Chapters IX-XI Questions

1.Why do our “trough periods” make us so vulnerable (43)? Is this applicable to you?

      “Trough periods” are times in which we experience adversity or difficulty in our daily lives. During these times, we often portray strong emotions in negative ways. For example, when people feel sad during adversity, they commonly blame God for the bad things happening in life. By being desperate for happiness and peace in our lives, we often fall into the temptations of the world. For instance, many people in the world turn to drinking and drugs during hard times. We often look to find peace and happiness in worldly or temporal things instead of spiritual or eternal things. When I am going through hard times in my life, I often feel hatred toward other people or things. Because of this, I become vulnerable to sins like gossip. Because I feel guilty for myself, I act selfishly by blaming others for my mistakes.

2.What beautiful truth about pleasure does Screwtape share? Make a list of pleasure? The beautiful truth about pleasure is that God produces it. However, pleasures are often corrupted because of intentions.

     1. Using electronic devices
     2. Sleeping/ Relaxing
     3. Food
     4. Scoring points in games
     5. Getting good grades

3. What are your thoughts regarding “parallel lives” (51)? What does this mean to you?

        I think “parallel lives” are when people live hypocritical lives. When we are hypocritical, we tend to lie in a sense about how we act.

Chapters V-VIII Questions

What is Screwtape’s idea on the best way for humans to die? Why? Screwtape’s idea on the best way for humans die is with a false sense of hope. In chapter five, Screwtape describes care homes as the best way for humans to die. He explains that at care homes, friends, doctors, family, and nurses all lie to you about your health. They give you a false sense of hope without looking at the other aspects of life. For example, during war, many people look to unselfish causes and moral. They fight for their cause and most likely exemplify heroic features. How does “...malice thus becomes wholly real and the benevolence largely imaginary” (28)? How does this apply to your life? In my opinion, malice becomes wholly real and benevolence becomes largely imaginary when we start to treat others in kind ways for the wrong intentions. For example, if we sit with a new student at school for the purpose of looking good, we become a selfish, sinful person with horrible intentions. I have done this many times in my life with simple things like picking up trash or cleaning my house. In addition, malice becomes wholly real when we take people for granted and treat them badly. I have done this in my life many times to both friends and family. By making mean comments without thinking, I become a hurtful person. Finally, malice becomes wholly real when we have hatred bottled up inside us. It’s a high probability that every person in this world strongly dislikes another person. I have been guilty of this many times in my life. I tend to hold grudges against other people. When I finally talk about it with someone, I can say horrible, mean things out of anger! What is the “law of Undulation” (37)? Give an example of this in your life. The law of Undulation is a cycle in which a person experiences the rise of excitement or interest at different times of their life for the same thing. For example, I tend to get excited for the first day of school. However, as school goes on, I begin to detest school until a new school year! Additionally, I get excited when planning things for my class! As I get more into planning an event, I realize the hard work that I have to put into making fun activities for my class.

Chapters I-IV Questions

1. Give an example or two about situations in which you are "...attending to universal issues and withdrawing...attention from the stream of immediate sense experiences" (2). For myself, I quickly found three: 1. Emailing a local friend instead of doing something or making a call. 2. Hanging out with someone - by going to the movies. 3. Having a party but being too busy to spend time with guests.

 I often read books without remembering or understanding anything from a whole chapter. My mind often “thinks for itself” while I am reading. Even though I do not notice it, I read in my head while thinking about other things about my life. I do this even when I am reading out loud! Even when the book may be very interesting, my mind wanders off to other subjects. Because of this, I usually lose the whole experience of an awesome book. In addition, I do not always remember to pray to God.  In pages eighteen and nineteen of the Screwtape Letters, Lewis explains that Christians do this often. I often do not realize the greatness of God when I talk to Him; I don’t always get the full experience of talking to my Savior because of surrounding thoughts.

2.  What are your "daily pinpricks" (11)? For myself, spiral paper eats at something deep inside.

 I have a lot of weird “daily pinpricks.” For example, I hate when people touch my shoulders. It makes me feel gross and gives me “the chills.” What makes more aggravated is that people touch my shoulders purposely to irritate me! In addition, I hate when my folder paper isn't exactly folded in half. My OCD kicks in and I have to fix it until it’s perfect. Finally, I hate when people don’t listen to me when I am leading an activity. I get stressed out when my class doesn't listen to me! When any of these things happen, my frustration comes out! I know that instead of showing frustration, I should show peace and appreciation because of God’s mercy and grace. What are your thoughts on prayer? Compare your prayer life to this chapter. I often pray during the mornings and night. Before I go to sleep, I thank God for the day. I often pray on my rides to school for my class and family to grow closer to God. Like most people, I tend to pray “more intensely” while I’m in panic or stress. Like Lewis mentions, I often don’t have the desire to pray or talk to God. I take God for granted because of my selfish desire for worldly things.

What is eSafety?

If you need to see the pictures better...

Copyright

What does copyright mean to me? When I think of copyright, I usually think of pesky laws or rules getting in the way of copying or sharing things. Copyright is a protector of one's hard work. It is a fair way to prevent plagiarism and illegal sharing. Because of copyright, one is able to keep the credit for their own work.

Introductory Video

Questions and Answers

A. Besides social media, texting, or homework, I don’t write much. Writing has always been a struggle for me. When I was in intermediate, I would take writing classes over the summer in order to improve.

B. When I was a child, I used to go to the library and read many books. I loved reading books like the magic tree house. As a teenager, I buy books from Amazon or the Itunes stores. I tend to read books about adventure or basic chick-books.

C. Although I do not know much about technology, I tend to utilize it the majority of my day time. I am always on my Iphone or my windows computer. I am active on Facebook and Instagram but don’t post much.

D. I learn best by visually or kinesthetic learning. I strive to exceed not only grade wise, but knowledge wise. I would rather have a hard teacher than an easy teacher. This way, I am more challenged and prepared for life. I tend to panic when I take tests and quizzes, even though I study for them.

E. I took this class because I wanted a challenge intellectually and technologically. I enjoy hands on learning and I knew the class would provide that for me.