The novella The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka is a fun story to read and teach. The entire concept of waking up suddenly as a bug (or vermin) is an attention-getter. It’s also useful to read the source between the cultural reference. There are interesting concepts and themes to explore during and after reading.
Write the Clerk’s Report
This is a targeted point of view writing. The clerk (or boss or manager) has to report back to work what he saw at Gregor’s apartment. Students will take the view point and write a short scene based on what little the clerk saw. For a different sort of writing project, students can write it as a report rather than a story scene– focusing on formal and objective language about an absurd experience.
Buy the The Clerk’s Report on Gregor Samsa Activity, with three versions of the clerk’s report with different writing focuses. Rubrics included.
Genre Analysis Activity
Some stories don’t fit neatly into a particular genre, and The Metamorphosis is one of those. Students will examine the components of genre and decide which genre they think fits best. They will support their position with details and quotes from the text as well as definition of the genre. And since the story can fit multiple genres, the focus is on the support rather than one right answer.
Buy the Genre Analysis Activity includes literary essay instructions with rubric, quick guide to literary essays, plus a genre analysis infographic option with rubric and quick guide to infographics.
Explore Grete’s Transformation
Rather overshadowed by her brother turning into a bug, Grete does undergo her own (more typical) transformation. Students can explore the details about Grete and how she changed during the story. This is a good topic of literary analysis, either in an essay response or a multimedia project.
Buy Grete’s Transformation Activity with literary essay writing with rubric, literary analysis multimedia project with rubric, plus option for point of view narrative or graphic novel options.
Alternate Point of View Writing
Retell the story from an alternate point of view in a story is a valuable activity. Students refer to the details from the text, while also considering the impact of view point. Gregor’s mother, father or sister are all good choices with differing view points in the story.
Buy the Alternate Point of View with student instruction sheet, rubric, pre-writing worksheet, and reflection.
Graphic Organizers
Another way to help guide students in working with the text, for projects or just understanding, are graphic organizers. Recording the sequence of Gregor’s behavior becoming more bug-like or recording the impact of the transformation on Gregor as well as his family are two tasks that work well on graphic organizer.
Buy the Graphic Organizers with KWL, Going Buggy, Literary Devices, Gregor’s Life Before and After, The Transformation’s Impact, and a set of Word Webs.
Reading or Quiz Questions
Hold students accountable for the reading while also providing them a reference for project work by using reading questions. Using both recall and inference questions can expand the usefulness of reading questions by going beyond the text. Quiz questions can also test their knowledge and retention of assigned reading.
Buy the Reading, Thinking and Quiz Questions set.
The items listed in this post are sold in the money saving The Metamorphosis Activity Bundle. Great for building a unit around The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka.