The way is closed... The elegant iron gates of Dunrobin Castle in Scotland (midway between Inverness and Wick) are silhouetted against the sky as the sun rises in a blaze of glory one January morning. After Adam and Eve were banished from Paradise, Eden’s gates were closed and an angel with a flaming sword set to guard them. In the Christian communion service, the gates separating the altar from the congregation are likewise closed, and a lighted candle set before them, shortly before they are reopened to allow the bread and wine to be distributed.
ADAM and Eve did not become gods. They became overwhelmed with doubts and anxieties, something God had hoped to spare them. Their nakedness now shamed them, and when they heard God calling for them in the Garden, they hid.*
They soon confessed everything, and the lies of the snake were laid bare; but it was now imperative that Adam and Eve should not taste also of the Tree of Life that granted immortality, or else they would remain fixed in this wretched state forever. So God banished them from the Garden, and set guardian angels and a flaming sword at its East Gate.
Adam and Eve endured a life of sorrow and hardship, returning at last to the dust from which they had come, until One should come to open to them the gates of Paradise once again. That tale begins not with the whispered lies of a snake, but with the clear voice of an angel crying, ‘Hail, Mary, full of grace.’*
Based on Genesis 2-3, and ‘An Exact Exposition of the Orthodox Faith’, Book II Chapter 11 by St John Damascene.
See also The Emperor and the Nun, where the tense relationship between the nun Cassiani and a young Roman Emperor takes another twist thanks to this passage.
See Cynewulf’s meditation on Adam, Eve and the Annunciation to the Virgin Mary in Annunciation.
Précis
The forbidden fruit did not make Adam and Eve divine, as the snake had promised. It made them ashamed and anxious, instead of carefree as they had been before. To ensure that this state did not last for ever, God banished them from Eden and the Tree of Life, until such time as they could safely return. (57 / 60 words)
The forbidden fruit did not make Adam and Eve divine, as the snake had promised. It made them ashamed and anxious, instead of carefree as they had been before. To ensure that this state did not last for ever, God banished them from Eden and the Tree of Life, until such time as they could safely return.
Variations: 1.increase the length of this precis to exactly 60 words. 2.reduce the length of this precis to exactly 50 words. 3.introduce one of the following words into the precis: about, although, if, just, otherwise, ought, since, whereas.
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Word Games
Sevens Based on this passage
Suggest answers to this question. See if you can limit one answer to exactly seven words.
Variations: 1.expand your answer to exactly fourteen words. 2.expand your answer further, to exactly twenty-one words. 3.include one of the following words in your answer: if, but, despite, because, (al)though, unless.
Jigsaws Based on this passage
Express the ideas below in a single sentence, using different words as much as possible. Do not be satisfied with the first answer you think of; think of several, and choose the best.
Spinners Find in Think and Speak
For each group of words, compose a sentence that uses all three. You can use any form of the word: for example, cat → cats, go → went, or quick → quickly, though neigh → neighbour is stretching it a bit.
This exercise uses words found in the accompanying passage.
1 Have. Like. Rib.
2 Lonely. Not. Their.
3 Flame. Out. Pain.
Variations: 1. include direct and indirect speech 2. include one or more of these words: although, because, despite, either/or, if, unless, until, when, whether, which, who 3. use negatives (not, isn’t, neither/nor, never, nobody etc.)
High Tiles Find in Think and Speak
Make words (three letters or more) from the seven letters showing below, using any letter once only. Each letter carries a score. What is the highest-scoring word you can make?
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0
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