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Copywork
About This Passage
Screwtape states a law he depends on: if you keep pretending to be a certain kind of person, you slowly become that person for real. It is a warning hidden inside a boast. Copying this short, sharp sentence shows how a single true idea can explain why the masks we wear start to grow into our faces.
All mortals tend to turn into the thing they are pretending to be. This is elementary.
Full copywork activity with handwriting lines available in the complete study guide.
Discussion Questions
Narration Prompt
Tell the story of Screwtape's tenth letter to Wormwood in your own words. What does Screwtape like about the man's new friends, and how does he want the man to change to fit in with them?
Discussion Questions
- Screwtape says 'all mortals tend to turn into the thing they are pretending to be,' so if the man pretends to agree with his new friends, he may really become like them. Why is pretending to be something you are not a dangerous thing to do? Which detail in the letter to Wormwood helps you decide?
- Screwtape wants the man to show, just with 'looks and tones and laughs,' that he is 'of the same party' as his new friends, even when he does not really agree. Why is going along quietly with the group, without saying a word, still a kind of betrayal? How do you know, from what Screwtape says in the letter to Wormwood?
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Vocabulary Builder
Item 1
Too much pride in oneself or wanting to look good.
Item 2
To act as if something is true when it is not.
Item 3
A bad feeling about doing something wrong.
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Critical Thinking
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