, Eds. Word and Story in C. S. Lewis. Columbia, MO: University of Missouri Press, 1991.
---------. Imagination and the Arts in C. S. Lewis: Journeying to Narnia and Other Worlds. Columbia, Missouri: University of Missouri Press, 2002.
---------. Reason and Imagination in C. S. Lewis: A Study of Till We Have Faces. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1984.
Schultz, Jeffrey D. and John G. West, Eds. The C. S. Lewis Readers' Encyclopedia. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1998.
Vaus, Will. Mere Theology: A Guide to the Thought of C. S. Lewis. Downer’s Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2004.
Walsh, Chad. C. S. Lewis: Apostle to the Skeptics. New York: Macmillan, 1949.
------------. The Literary Legacy of C. S. Lewis. New York: Harcourt, Brace, Jovanovich, 1979.
Ward, Michael. Planet Narnia: The Seven Heavens in the Imagination of C. S. Lewis. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2008.
ACADEMIC INTEGRITY:For all individual assignments students are expected to present their own work; documentation of research for your literary analysis must follow the specific criteria as outlined in the MLA Handbook for Writer of Research Paper or The Columbia Guide to Online Style second edition. Cases of academic dishonesty, including but not limited to cheating and plagiarism, will result in either of failure of the assignment or of the course. For the college's policy on this issue, please click academic integrity.
FINAL COMMENTS:This syllabus and other details about the course, including your grades for the course, are available through the college's online platform, Moodle. Please feel free to come by my office in McGowan Center 107, contact me at extension 3819, or email me at dking@montreat.edu if you need help with any aspect of the course.
All students are encouraged to take advantage of the resources available in the Writing Center, located adjacent to the Bell Library computer lab. See
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