Worksheet 10
Due Tuesday, June 4

Read: Leisure: The Basis of Culture, Josef Pieper
On Fairy Stories, J. R. R. Tolkien
with Reality Is Broken, Jane McGonigal

1. What is leisure, according to Pieper?

2. How does leisure provide a solution to acedia?

3. Why does Pieper think that leisure requires a religious foundation?

4. Describe some of the deep-seated human desires that “Fairy Stories” aim to satisfy.

5. The common attitude is that fairy stories are for children, because children can be duped into believing in them. Why does Tolkien think that fairy stories are also for adults, and in what sense are we supposed to “believe” fairy stories?

6. Why would it be important, and even morally right, to provide people with an opportunity of escape, through fairy-stories, films, or video games?

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