Franz Kafka's The Metamorphosis is one of the most prominent and influential books to come out of the existential movement. Host a group discussion in which learners list different characteristics of existent art, group these tenets, and then provide a label for their groupings.

Concepts

the metamorphosis, franz kafka, reading comprehension, existentialism

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Additional Tags

english language arts

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Instructional Ideas

• Have class members research other examples of existential literature
• Create a graphic organizer for learners to record examples that represent existential thought

Classroom Considerations

• The activity is based on a prior lesson about existentialism
• Consider pairing the activity with a social studies unit or flipped classroom lesson where class members watch a lecture on existentialism out of class 

Pros

• A good opportunity to create a cross-curricular activity
• Encourages critical thinking and group work

Cons

• The activity presumes that class members have prior knowledge of existential thought

Common Core

RL.9-10.2 RL.9-10.4 RL.11-12.2 RL.11-12.4