Metamorphosis Franz Kafka Biographical information Born 1883 in

Metamorphosis

Franz Kafka Biographical information • Born 1883 in Prague • Graduated with a law degree • Sold insurance instead for the majority of his life • Strained parental relationship • Effects on writing, overall message • Never married • @ end of his life he was completely isolated from society and all he did was write • Was convinced by a friend to burn the majority of his manuscripts • Died alone

What does isolation mean? What effects does isolation have on the human psyche? What does the word metamorphosis mean? Recall “Daedalus and Icarus. ”

Story Specifics • Setting: • Unnamed city, unspecified time • Why does Kafka do this? • Characters • Gregor Samsa: main characters, textile salesman • Grete: Gregor’s sister • Mr. and Mrs. Samsa: Gregor’s parents • 3 rd person limited, point of view. • Limited narrator: • Omniscient narrator:

Metamorphosis By: Franz Kafka Journal: Describe the weirdest or latest dream you have had. 5 minutes.

Nihilism Philosophical doctrine that depicts life without meaning Perceived pointlessness of existence Term was first used in the Middle Ages to describe Christian heretics

Seinfield… http: //www. youtube. com/watch? v=EQna. Rt. NMG MI Focus on minutiae (minute, unimportant details) Life as pointless, a simple series of events Ironic humor

Types of Nihilism Moral nihilism: does not believe a decision is right/wrong. It just IS (killing someone is not right/wrong) Existential nihilism: life has no meaning Epistemological nihilism: extreme form of skepticism; all knowledge is denied Political nihilism: anarchist political lifestyle

Nihilism examples… http: //www. youtube. com/watch? v=o. QTI 9 Ja. Hec E&feature=related http: //www. youtube. com/watch? v=ythrd. Cs. OFJ U

Journal Justify your personal work ethic. 5 minutes Do you work hard? Do you do enough just to get by? Explain and use examples from your life.

Today 10/6 Read pgs. 8 -top 13 Answer the following questions in notes How can you infer Gregor’s work ethic? Describe the office manager. USE A QUOTATION TO SUPPORT THIS DESCRIPTION. How does the reader meet Grete? What do the mother/sister do at the end?

Journal #8 What environment (home, school, etc. ) do you feel most comfortable in. Why? What does this say about YOU as a person? Read pg. 21 -top 24. Answer study guide questions

Discussion of Homework Parental involvement Gregor’s parents reaction Open Dialogue? Grete as a character Hobbies/interests Behavior q. Gregor’s entertainment

Gregor’s Room Think back to journal Discussion of “environments of comfort”

Gregor’s Room contd. Bottom of pg. 31 -end of chapter 2 Furniture…what does it represent to Gregor To him, more than just pieces of furniture, representation of his life Grete’s intentions Gregor’s Reaction Monotony of family life Mr. Samsa’s appearance BEHAVIOR

Vivid Imagery Exercise Imagine the environment you discussed in your journal. Was it your house, bedroom, friends home, or a social gathering you have every year? In as MUCH detail as possible, down to the scents and feeling you get as you walk in the door, the picture hanging crooked on the wall, the color of the rug. Write down the description as you walk through this environment.

My example… The environment in which I feel most at home is Christmas dinner at my aunt’s house. Since I was born, every year I have gone to my aunt’s house for Christmas. No matter what occurs in the preceding year or where we have moved, this is the one constant in my life. When you drive up the driveway, your car hobbles on the loose stone that my uncle can never seem to fix. As we open the car door, the fresh scent of winter slaps you in the face. Your face turns red and the smell of future snows fills your nostrils. We run to the trunk to gather the food that we were supposed to bring, inevitably forgetting something at home. Glares of frustration are passed between father/son, mother/daughter but eventually we make it into the house. When you walk in the house you are greeted with the scent of 5 entrees cooking in the 2 ovens. The voices of my aunt and uncle, who are always the first ones there are laughing at some joke in the background. The marble floor is cold, so I leave my shoes on at all times, until after dinner of course when I take my nap.

