Month: December 2021

“The Judgment” is a 1912 short story by Franz Kafka. He wrote it in a single sitting and described the experience as a creative outburst of the body and soul with the story emerging like a newborn “covered in filth and slime.” He even allowed it to be published—most of his stories were only released posthumously. “The Judgment” focuses on a man named Georg Bendemann whose father condemns him to death by drowning, prompting Georg to jump off a bridge. What life events likely inspired Kafka? Discuss

From 1936 to 1939, the Spanish Civil War raged as General Francisco Franco’s Nationalists overthrew the republican government. Franco’s forces were aided by Germany and Italy, who used Spain as a test site for blitzkrieg warfare on the eve of World War II. Fierce and bloody skirmishes characterized the war of attrition, which claimed 500,000 lives. The war’s end brought a period of dictatorship that lasted until the mid-1970s. Deemed the first “media war,” it was covered by which famous authors? Discuss

Dating to the 1st century CE, the James Ossuary is a limestone box containing human bones. There is little doubt the ossuary is authentic, but there has been great controversy over its Aramaic inscription: “James, son of Joseph, brother of Jesus.” Its owner, Israeli antiquities dealer Oded Golan, was prosecuted by Israeli authorities who charge that the inscription, or at least the last part of it, is a forgery—a stance also held by many, but not all, scholars. Where was the ossuary discovered? Discuss