The Metamorphosis - Ch. 3

What is Modernism in literature?

• A fashionable person who loves to read

• A story written by a new author

• An artistic movement that developed during the 20th century and was a radical break in traditions of the past

• Writing that didn't change through the years but was just rewritten in modern times.

A story is "Kafkaesque" if it has which of the following traits? (Check all that apply)

• nightmarishly complex

• bizarre or illogical

• very logical and sensible

• distorted, even dangerous, for the characters

Modernists such as Kafka responded to dramatic changes in the world, including...

• the rapid rise of industry

• the shift from farm-life to urban communities

• the brutal horrors of World War I

• All of the above

Absurdism in literature has the following qualities:

• ambiguity

• alienation

• logicalness

• fantastic or dreamlike elements

When a story is open-ended and key elements are never explained it is called

• humorous

• dreamlike or fantastic

• themes of alienation

• ambiguity

When events in a story blur the boundary between what is real and what is unreal, it is called

• dreamlike or fantastic elements

• ambiguity

• themes of alienation

• bad humor

When a Modernist work features isolated characters who experience increasing alienation or disconnection, it is called

• alienation

• absurd humor

• dreamlike or fantastic

• ambiguity

True or False: Kafka does not give a reason for Gregor's transformation into an insect, which gives it the quality of ambiguity.

• True

• False

Which of the following examples shows fantastic or dreamlike elements in the story?

• The servant girl gets on her knees to beg to be dismissed from her job and cries when she leaves.

• Gregor is transformed into a bug for no apparent reason, but his thoughts and reactions are still human and logical.

• Mr. Samsa tries to hurt Gregor by throwing apples at him when he escapes his room.

• Grete needs to get a job outside of the home to help provide for the family.

The Metamorphosis is an example of what type of Modernist literature?

• Absurdist

• Realistic

• Informational

• Historical