Thomas Bernhard

High school (ages 12+)
Art & Creativity

Name:

Date:

Step 1 · Read the article

Open the article and read it at the level above. Then answer the questions below in your own words.

https://smallwhale.org/articles/thomas-bernhard

Write what each word means, using the article.

Do not copy the article. Write two things you learned, the way you would explain them to a friend.

Answers below are taken from the article’s stored facts, so they match what the student read.

1. When was Thomas Bernhard born?February 9, 1931
2. Where was Thomas Bernhard born?Heerlen, Netherlands
3. When did Thomas Bernhard die?February 12, 1989
4. What is the major works?Novels: Frost (1963), Correction (1975), Extinction (1986). Memoirs: Gathering Evidence (1975–82)
5. What is the cultural impact?Controversial critic of post-war Austrian culture; influenced Austrian vernacular and younger writers
6. Why did Thomas Bernhard write a lot about illness?He had a severe lung condition that kept him in sanatoriums, where he began writing. The illness influenced many of his stories.

Polemics: Strongly worded arguments or written attacks against someone or something.
Idiosyncratic: Peculiar to an individual, having unique or distinctive characteristics.
Protagonist: The main character in a story, play, or novel.
Vernacular: The everyday language spoken by people in a particular country or region.