The document provides biographical information about Franz Kafka and summarizes his short story "The Metamorphosis". It describes how the main character, Gregor Samsa, wakes up to find he has transformed into a large insect. It also gives contextual details, including Kafka's birth in 1883 in Prague and some of the anti-Semitic events occurring in Germany and Prague at the time. It lists some of Kafka's notable contemporaries and discusses how his friend Max Brod came to believe Kafka's work was superior to his own.

1. Franz Kafka 1883-1924

2. Das Ungeziefer "Als Gregor Samsa eines Morgens aus unruhigen Träumen erwachte, fand er sich in seinem Bett zu einem ungeheuren Ungeziefer verwandelt. Er lag auf seinem panzerartig harten Rücken und sah, wenn er den Kopf ein wenig hob, seinen gewölbten, braunen, von bogenförmigen Versteifungen geteilten Bauch, auf dessen Höhe sich die Bettdecke, zum gänzlichen Niedergleiten bereit, kaum noch erhalten konnte. Seine vielen, im Vergleich zu seinem sonstigen Umfang kläglich dünnen Beine flimmerten ihm hilflos vor den Augen." - Franz Kafka, Die Verwanglung 1915

3. The Vermin "One morning, upon awakening from agitated dreams, Gregor Samsa found himself, in his bed, transformed into a monstrous vermin. He lay on his hard, armorlike back, and when lifting his head slightly, he could view his brown, vaulted belly partitioned by arching ridges, while on top of it, the blanket, about to slide off altogether, could barely hold. His many legs, wretchedly thin compared with his overall girth, danced helplessly before his eyes." - Franz Kafka, The Metamorphosis 1915 - Joachim Neugroschel, translator 2003

4. Setting 18 January, 1871 : Germany unifies as a single country 11 September, 1882 : First Anti-Jewish Conference begins, in Dresden 3 July, 1883 : Franz Kafka is born in Prague, Bohemia (now the Czech Republic) December, 1897 : 3 days of anti-Semitic, anti-German riots in Prague

5. Conflict "Despite [Max] Brod's literary success...he began to suspect--and declare publicly--that the work of his neurotically diffident friend was better than his own, and indeed was superior to any being published in the German language." - Paul Strathern, Kafka in 90 Minutes Contemporaries Thomas Mann (novelist, essayist) Rainer Maria Rilke (poet) Herman Hesse (poet, novelist) Bertolt Brecht (poet, playwright)

6. Denouement 1941 : Elli Kafka, eldest sister, killed in Nazi concentration camp 1942 : Valli Kafka, sister, killed in Nazi concentration camp 1943 : Ottla Kafka, youngest sister, killed in Nazi concentration camp