Kafka Assignments 

1. Quiz2. Brief chapter summaries3. First critical source (Emrich or Sokol) rhetorical précis and response due (NA 87)4. Second critical source rhetorical précis and response due5. Complete draft of essay in MLA layout for essay exchange6. Paper copy of essay due at beginning of class7. Letter in class

Assignment goals:       to read and think critically       to identify, summarize, and discuss themes       to summarize, analyze, and integrate scholarly sources

 Questions to answer: As you read the three sections of The Metamorphosis, look for the answers to these questions. While you do not have to turn in the answers, you should have page numbers ready to identify the relevant passages in the text.

1. Who are the main characters?  What actions help to characterize them?2. What do two pictures reveal?3. What is the relationship between Gregor and his family? Does it change?4. What significance is attached to food?  To music?5. What is the significance of the minor characters—the manager, the three boarders

(roomers/lodgers), and the cleaning woman?6. What is the importance of the final scene in the story, the family’s trip to the country?

 Writing Assignments

Brief chapter summaries Type in MLA layout.Write two paragraphs on each section.

First paragraph: Summarize each section accurately and concisely in two to four sentences.

Second paragraph: From each section pick one sentence which seems the most important to you and tell why in no more than two sentences.  Use MLA format for quote.

Critical Source Rhetorical Précis Type in MLA layout.Write two paragraphs on each critical source.

First paragraph: four sentences following the format on NA 87. Second paragraph: From each source pick one sentence which seems the most

important to you and tell why in no more than two sentences.  Use MLA format for quote.

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Title Formats:

Book title:  italicize

Critical essay title:  use quotation marks, e.g.,  “Education for Tragedy”

MLA Citation Format:

Original language:  “The metamorphosis releases Gregor from having to drudge any

further.”

“The metamorphosis releases Gregor from having to drudge any further” (Sokel 174).

Sokel points out that “the metamorphosis releases Gregor from having to drudge any

further” (174).

Introduce Authors smoothly:

Wilhelm Emrich, [brief bit of relevant information—not essay title], states that . . . .

Works Cited format for essay: List only the sources you cite in your paper.Please note the page numbers are for my copy and may not work for yours.

  Works Cited

 Emrich, Wilhelm. “Franz Kafka.” Kafka 115-32.  Freedman, Ralph. “Kafka’s Obscurity.” Kafka 133-37.  Honig, Edwin. “The Making of Allegory.” Kafka 138-42.  Kafka, Franz. The Metamorphosis. Trans. and ed. Stanley Corngold. New York: Bantam,

1972.  Print.    Richter, Helmut. “The Metamorphosis.” Kafka 192-94.   Sokel, Walter H. “Education for Tragedy.” Kafka 169-86.

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Kafka Brief Chapter Summaries Rubric          Name/time _______________________

Type in MLA layout. You do not need to start a new page for each chapter (section). Continue double-spacing throughout.

Write two paragraphs on each chapter or section (I, II, III). First paragraph: Summarize each section accurately and concisely in four to six

sentences. Second paragraph: From each section pick one sentence which seems the most

important to you and tell why in no more than two sentences.  Use MLA format for quote.

Yes No Section I Section II Section III

MLA layout 1 0

First paragraph: Accurate and concise summary

1 0

Second paragraph:

Quote format 1 0

Reason for quote 1 0

Correctness 1 0

Total (5 for each section)  5

 On time? Yes No

Late work = 10% deduction_____/15

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Kafka Critical Source Rhetorical Précis and Response Rubric Name _________________

Type in MLA layout.

Write two paragraphs on each critical source. First paragraph: four sentences following the format on NA 87. Second paragraph: your response.  From each source pick one sentence which seems the

most important to you and tell why in no more than two sentences. Use MLA format for quote.

Emrich or Sokel (circle your choice) Yes No

MLA layout 1 0

First paragraph: Rhetorical précis (6 possible)

Second paragraph:

Quote format 1 0

Reason for quote 1 0

Correctness 1 0

    On time? Yes No

Late work = 10% deduction_____/10

     

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Kafka Critical Source Rhetorical Précis and Response Rubric Name ________________

Type in MLA layout.

Write two paragraphs on each critical source. First paragraph: four sentences following the format on NA 87. Second paragraph: your response.  From each source pick one sentence which seems the

most important to you and tell why in no more than two sentences.  Use MLA format for quote.

Emrich, Sokel, Freedman, Honig, or Richter (circle) Yes No

MLA layout 1 0

First paragraph: Rhetorical précis (6 possible)

Second paragraph:

Quote format 1 0

Reason for quote 1 0

Correctness 1 0

     On time? Yes No

Late work = 10% deduction

  _____/10

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Rough Draft Process Name _______________________

The draft must be typed in MLA format and include a Works Cited page. To earn credit, you must be in class and share your draft with one or more students. This exchange must be completed in class; it cannot be done early or made up.

This page will be turned in. You will take your draft home to help you work on your revised paper. You will turn in the draft as part of the writing project.

  Partner’s Name _____________________

Partner’s Name _____________________

 

Yes No

Inviting title?

Effective introduction?

Clear thesis at the end of the introduction?

Evidence to support claims?

Two critical sources used to support claims?

Authors introduced (not essay title)?

Sources cited correctly?

Reader has highlighted the following:

I, you

is, was, are, were

“this” when used alone.

Word count on last page of essay?

Completed draft with Work Cited page?

Works Cited page in correct format?

MLA layout?

_____________10

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Essay Project #3    Kafka Name ___________________________________

1,000+ words. 

Inviting Title Yes No

MLA Layout Yes No

Authors introduced smoothly (not essay titles) Yes No

Two critical essays cited correctly and

smoothly.

Yes

Yes

No

No

Word count on last page of essay Yes No

Works Cited (WC) Layout Yes No

Source format on WC Yes No

Content Sophisticated Solid Acceptable Weak

Effective introduction leads to thesis.

Thesis discusses significance of issue and governs organization.

Claims are coherent and logical.

Sufficient and relevant evidence exists.

Uses outside sources effectively.

Clear links exist so that ideas flow smoothly.

Thoughtful conclusion does not repeat introduction.

Style and Correctness Sophisticated Solid Acceptable Weak

Diction

Syntax

Mechanics

Overall Responsiveness to Assignment Sophisticated Solid Acceptable Weak

Paper copy on time?     YES     NO     Late work = 10% deduction

To be considered on time, the paper must meet the following requirements: it includes the rough draft

and partner comment sheet, and it is on the table in the front of the classroom at the beginning of class

Grade:  ___________/100 points 

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The struggle of all; kafka’s illustration of the nature of man VS society

What does the average American today, an ancient roman, and an obscure writer in 20th century

Austria have in common? The same thing that almost all people have had in common at least since

the beginning of recorded history; The privilege and the curse of being part of human society. The

family, the government, friends and neighbors, all social contact, all the so called warmth that man

craves so much, that separates him from the base animal, the structure that separates sapient man

from instinctual animal, all is part of society. Despite all these benefits, or maybe, to an extent,

because of them, there is struggle between man and the individual, a struggle that begins at birth

and does end, cannot end until death.

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