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Copywork
About This Passage
Screwtape gives a picture of wasted time: a person sitting up late, doing nothing at all, 'staring at a dead fire in a cold room.' It is not an exciting sin, just empty hours slipping away. Copying this quiet, gloomy image shows how a single picture can capture the danger of letting time leak out into 'nothing.'
You can keep him up late at night, not roistering, but staring at a dead fire in a cold room.
Full copywork activity with handwriting lines available in the complete study guide.
Discussion Questions
Narration Prompt
Tell the story of Screwtape's twelfth letter to Wormwood in your own words. How does Screwtape want the man to drift slowly away without noticing it?
Discussion Questions
- Screwtape wants the man to believe his small bad choices are 'trivial and revocable' — no big deal and easy to undo — so he will not notice he is slowly drifting away from the Enemy. Why does the devil want the man to think his choices do not really matter? Which detail in the letter to Wormwood helps you decide?
- Screwtape is glad the man is 'still a churchgoer,' because keeping his old habits on the outside hides the big change he has made inside. Why does looking the same on the outside keep the man from noticing he has changed on the inside? How do you know, from what Screwtape says in the letter to Wormwood?
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Vocabulary Builder
Item 1
The bad feeling of having done something wrong.
Item 2
Something you do over and over without thinking.
Item 3
A little worried or uncomfortable inside.
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Critical Thinking
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