What was Gregor’s life like prior to his physical metamorphosis? What was his job like? What do we learn from his thoughts? What do we learn from the behavior and words of the chief clerk?

Learning Goal: I’m working on a english discussion question and need an explanation and answer to help me learn.

This week we are shifting to a different style of writing called magical realism.

Reminder: don’t forget to give textual evidence in your responses. Your responses should be a lengthy, academic-style paragraphs.

In order to get full points for your discussion post this week, respond to questions about Metamorphosis by Kafka, ONE of the stories by either Allende, Borges, Marquez, or Cortazar, and compare and contrast TWO of the stories by Machado, Bender, Vaz, Okorafor, or Oyeyemi with 350+ words for each response (including quotes).

Each story has multiple questions. Make sure to address each question within your response. You can incorporate all of them into one really well-written paragraph and include textual evidence. Or, you can also answer each question as a separate paragraph by also using some textual evidence. The structure is up to you but what is important is that you have thoughtful answers to these questions.

Required: Respond to questions about Metamorphosis (350+ words including direct quotes)

Franz Kafka Metamorphosis

• What was Gregor’s life like prior to his physical metamorphosis? What was his job like? What do we learn from his thoughts? What do we learn from the behavior and words of the chief clerk?
• What was Gregor’s personal life like? What does his mother say about it? What do Gregor’s bedroom and possessions tell us about his life? What does Gregor’s relationship seem to be with the members of his family?
• How does Gregor react to the discovery that he has turned into a giant insect? What is he preoccupied with? What are his main concerns? How does Gregor seem to feel about his metamorphosis? How can you explain his attitude? How do Gregor’s parents and the chief clerk react to Gregor’s transformation? Why do they assume that this giant bug is Gregor? (Much Later in the story, Gregor’s sister wonders if it is really Gregor, but no one else suggests this).
• Try interpreting this story in a variety of ways: As a look into Gregor’ s inner psyche (and as a look into the psyche of modern man), as a comment on a crushing, impersonal world, as very dark comedy; Your own interpretation. Based on your interpretation, what does this story say to you about life, about people, etc.?
• Kafka creates a frightening, surreal world in which people can turn into insects and chief clerks come to a person’s house when they are an hour late. What is the effect on the reader? Why might Kafka have chosen this technique rather than a realistic style to convey his ideas?

Required: Respond to ONE of the following stories (Allende, Borges, Marquez, or Cortazar – 350+ words including direct quotes)

Isabel Allende “An Act of Vengeance”

• Discuss the style of the opening paragraph. How does it foreshadow the conclusion of the story?
• Discuss the irony of the title. Is Rosa avenging her father’s death, or her own independent “melancholy” character because she found herself unable to carry out her “perfect plan of vengeance”?
• Is Rosa’s change of heart toward her father’s killer realistic? Did Allende mean it to be realistic, or does it suit the magical realist circumstances of the story?

Jorge Luis Borges “The South”

• During the days in the sanitarium, the narrator tells his readers, Dahlmann “hated himself in minute detail: he hated his identity, his bodily necessities, his humiliation, the beard which bristled upon his face.” How do you explain this self-hatred?
• What is the significance of Dahlmann’s contact with the “enormous cat which allowed itself to be caressed as if it were a disdainful divinity”?
• When in a strange town Dahlmann is trying to avoid a knife fight with a drunken youth, a total stranger addresses him by name. Yet the narrator tells readers that Dahlmann is “not surprised.” Are you convinced by the narrator? Why, or why not?
• Why does Dahlmann feel that he must obey the order of “his South” and accept the duel? What is his South?

Gabriel Garcia Marquez “A Very Old Man With Enormous Wings”

• How does the old man differ from our usual conceptions of angels? What is the essential difference?
• Explain Father Gonzaga’s approach to the angel. What implications — about the angel and about the church — may be derived from his failure to communicate with him effectively?
• Comment on the angel’s career as a sideshow freak. Who receives the benefit of his success? Why does he fall? Compare what he has to offer with what the spider-woman has. What reasons might people have to prefer the latter?

Julio Cortazar “Axolotl”

• What sort of man is the narrator of “Axolotl”? Why does he have so much free time to spend at the aquarium? What does his visit to the library tell you about him?
• What is the effect of the narrator’s casual way of speaking, for example, his statement in the second paragraph, “I hit it off with the axolotls.” (Remember that this is a translation from the Spanish.)
• What is the effect of the narrator’s shift to first person plural in the middle of the story: “It’s that we don’t enjoy moving a lot, and the tank is so cramped. . . . The time feels like it’s less if we stay quietly”? Does he convince you that he has become an axolotl?

Required: Compare and contrast TWO of the following stories (350+ words, including direct quotes).

In what ways do these stories use magical realism to get the author’s overall point/theme across? Refer to the notes below

Every magical realism story is different, but they all include certain things, such as:

• realistic setting – all magical realism stories take place in a setting in this world that’s familiar to the reader
• magical elements – from talking objects to dead characters to telepathy, every magical realism story has fantastical elements that do not occur in our world. However, they’re presented as normal within the novel
• limited information – magical realism authors deliberately leave the magic in their stories unexplained in order to normalize it as much as possible and reinforce that it is part of everyday life
• critique – authors often use magical realism to offer an implicit critique of society, most notably politics and the elite. The genre grew in popularity in parts of the world like Latin America that were economically oppressed and exploited by Western countries
• unique plot structure – magical realism does not follow a typical narrative arc with a clear beginning, middle, and end like other literary genres. This makes for a more intense reading experience as the reader does not know when the plot will advance or when the conflict will take place

Carmen Maria Machado “Inventory”

Aimee Bender “Americaa”

Katherine Vaz “The Journey of the Eyeball”

Nnedi Okorafor “Hello, Moto”

Helen Oyeyemi “If A Book Is Locked There’s Probably A Good Reason for That, Don’t You Think”