Preview
Copywork
About This Passage
This single sentence holds the chapter's hardest truth for a child: we notice the habits that annoy us in others but stay blind to our own. Copying its balanced shape — 'tones and looks which similarly annoy her' — gives a young writer a memorable line about fairness and self-knowledge.
And, of course, never let him suspect that he has tones and looks which similarly annoy her.
Full copywork activity with handwriting lines available in the complete study guide.
Discussion Questions
Narration Prompt
Tell someone what Screwtape's third letter says, in order. When you reach the part about the man and his mother at breakfast, slow down: what does Screwtape want them to do to each other, and what do you think about it?
Discussion Questions
- Screwtape tells Wormwood and the devil Glubose to build up 'daily pinpricks' between the man and his mother. Why does Screwtape want lots of small, everyday annoyances instead of one big fight? Which detail in the letter helps you decide?
- Screwtape tells Wormwood that the man should judge his own words by what he 'simply' said, but judge his mother's words by her tone and what he thinks she meant. Is it fair to use one rule for yourself and a different rule for someone else? How do you know, from what Screwtape says in the letter?
+ 2 more questions in the complete study guide
Vocabulary Builder
Item 1
A sudden burst of anger.
Item 2
To bother someone and make them a little angry.
Item 3
Happening every day.
+ 5 more vocabulary words in the complete study guide
Critical Thinking
+ 4 more questions in the complete study guide
Get the complete study guide — free
Sign up and get your first book with every chapter included. Copywork, discussion questions, vocabulary, and critical thinking.
Sign up free