METAMORPHOSIS

Before reading Kafka’s The Metamorphosis, where Gregor, the narrator, has inexplicably woken up as a giant insect, the students were given five learning objectives (Trace the change experienced by Gregor’s family members, draw conclusions regarding Kafka’s view of both totalitarianism and capitalism, support or refute the opinion that The Metamorphosis is a “timeless” story, note the significance of recurring pairs of three in the novella, Understand the features of an existential viewpoint)and three main themes (isolation, transformation, and existentialism) to annotate and react with during the in-class reading. They had to have three separate colors to highlight the themes found in each section and ask questions within the text related to the learning objectives.

After the reading, students were tasked with picking one of the learning objectives and creating their writing prompt. The goal is to have students interact with the text enough to have questions. Once the students created their questions, they were asked to type it into an AI generator and bring that response to the classroom. The next step was for each student to write their original prompts on the whiteboard where, as a class, we could discuss how we would write the essay, what examples we would use, and quotes that support the argument. Then the AI response was read and students critiqued it based on what was a good thought and what was wrong. Students then had to find one great point made and create a three-paragraph response using the novel, a visual aid based on the essay, and a presentation to the class.

The purpose of this assignment is threefold:

• Get students to interact with the text with a critical eye.

• Understand that critical analysis cannot be done without a critical mind—which AI does not have. It is only through God’s creation of us that we are able to think critically, question and create original pieces. Everything else is merely a copy of something less unique than we were created to be.

• Adjust original thoughts and craft new understanding through multi-layered cognitive thinking.

This project will hopefully influence students and help them recognize that taking time to think, create and produce their own work may take longer, but is more worthwhile than the easy road that produces less value.

- Mrs. Christine Fox,

AP English Teacher MA English, MA English & Creative Writing