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Post by Mr. Thomas on Jan 27, 2014 18:09:00 GMT -5
Adventures in surrealism
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Post by gonzaleza16 on Jan 27, 2014 18:59:47 GMT -5
Anthony Gonzales
A. I liked the lines on page 7 " Gregors gaze then shifted to the window and the dreary weather raindrops could be heard beating against the metal ledge of the window made him quite melancholy, what if I went back to sleep for a while and forgot all this foolishnesss." I liked those lines because it shows great details of what is happening both in his room and out his room.
E. I want to know why on page 15 that the parents just want to go to the doctor because they just hard there son speak like an animal. I would do a lot more than just go to a doctor if I heard that. I would be so freaked out if something like that happened. I dont know what my inital reaction would be.
C. This story reminds me of one of those scary movies in where there is a weird part in where something happens like somebody turning into a zombie but the people that love him dont want to kill him or lock him up somewhere because they love that person but dont know what to do with them at the end. This also reminds me of a Godzilla movie in where there is a weird creature and people try to get rid of it or make it go away somehow
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Post by jcktffy on Jan 27, 2014 19:57:02 GMT -5
I was slightly confused for many reasons in the beginning when Gregor found out he was a giant bug. The story did not explain how this happened and left me with many questions. I was also confused as to why the office manager went to his house looking for Gregor because he just woke up a little late. It seemed a bit over dramatic for the manager to check on him.
I really enjoyed the first part of this book because it left me with many questions, but also kept me extremely interested in what was going to happen in the rest of the book. To me, it felt like a mystery story because I was unaware what was going on to Gregor's body.
If I was in Gregor's shoes, I would definitely get out of the bedroom and ask my parents/sister for help. I would ask them to see past the way I looked and just try to get me help as soon as possible. The people around Gregor did not do anything to help him. They actually ran away or fainted.
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Post by chrisnoble on Jan 27, 2014 20:19:31 GMT -5
C. I don’t understand why there has to be so many details in this story. It reminds me of The Odyssey and I don’t like it. I think many details were unnecessary such as: “In order to restore his voice to its maximum clarity for the imminent decisive discussions, he cleared it a little by coughing, but took care to do this in very muffled tones, since possibly even that noise might sound different from human coughing, and he no longer trusted himself to make the distinction. Meanwhile it had become completely quiet in the adjoining room” (19). I think this long quote is unneeded in the story.
G. If I was Gregor when he turned into a giant bug, I would be extremely terrified. I could not imagine waking up one morning and realizing I had multiple legs and a shell-like back. As well as being scared, I would worry about how to change back to a human. I definitely would not like to be a bug for my entire life, so I would want to figure out how to change back to my normal self as soon as possible.
I. I agree with Jack’s comments about the beginning of the story. I felt that there was little detail about what had happened and how it happened. I thought the writer should have given more details about past events and how Gregor turned into a giant bug.
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Post by kyleconnolly on Jan 27, 2014 20:37:45 GMT -5
A) As soon as I read the first couple of sentences into the story I was able to relate to other stories where a person has transformed into a vermin-like creature. One story I was able to relate to was The Witches where a witch transforms a young boy into a mouse. Although in the Metamorphosis it wasn’t a witch which had transformed him I was still able to relate. “He lay on his armor like back and when he raised his head a little he saw his vaulted brown belly divided into sections by stiff arches from whose height the coverlet had already slipped and was about to slide completely off” (Kafka 7).
C) How much money does Gregor’s parents owe his boss, or does it not have to do with money at all? “Well I have not entirely given up hope, and as soon as I have saved the money to pay off the debt my parents owe him it might still be another five of six years, I’ll definitely do it” (Kafka 8)
E) I was a bit surprised as to the reaction of both the family and the head clerk of Gregor not opening his door. They seemed incredibly terrified that he was deathly ill and hadn’t considered he was still sleeping. I’m not sure why the head clerk had visited either just to check up on a merchant, it didn’t seem like today was any special/important job to the head clerk. “The head clerk has come and wants to know why you did not catch the early train. We don’t know what to tell him. He wants to speak with you personally, so please open up the door” (Kafka 12).
