Choose a theme from The Metamorphosis that interests you. Trace the development of that theme throughout the novella. Then—this is the synthesis part of the essay— by connecting your discussion of this theme to one of the secondary sources (the Nabokov lecture, Kafka’s “Letter to His Father,” or any of the other sources listed below), come up with an argument about what you think Kafka means to say about Gregor Samsa and, as a consequence, human life in general. Once you’ve made your argument (with evidence, of course, from the text and at least one of the secondary sources), anticipate an objection to your argument and refute it. The paper is made up of three parts: thematic analysis, synthesis with a secondary source, and a refutation.