Short Fiction: A Study of Genre

Define “absurdism” and identify and analyze elements of the absurd in the text.

Identify the author’s tone in the opening pages.

Analyze how Kafka develops the conflict between Gregor and the other characters.

Analyze the impact of Gregor’s transformation on himself and his family members.

Consider how the author uses the characterization of Gregor and his family to reveal theme.

Analyze how the director of the film interprets Kafka’s novella.

Explain verbally and in writing how Kafka uses the elements of absurdism to develop his message about humanity.

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Analyze the impact of the author’s use of realistic fiction to address the same thematic question addressed by Kafka in The Metamorphosis.

Analyze the impact of the playwright’s use of dramatic irony in the opening scene of the play.

Analyze Sophocles’s use of techniques common to his genre to develop Oedipus as a character.

Analyze how Sophocles uses dramatic irony in this section of the play.

Begin to define “hamartia” and identify how Oedipus is contributing to his own tragic ending.

Analyze how Sophocles develops his message about fate and humanity in the final portion of the play.

Analyze Sophocles’s message about humanity as he develops it in Oedipus the King.

Analyze the author’s use of the character of the old man to develop the theme of humanity.

Reread the story, analyzing it as a satire critiquing both Catholicism and human nature.

Brainstorm, draft, revise, and finalize an original literary analysis essay.

Present analysis of the stories and theme of humanity to a small group of peers.