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Post by martinsteffens on Jan 27, 2014 20:53:40 GMT -5
The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka
D) “Despite his predicament, he could not suppress a smile at these thoughts.”
The thoughts that he was thinking about were about getting him on his feet and off of his back. I really liked the line above because I have been in countless situations where I have laughed at my own helplessness. I also like the above lines because it really shows that Gregor was once human. It shows that because if that is a quality only humans have.
I) I like Chris’ point but I have to disagree with it. I feel like all of these points were nescassary, probably because I am enjoying the reading. I believe that it adds feeling to the room and it also helps us visualize the scenes from the story.
A) ““God Almighty!” he thought. It was half past six and the hands were steadily advancing, actually past the half hour and already closer to three quarters past. Did the alarm not ring? One could see from the bed that it was correctly set for four o’clock and so it must have gone off. Yes, but was it possible to sleep through that furniture-rattling ringing?”
I cannot even begin to explain how many times I have slept through my alarm. It happens to me almost 3 times a week so relating this to a new or recent events was very easy.
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Post by eddieditolla on Jan 27, 2014 21:04:13 GMT -5
Eddie DiTolla
Mr. Thomas
English 10
27 January 2014
The Metamorphosis
A. A comment on how an aspect of the reading relates to a personal experience was “And he looked at the alarm clock ticking on the bureau. God Almighty he thought! It was half past six and the hands were steadily advancing, actually past the half hour already” Kafka 8. A personal experience for me one time was when one morning my mom woke me up for school one day and I fell back to sleep by accident and twenty minutes later my mom yells up time to walk Charley (my dog). I was not even dressed yet for school and it was six thirty already.
C. Lines that were confusing to me were “As Gregor Samsa awoke from unsettling dreams one morning, he found himself transformed in his bed into a monstrous vermin. He lay on his hard armor like back and when he raised his head a little he saw his vaulted brown belly divided into sections by stiff arches from whose height the cover let had already lipped and was about to completely. His many legs, which were pathetically thin compared to the rest of his bulk, flickered helplessly before his eyes” Kafka 7. This set of lines were confusing to me because the idea of waking up as an insect is so extraordinary that it is a weird way to start this novella off. I also would have liked to known more about the character before the transformation and why did he get transformed into a monstrous insect.
D. A set of lines that I liked were “Gregor’s gaze then shifted to the window, and the dreary weather – raindrops could be heard beating against the metal ledge of the window – made him quite melancholy” Kafka 7. I liked this set of lines because it reminded me of when I can hear the rain hit my roof and it describes what it sounds like and why he was feeling down because of the rain.
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Post by alfredfrederic on Jan 27, 2014 21:14:10 GMT -5
A) This chapter mentions how Samsa is tired and extremely stressed out. People who work today tend to push themselves too far and in the end become stressed out due to lack of sleep/food.
C) What is Samsa at the beginning? Why was he turned into that bug in the first place? What did it symbolize? Why did Samsa go on about his boss and co-workers? So him being a bug was in his imagination? Does he live with his parents? Why was he stuck to the bed? So he was able to get to the train and the office in time? Why did the clerk come to his home? Was it standard practice for an employer to check on their employees? Why does the clerk describe him as a reasonable man, acting unusual? Was the lack of explanation annoying him? Why do his parents assume he was sick when he wasn’t coming out of his room? Why does he try to get the worker on his side? I don’t understand why he needed to actually win him over? Was his job in jeopardy or was he just being paranoid?
G) I would be annoyed if I were either of his parents. I would have to deal with my child refusing to get out of bed and go to work at a good job earning good pay. I would be extremely annoyed if a worker from that company had to come to get my child to come to work and convince him to come out.
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ryan
New Member
Posts: 15 
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Post by ryan on Jan 27, 2014 22:38:30 GMT -5
A. I can relate to the way that Gregor Samsa is feeling in the beginning when he talks of his inability to get out of bed. Although I may not have turned into a bug of some sorts, after participating in eight hours of school plus homework at home and sports practices, I feel nearly just as helpless rolling out of bed to repeat the process for another four days as Gregor is.
