Feeling powerless in front of authority, feeling out of control, feeling bullied? Feeling Kafkaesque? A short video about Franz Kafka gives viewers insight into the family forces that shaped the life of this famous author.

Concepts

franz kafka, world literature

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Additional Tags

english language arts

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Instructional Ideas

• Have class members investigate the status of the National Library of Israel's challenge to the ownership of Kafka's papers

Classroom Considerations

• Preview the entire video to determine if appropriate for your learning situation
• Most appropriate for AP high school and college-level classes
• Show the video in full screen mode to avoid showing the comments
• The close captioning misrepresents the narration; turn it off

• This video is hosted on YouTube

Pros

• The video looks unflinchingly at the abuse that shaped Kafka's life and writings

Cons

• The references to abuse and pornography make the video inappropriate for some classrooms
• Offers only minimal explanation for why Kafka's works are revered