The misletoe, which I never noticed until last year, hangs too low and my abnormally tall cousin will at some point walk into it. The staircase that curves to the second floor balcony is decorated with holly and all types of fresh flowers. The outdated pink carpet will inevitably be a topic of conversation for the dinner table. As you continue to walk, to your right is the dining table. Filled to the brim with chairs and expertly arranged. Little snowmen picture holders, hold the name cards of where everyone is supposed to sit. There are three plates that make up each setting. Customary at a Polish Christmas. The candles are flickering just enough to give off a scent of “pine” and “christmas cookie” and as the dinner will progress they must be moved to make room for the food. The tablecloth is a gold metallic that is nicely offset by the red and white napkins and gold napkin rings. As I pass by the dining room, I enter the kitchen….

Your turn… Describe the environment you discussed in your journal, in as much detail as possible. How will you be graded? Use of sensory images (5 senses: see, smell, taste, touch, hear) Vivid descriptive phrases How well can the reader imagine this environment? Varied Sentence Structure ( avoid subject/verb)

Chapter 3 Journal: Discuss a moment in your life where you unwillingly had to accept something. What did this process look/feel like? Mr. Samsa’s method of acceptance. Only when he physically hurt Gregor did he feel as if he could accept him the way he is

Chapter 3 How has the family changed? Physically-what’s happened to Gregor? What has the family done to get money? How has Grete changed?

Chapter 3 contd Quotation Sandwich ** Analysis

Answer the following questions using QS How does the cleaning woman react to the sight of Gregor? Describe the roomers and their attitude towards the family What is Gregor’s reaction to the sound of the violin? What effect does it have over him? How has Gregor’s mentality towards life changed?

Example Currently, what is the family’s attitude toward Gregor? Gregor’s family has taken on an apathetic mood towards Gregor’s condition. It appears they are stuck between accepting Gregor and writing him off. “It was the commandment of the family duty to swallow their disgust and endure him, and nothing more” (38). Gregor’s family appears to be in the avoidance stage of grieving. They do not want to confront and accept Gregor because that means Gregor will never change. Little do they know this avoidance behavior is slowly killing Gregor.

Do Now: Read 48 -49 Changes in Grete’s character Impact on family dynamic? What is Grete’s change a signal of? .

Chapter 3 Physical Ramifications on Gregor Reception of Gregor’s death

Why does Mr. Samsa kick the roomers out? New life/new beginning Where do possibilities lie for the Samsas now?

Allegory Falls under the category of symbolism A story in which all characters, setting, plot points stand for something else

Home Alone

Examples in film 2. Home Alone (1990) A perfect example of easier said than done, the US government in the late 1980 s was trying to eradicate youth homelessness, vagrancy, and runaways. With pressure from financial backers, teen film stalwart John Hughes was commissioned to write a script that countered all these issues. Instead, we got Home Alone. Somehow, in the writing process the story changed from a child deciding to run away only to find he can’t survive only to go back home to his family, to a story about a precocious child who gets left behind and manages to not just survive but defeat two robbers. Part of the problem with the latter’s approach was that it more or less mocked youths would didn’t have their own homes; sure, it’s pretty easy to survive in a palatial suburban house, but the same can’t be said for a cardboard box. The film ultimately convinced young middle class children that they don’t really need their parents, and many briefly took to the streets or attempted their own stay-at-home adventures.

Before/after Aligning with allegory http: //www. youtube. com/watch? v=l. Fyn. ECEfw 5 w Not aligning with allegory http: //www. youtube. com/watch? v=Za. WYOd. HK 8 a. M

Meet the Parents

Ties to Allegory 4. Meet The Parents (2000) It’s funny that this film was released one month before the 2000 presidential election, because its political connections were to become oddly relevant. The film is actually a remake of a 1992 American indie film that was co-written by a college friend of Laura Bush. Apparently, as Laura’s story goes, when she and young George W. were dating, his father (George Sr) met her with great disapproval. He put her through a series of ridiculous tests, which she kept failing. Eventually George Sr. conceded and the two got married, on one stipulation – that they never could live in the same house. George Sr. had a harried resentment for his daughter-inlaw and he could never imagine sharing the same abode. Ironically, just a few months after this film, which was more than loosely based on clumsy Laura’s experiences with the Bushes, she would live in the very house her father-in-law had lived in just 8 years earlier.