B. This beginning text is very important because it lays out a general understanding of the character known as Gregor. Although he may be a handful of negative attributes, I can already gather the sense that this book, "Metamorphosis", is going to appeal to me because of how easily I can relate to his problems. He already faces that annoyance of his parents and sister,a difficult job commute, and then some major problems that are far from within your powers, but will effect you greatly non-the-less.
E. This reading, I feel, is very similar to "Eveline", the passage from James Joyce's "Dubliners". I say this because already the character of Eveline and Gregor Samsa have already kicked around the idea of escaping their home in search of a new one. As well as wishing to escape their homes, they both have horrible bosses that they feel tremendous pressure from. They also are at an age where they should be living on their own, but live with relatives of sorts. They both also feel an obligation to pay back their "debt" to their parents, whether it be figuratively speaking or literally. Gregor needs to pay back his parents financially and Eveline feels an obligation to protect her father and take care of him because of her mother's dying words that she happened to take too seriously.
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Post by victorpasquin on Jan 28, 2014 0:55:31 GMT -5
A) ““God Almighty!” he thought. It was half past six and the hands were steadily advancing, actually past the half hour and already closer to three quarters past. Did the alarm not ring? One could see from the bed that it was correctly set for four o’clock and so it must have gone off. Yes, but was it possible to sleep through that furniture-rattling ringing?” I sleep through my alarm several times each morning. I even set consecutive alarms occurring a minute after each other. So, yes, I am very familiar with sleeping through alarms.
C) I was confused as to how much money Gregor's parents owe his boss. “Well I have not entirely given up hope, and as soon as I have saved the money to pay off the debt my parents owe him it might still be another five of six years, I’ll definitely do it.” He says that he will save money to pay off the debt but then it says this it will still take five to six years after that. I'm not sure if the debt has to do entirely with money.
D) I really enjoyed the following line: “Despite his predicament, he could not suppress a smile at these thoughts.” There have been many situations in my life in which the odds of a positive outcome are slim to none. Sometimes I find myself laughing at the situation, not because it is humorous but because I know the odds of a positive outcome or achieved goal are not very high.
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Post by peterboustani on Jan 28, 2014 7:52:59 GMT -5
Peter Boustani
C. What I didn't understand in this chapter of the book was the lack of concern of changing into a multi-legged vermin by Gregor. It confused me because we begin the story with Gregor explaining his transformation and explaining that it was 100 percent real life, not a dream but the story, and I doubt it will in the future, never has Gregor question or attempt to explain his physical transformation. What I find numerous though was his lack of concern toward that but rather the business portion of it as he had to catch the five o clock train but missed it by about two hours. His only concern is how he's getting to work despite completely transforming to the point where his speech is incomprehensible.
D. Again what I really did enjoy most in this story was Gregor's lack of concern toward the actual important problem, that being him physically transforming into a vermin over night. He was even talking about that it when the clerk who visited his house came to check on him that if they were not surprised by his change in appearance he could still catch the eight o clock train. The final thing that I liked and have questions about was his little sister. She seemed to know a lot of what was going on with Gregor and when she had left the house at one point despite not having been dressed yet according to Gregor, I liked this idea that it's another clue toward solving the mystery of his miraculous transformation, and I am interested in where they will take it from there.
I. I agree with Chris noble in the way that there are so many details in this story as the narrator explains thing in excruciating detail but I don't feel it is as pointless as Homers narrative drift was which is why I enjoyed this piece much better.
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Post by thomaslaible on Mar 8, 2014 18:05:47 GMT -5
I like the fact that Gregor just wakes up as a gigantic bug. It makes the story a lot more interesting and fun to read. "One morning, upon awakening from agitated dreams, Gregor Samsa found himself, in his bed, transformed into a monstrous vermin." This relates to movies about witches and demons because they magically turn into a different thing.
If I was Gregor when he wakes up as a gigantic bug I would panic and try to find a way to fix the problem. I would want to understand why this happened to me. The author doesn't give a real reason why he becomes this gigantic bug and I feel it makes the reader want to keep read.
I feel bad for Gregor because his family kinda uses him. He is the hardest worker in the family and gets back nothing he could have lost his job because the family owed Money to Gregor's boss and put him in debt. "Well I have not entirely given up hope, and as soon as I have saved the money to pay off the debt my parents owe him it might still be another five of six years, I’ll definitely do it”
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