Metamorphosis means Change. What things change in this episode?
What are the “two disgusting habits.” That Greg’s mother refers to?
His mother says, ‘This time I’m making the call.” What call is she talking about? What can we
infer from her use of the article ‘the”? e.g. “The call” She has made a threat to send him to a
military school before. They both know what “the call” means, so she can use a definite article.
Like when you say you need to go to the bank, or the store, and the person you are speaking to
knows which one you mean. This is a confusing characteristic of article use in English that is
not usually covered in a grammar book.
What is a bug? An insect.
Idioms that use the word bug:
Get the bugs out/work out the bugs – Said about a project or new device that is not
working according to plan. Windows operating systems are famous for their bugs.
I think the CIA bugged my office – Said by a criminal who thinks he is under
investigation.
It’s really bugging me that I can’t recall the group who wrote that song. – Said when you
cannot remember a piece of information that you feel you should know.
Bug off! – Said to a little brother who is following you everywhere and won’t leave you
alone.
What does Clark find out during his dream? He can fly.
What do you think Lana means when she says, “It’s all your fault, Clark?” Clark’s fear is that he
is responsible for all of the death and destruction that came with the meteor. Lana’s parents were
killed in the meteor shower. He probably fears that she’ll learn the truth about him and blame
him for their death.
I was a little tied up. This has a double meaning. It can mean, idiomatically, that he was busy
with something else. What it also means, in the context of Whitney and his experience, is that he
was tied up to the cross as a scarecrow.
Greg says to Whitney, “Sometimes you’re the windshield, and sometimes you’re the bug.” What
does he mean?
What is a prank? A kind of joke or trick: You put dog poop in a brown bag and put it on
someone’s porch. Then light the bag on fire and ring the doorbell. They see the fire, and step on
it to put it out. They end up with dog poop on their shoes. That is a prank.
What does Clark discover about himself in this episode? (He can fly, he can’t be burned.)
What is the significance of Lana’s necklace—how did Lex get it? Why does he give it to Clark?
Preoccupied. How was Lex preoccupied the first time he met Lana? He was skinny dipping in
the hotel pool.
What is skinny dipping? Swimming without any clothes on.
What is tacky? gaudy, in bad taste, tasteless, showy
What gift did Lex get from his father when he was nine? Why? What would a normal gift be for
a nine year old boy?
Infatuated. Deeply in love with someone.
Why does Lex refer to the Trojan war, and why does he call Lana’s necklace a Trojan Horse.
The war was started over the love for a beautiful woman—as the show progresses, this becomes
an important theme.
Lex implies that Clark could have left Whitney to die, and then he would have had Lana. He
then says he’s kidding, of course. What does this say about Lex’s thinking?
What is special about lead? Hint. The box Lex’s mother bought him in Morocco.
Lex tells Clark to give Lana the necklace and tell her what Whitney did to him. He says, “That
necklace gives you the power. All you have to do is use it.” What deeper implications does this
statement have in the context of the show? Clark has the power, though Lex doesn’t know it,
and he could use it to his gain, or for humanity’s gain. How would Lex use it?
Work with a partner to see if you can explain the following in their contexts:
Hang out with. Spend time together with a friend
Keep on a short leash. Keep under tight control.
Wouldn’t hurt a fly. Someone who is not violent—like a Buddhist Monk.
Seems kind of out there. Strange, freakish, far from normal, hard to believe.
Having trouble wrapping my head around this one. Can’t accept it as possible, can’t understand
how it could be true.
Tall tales. Stories that are not real—like myths and legends.
Habitat. The local environment in which you live.
Has gone Kafka. Kafka wrote a famous short story called The Metamorphosis in which the main
character, Gregor Samsa, woke up to find he had been transformed into a giant cockroach.