A Wrinkle In Time by Madeleine L'Engle                                                        
Discussion questions by Elizabeth Fierro
Hannah Wills our discussion leader for Thursday August 10th.

Short biography- Madeleine L'Engle Camp was born in New York City on November 29, 1918. At age twelve moved to the French Alps, but she went to boarding school in England. Her high school years were spent back in the U.S.   L'Engle attended Smith College from 1937 to 1941 and graduated with honours. She married actor Hugh Franklin.
A Wrinkle In Time was rejected by 26 publishers before it was published. It won the 1963 Newbery Award and has been in continuous print ever since. Madeleine L'Engle died in 2007. 


1. What word or words would you use to describe the theme of A Wrinkle of Time? Does it match any of the themes in Lewis' Space Trilogy?


 
2. Does Auntie Beast play the same role as Oyeresu? How are they the same or different? 


3. What is the role of Mrs. Who, Mrs. Whatsit, and Mrs. Which? What did they used to be? 


4. What do you think of the three "gifts" given to the children in the chapter "The Happy Medium"? What was the role of Meg's faults?


5. Does the section of the book dealing with the journey to Camazotz remind you of any of Lewis' books.

 
6. The people on the planet Camazotz have no crime, no responsibility, and no decisions to make. What is so wrong with their society?


7. What was Meg's expectation as to what would happen when she found her father? 


8. How do #6 and #7 relate to Meg's anger with her father?

 
9. Does this relate to our own expectations of our Heavenly Father and His expectations of us?


10. What is the struggle the children have to wage to not fall into the power of IT? How are these same choices and struggles manifested in society and history? 


11. Why is Charles Wallace the key? What got him into the power of IT?
What had to change before he could be released and why was Meg the one who had to do it?


12. Questions of trust keep coming up both  A Wrinkle In Time and Lewis' books. In the books, and in our lives we have to decide who and what to trust and who and what not to trust. How do the characters (and we) decide who to trust and who is not trustworthy? How do we keep our moral compass? 


13. Aunt Beast talks about the "help" we get in the fight against the dark. What do you think are some of the helps she was referring to, and what are the helps you have?

                 A Wrinkle In Time our book selection for Thursday August 10th  7:20 P.M.
      Once again we will be meeting at Barnes and Noble. Happy Reading. :)

On Thursday July 13th 7:20 pm. Note the meeting place is Barnes & Noble again.  We will be discussing Till We Have Faces.  

We will be using the the questions from Speaking of Jack by Will Vaus. In case some of you haven't purchased it yet I've posted the questions here.  Feel free to ask your own questions of the story also.
I think it's only 3.99 on Kindle. :)

Discussion Questions for C.S. Lewis'
Till We Have Faces 
1. If you are familiar with the myth of Cupid and Psyche, how does C. S. Lewis change the original story? What additions does he make? 

2. If someone asked you what Till We Have Faces was about, what would you say? 

3. If That Hideous Strength could be considered an illustration of The Abolition of Man, what Lewis book do you think Till We Have Faces is an illustration of?

4. How are the workings of storge, philia, eros and agape illustrated in Till We Have Faces?

5. What character or characters is Orual similar to in one of Jack’s other books?

6. What do you think Orual’s veil is symbolic of?

7. How does Jack develop the paired motifs of enlightenment and sacrifice in this story? What is Jack trying to teach us in this aspect of the story?

8. How does Jack develop the paired motifs of reason and imagination in this story? What do you think Jack is trying to tell us on this subject? 

9. What do you think the god means when he tells Orual that she must “die before she dies because there is no chance after”? 

10. Why is it that the gods cannot meet us “till we have faces”? 

11. How does the relationship between Orual and Psyche after their encounters on the mountain illustrate Charles Williams’s Way of Exchange? 

12. What do you think of Orual’s words: “I know now, Lord, why you utter no answer. You are yourself the answer.”? 

13. What did you think of Orual being made beautiful at the end of the story? How was it the fulfillment of her life-long desire? 

14. How did you enjoy reading Till We Have Faces compared to reading Jack’s other books? Was it harder or easier to read? Why?