Wait a second!
More handpicked essays just for you.
More handpicked essays just for you.
C.S. Lewis' influence on writing
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Recommended: C.S. Lewis' influence on writing
The Inklings by Humphrey Carpenter
C.S. Lewis heard the bells of one of the colleges strike noon as he hurried purposefully along the narrow cobblestone streets of Oxford. He disliked giving the tutorials required of his position of Tutor in English Language and Literature at Magdalen College and usually kept the sessions to the minimum required time. However, this tutorial had given rise to a particularly enjoyable debate, and he never liked to cut off a good hydebate, although he now wished he had. He was late. Lewis hastily acknowledged the barkeep as he ducked into the Eagle and Child, or Bird and Baby as the pub was better known, and hurried towards the sound of his friends’ laughter coming from the back room and to join in the conversation he had been looking forward to all morning. The group was a usual fixture in the pub on Tuesday mornings, and he was swiftly served his drink as ordering was no longer necessary.
As he settled back into his chair, listening to the conversation, he surveyed this group of men, collectively known as the Inklings, which had come to mean so much to him over the years. Present today were Lewis’s brother Warnie Lewis, J.R.R. Tolkien, Charles Williams, and Hugo Dyson. Lewis briefly wondered what the rest of the members (Nevill Coghill, Owen Barfield, R.E. Havard, and Adam Fox) were doing as he began to reminisce.
The impact this literary group had on the world, with books like The Screwtape Letters, The Lord of the Rings trilogy, and War in Heaven written by brilliant Inklings as evidence, is tremendous. At the same time, no one was more influenced by the Inklings than Lewis himself. Each of the Inklings might have known one or two others before the formation of the group, thr...
... middle of paper ...
...endship, centered around Lewis, which rose above the diversity.
The group rose and began to gather hats and coats to ready themselves for the crisp spring afternoon. It had been a good Inklings and had produced some rather stimulating conversation. It occasionally reached such a fevered pitch that some other patrons of the Bird and Baby, not the regulars who regarded the Inklings as somewhat of a fixture, to raise an eyebrow. Lewis once remarked they “probably think we’re talking bawdy when in fact we’re very likely talking theology” (185). As this diverse group of friends separated to go back to their jobs at various colleges, Lewis smiled to himself. He was already looking forward to Thursday.
Work Cited
Carpenter, Humphrey. The Inklings: C.S. Lewis, J.R.R. Tolkien, Charles Williams, and their friends. Eugene, OR: Wipf and Stock Publishers, 1979.
Lewis, C.S. The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe. PDF File.
Kroeber, Karl. "Tolkien, J. R. R. (1892-1973)." British Writers: Supplement 2. Ed. George Stade. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1992. 519-536. Literature Resources from Gale. Web. 3 Mar. 2014.
The Hatchet is a book written by Gary Paulsen about a 13 year old boy named Brian Robeson who was going on a plane for the first time on a Cessna 406 to visit his father for the summer in the Canadian woods. Brian was very nervous about going on a plane but his mother assured Brain that he will be find. Brian and the pilot got in the plane then sat in their seats. The pilot let Brian sit in the co-pilot seat so Brian could see out of big window. Shortly after that the pilot could see that Brian was very nervous about flying then told he that he would be find and even let Brain control the plane for a short time. After that it was dead silent he started to think about his parent and how his mother was seeing another man but his father didn’t
Carpenter, Humphery, Christopher Tolkien and J.R.R. Tolkien. The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 2000. Print.
Have you ever tried to outsmart a lion? In my novel, the Ghost and the Darkness by Dewey Gram, two lions terrorize and kill the workers trying to construct a bridge in Africa. The protagonist, John. H. Paterson, is an intelligent architect and a strong leader always trying to rationalize problems, but is also brash and arrogant sometimes leading to him overlooking a major flaw in his plan. The other major characters are Starling, a world famous British hunter in charge of protecting the camp, and Samuel, a native African from a nearby tribe who came to help with surviving the wildlife. Samuel is constantly challenging Patterson’s plans and points out obvious flaws with them, while Starling is audacious and dashing, constantly putting himself in harm's way so he can succeed.
