The Kafka Effect: When Reality Gets Weird

In this ESL lesson plan, your students will:

• – explore “Kafkaesque” concepts by giving their thoughts on an interesting video and acquire advanced English vocabulary by completing exercises such as phrase matching and timeline ordering;
• – discuss Kafka’s literary influence, and other complex themes presented in thought-provoking reading comprehension exercises;
• – practice expressing their opinions about philosophical ideas and other abstract literary concepts, and describe how they relate to their personal experiences in targeted conversation practice.

This ESL lesson plan for advanced students focuses on the topic of Kafkaesque experiences, and presents useful advanced vocabulary through a series of interactive activities and exercises to challenge even your most proficient students. Students can expect to boost their vocabulary, improve their reading comprehension skills, and discuss their thoughts in detail.

Warm-up:

Students start by looking at a selection of images and talking about which emotions each one evokes. Students should explain why each emotion comes to mind, and which parts of the picture were particularly evocative. The teacher should ask short follow-up questions to encourage the students to give more details if necessary, such as “Why does it evoke that emotion?”, or “Which parts of the picture gave you that impression? Why?”

Video:

Students watch an authentic English-language video titled “What makes something Kafkaesque? – Noah Tavlin”, and complete a checklist of key ideas that are mentioned. Students are encouraged to ask about any new expressions or English vocabulary that they hear in the video. The teacher should ask leading questions to help the students infer the meaning if possible. If the expressions will be useful for subsequent activities, it is recommended that the teacher briefly explain how and when to use them. This will allow the student to use them, which will aid retention.

English practice exercises:

Students are presented with the timeline of a thriller movie with the events in the wrong order. They should work with their teacher to put the events in the most logical order, explaining their reasons for doing so. The focus here is to understand how smaller excerpts fit into a larger whole, and to give clear reasons for their decisions. Students are encouraged to ask questions if any expressions are unclear, and the teacher should point students in the right direction by using leading questions if needed.

Reading comprehension exercise:

Students read an interesting text about Kafka’s literary works, and then answer a series of comprehension questions to confirm their understanding of the main ideas. Students should also explain what they thought of the text, and say if anything about it surprised them. They should also be encouraged to ask about new words or expressions that they see.

English conversation practice:

To conclude the lesson, students discuss a range of thought-provoking questions with their teacher. The focus in this activity is on English fluency, and the activity should take the form of a naturally paced two-way conversation, with student and teacher asking and answering questions. During the activity, the teacher should try to elicit use of new language that the students have picked up through the lesson. If necessary, a simple conversation template should be presented, such as “Answer, Extra, Ask”, in which students answer the teacher’s question, provide extra details or examples, and then ask the teacher a related question. By doing so, the flow will more closely resemble a natural English conversation.