Out of the Silent Planet may not be the first title that comes to mind for readers familiar with C.S. Lewis. An amazingly productive writer, his work encompasses literary scholarship, popular fiction, poetry, apologetics, biography, numerous letters, and a beloved series of chronicles for young readers. His trilogy of novels about the interplanetary voyages of university professor Elwin Ransom represent his foray into the science fiction genre he loved, giving it his own unique spin.
This course is designed to give readers a community as they delve into the first book in this series. Instead of vocabulary lists or quizzes, this course provides a series of short video lectures for students to watch as they read through the novel section by section. These lectures are designed to enhance students’ reading by introducing
- preoccupations and themes that emerge in Out of the Silent Planet
- aspects of Lewis’s craftsmanship such as structure, language, and literary allusions
- historical elements
- consideration of how the story relates to our own lives, and our efforts to find meaning in them.
Students are asked to keep a reading journal, and to contribute to class discussion boards about the book. Finally, students will be encouraged to write about the novel at the conclusion of the course. Paper suggestions and grading helps are provided for parents to use as desired.
Purchase grants 6 months of access.
If you want to follow Ransom’s adventures in the next novel, consider signing up for our Perelandra course.