J.R.R. Tolkien was influenced to write The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings was his extensive knowledge of northern European languages and literature, the early death of his parents, the time he served in World War I, his interest of myths and sagas, and his peers in the literature group, “The Inklings.” J.R.R. Tolkien has a background that all came together to shape his works, and it all contributed to help revive fantasy stories into modern literature. J.R.R. Tolkien had many great influences on his stories, but the greatest come from his family, World War I, and his peers at
The. Stimpson, Catherine R. J. R. R. Tolkien. Columbia Essays on Modern Authors #41. New York: Columbia University Press, 1969. Urang, Gunnar.
Imagine a society full of greed and envy, with little love and comfort. This is the ideal reality in “Gathering Blue” by Lois Lowry. I relish the book due to the main character’s physical and emotional strength. The main character, Kira, was always identified as being an insignificant burden due to her deformed leg, but she was tenacious, because her mother always told her that her strong hands and wise head make up for it. This book left me at gusto. If you are looking for a complex story with amazing twist and turns then this book is in your favor.
Burns, Olive Ann. “Boy howdy, ma'am you have sent us a fine book.” The English Journal. Dec. 1989: 16-20 Web. 14 NCTE Jan. 2014
C.S. Lewis was one of the greatest know fictional writers; he created a wonderful series of books called The Chronicles of Narnia. His real name was Clive Staples Lewis but also his friends called him “Jack”. He was born on November 29, 1898 in Belfast, Ireland. C.S. Lewis was married to Joy Davidman, his father was Albert James Lewis and his mother was Florence Augusta Lewis. He is best known for his fictional work and for his non-fictional Christian apologetics. When Lewis was a little boy him and his brother created the world of Boxen, also he had a fascination with anthropomorphic animals falling in love with Beatrix Potter’s and often writing and illustrating his own animal stories. When C.S. Lewis was a teenager most of his writings moved away from the tales of Boxen, and he began using different art forms to try to capture his new-found interest in Norse mythology and the natural world. In 1916 he was awarded a scholarship at University of Oxford.
Reidhead J. ed. (1998, Fifth Edition) The Norton Anthology of American Literature Volume 1: Norton & Company, New York
The book Ordinary Men discuss the story behind the men who were involved in the killing force of the final solution. Throughout the book one finds out that the men who were involved with these groups were no different than any other person at the time but they just got stuck in a bad situation. The Reserve Police Battalion 101 was responsible for a large amount of the mass murders that were taking place during the holocaust. The basis behind these mass murders was to fulfill the plan of the final solution. The final solution was the plan to completely wipe out anyone who was not a member of the Aryan race. The goal was to have country of all German Aryans. Although Hitler and associates were never able to completely carryout the final solution they did succeed in the murdering of millions of innocent people.
Lane, John. “Novels of the Week.” Rev. of Out of the Silent Planet, by C. S. Lewis. New York Times 1 Oct. 1938: 625. Times Literary Supplement. 19 Mar. 2009. Print.
The Narnia Chronicles have already established themselves as timeless works of literature. They appeal to both the atheists and the God-fearing, to both the uneducated and to scholars; to children and adults. An understanding of the Biblical allegory in these books is not essential to their appreciation. A critical analysis of these works, however, does allow the reader to more fully appreciate Lewis' unique gift to simplify complex narratives and craft beautiful children's fantasies. This, in turn, allows the reader to gain both a deeper understanding of Lewis as a skilled creative writer, and a deeper satisfaction of his art. To be able to appreciate C.S. Lewis as such an artisan can only add to one's enjoyment of his works.
Lewis did not live the life of the average boy; creating interests in cars, wrestling figures, super heroes, action figures, water guns, sports, and mud. He had an imaginary land called Boxen. This land was filled with many “Edwardian” creatures. He would visit and play in this land all the time, but he stopped playing in his land when he was ten because his mother passed away. After this, he was sent to a boarding school in England; twice. While he was at boarding shool, he stayed with a professor named Kirk Patrick. Also, he started exploring the world of poetry, specifically Virgil and Homer, and incorporated his first idea for the Chronicles of Narnia series: a faun carrying parcels in a snowy wood.