Description:   With the recent release of the major motion picture version of The Chronicles of Narnia, new generations of fans are coming to appreciate the dramatic fantasy world created by C. S. Lewis.  But the legacy of this writer should rightly extend “farther up and farther in” than the magical lands visited through the wardrobe.  In this course, we will learn of C. S. Lewis’ life, his development as a person of faith, his writings as a popular theologian, and his fictional worlds beyond Narnia.  We will not always find ourselves in agreement about what he says (he himself delighted in provoking controversy), but I suspect we will rarely disagree about the verbal facility with which he says it

Texts: 
The Essential C. S. Lewis (primary text anthology), ed. Lyle Dorsett
Simply C. S. Lewis, by Thomas Peters 
Out of the Silent Planet
A Grief Observed       

Goals:
By the end of this course, students will be able:

·        To identify major themes and turning points in the life of C. S. Lewis;

·        To analyze religious and specifically Christian images as they appear in works of fiction (particularly the writings of C. S. Lewis, but by extension, other works as well);

·        To speak and write intelligently about key concepts and contributions of C. S. Lewis to Christian apologetic theology;

·        To think and live more critically and creatively with their own religious questions.

Means of Assessment:

·        Class participation based on careful preparation of assigned readings (15%)

·        *NOTE:  You cannot PARTICIPATE if you do not ATTEND class.  

Therefore, any unexcused absence will adversely affect your participation grade.  If you are absent from a quiz or synthesizing exercise [see below] without gaining prior permission for a legitimate excuse, you should not expect to be given an opportunity to make it up.

·        We will have at least one extra session (tentatively scheduled for Sunday evening, April 9, to view in full a film version of Shadowlands).

·        Quizzes to ensure timely reading of Out of the Silent Planet and Perelandra (5 % each)

·        Narnia Presentation  We will be reading together only the first book to be written in the Chronicles of Narnia series (The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, contained in the primary text anthology).  Students will be responsible in groups for making presentations on each of the other six books of the series (March 21 and March 28). (15%)

·        Synthesizing exercises (due February 2, March 2, April 4) consisting of both out-of-class, open-book essays and closed-book, in-class short answer identifications (15% each)

·        Final examination (Saturday, May 6, 6:30 p.m.) (15%)

NOTE:  All students are strongly encouraged to keep electronic files, where possible, of work completed for this course.  Saving material onto the O: drive provided by the college is an easy way to do this.  (If you don’t know how to save to your O: drive, I’ll be glad to show you.)

Accommodations:  If you have documented learning needs and require specific accommodations, please contact Sue Kuehn in the Office for Students with Special Needs (recently re-located to the Academic Enrichment Center in Coltrane) to arrange for a letter to be sent to me.  I will be happy to work with you on these matters.

Attendance, Class Behavior, and Academic Integrity:  For a detailed description of a student’s responsibility and rights, see the Brevard College Student Handbook as well as the college catalog.  While students are strongly encouraged to help on another inside and outside of class on matters of existential import, performance on synthesizing essays is a strictly individual matter (unless explicitly noted as collaborative).  Therefore, any violation of the Honor Code will result in a failing grade on the exercise in question and, if repeated, in the course as a whole.