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Copywork
About This Passage
Here Screwtape dissects the homemade god a person assembles in the mind: pictures, half-remembered images, even one's own bodily sensations 'objectified.' The catalogue structure and the cool clinical verb 'objectified' teach a young writer how precise diagnosis can be its own kind of argument, and how the passage exposes the difference between an idea of God and God.
If you examine the object to which he is attending, you will find that it is a composite object containing many quite ridiculous ingredients. There will be images derived from pictures of the Enemy as...
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Discussion Questions
Narration Prompt
Summarize Screwtape's fourth letter, then explain what Lewis most wants the reader to notice about how prayer can be hollowed out. What techniques does Screwtape rely on to achieve that effect?
Discussion Questions
- Screwtape's subtlest weapon is that humans pray to a 'composite object' built from images and even 'bodily sensations,' a homemade god rather than the real Enemy. Why is an idol the man assembles in his own mind more useful to Screwtape than open unbelief? Point to the ingredients Screwtape lists to Wormwood.
- Screwtape wants the man to grade his prayers 'by their success in producing the desired feeling,' knowing this depends on whether he is 'well or ill, fresh or tired.' What does this reveal about the difference between a feeling and an act of the will, and why is tying faith to feeling a trap? Use Screwtape's words to Wormwood to defend your reading.
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Vocabulary Builder
Item 1
Brought back to a faith or belief once held before.
Item 2
The act of leading attention the wrong way on purpose.
Item 3
A humble request or earnest prayer for something.
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Critical Thinking
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