It's Not What You Said, It's How You Said It.

#1:As Gregor Samsa awoke one morning from uneasy dreams he found himself transformed in his bed into a gigantic insect.

#2:Gregory Samsa woke from uneasy dreams one morning to find himself changed into a giant bug.

#3:When Gregor Samsa awoke from troubled dreams one morning he found he had been transformed in his bed into an enormous bug.

#4:One morning, upon awakening from agitated dreams, Gregor Samsa found himself, in his bed, transformed into a monstrous vermin.

Diction/Word Choice ---

• "Awoke," "woke from," "awoke from," "upon awakening from"
• "Uneasy dreams," "troubled dreams," "agitated dreams"
• "He found," "to find," "found himself"
• "transformed," "changed"
• "gigantic," "giant," "enormous," "monstrous"
• "insect," "bug," "vermin" 
• 1: "As..." --- action is currently occurring in the passage
• 2: "Woke" ---past action
• 3: "When" ---past
• "in his bed" all but 2

Syntax---

• no punctuation in first, second, and third options besides period
• 2: Name first --- "narrator/protagonist" tone
• 4: "One morning" first --- setting
• 1, 3: "As/When" first --- passive tone

Imagery/details---

• Morning
• Bed
• Transformed
• Troubled dreams
• Large insect

Structure---

• last option has removable clauses
• (Syntax)

Word choice, syntax, imagery, and structure transforms the meaning of this passage, just as Gregor Samsa was transformed into a bug. The most influential aspect is the translator's word choice. There are huge discrepancies in the meanings/connotations behind the multiple word choices. For instance, the adjective describing Gregor's dreams intensifies with each option, starting with uneasy, to troubled, then agitated. Uneasy has the connotation of being uncomfortable but bearable. Troubled seems a little more intense, but more as a teenage boy who is troubled trying to fight for a girl. Agitated, on the other hand, intensifies the nightmares Gregor is having in the story. Agitated has the connotation of being almost unbearable or similar to a temper tantrum. Also, the different words used for "bug" change the meaning greatly. With "bug," the audience tends to view the transformation as more elementary, since "bug" is a very young, kid-friendly word. "Insect" is more grown up and scientific, giving the audience a creepier, grosser image of Gregor's transformation. With "bug," the audience might have viewed a giant lady bug, whereas with "insect," they probably viewed something more disgusting like a cockroach or centipede. "Vermin" is a bit of an exaggeration in this context. My mom has named the annoying groundhog that lives in our backyard "vermin," so when I think of "vermin," I think more of a hairy rodent rather than an insect. This completely changes a major plot point in the story.

Syntax and structure have similar affects on passages. By the way a sentence is structured, the audience reads the sentence with an idea of what is the most important element of the sentence (<--that sentence could've been better structured). For example, in the first and third passages, using "As" or "When" as the first words in the sentence sets up a passive tone for the event about to occur. However, when the author uses the character's name first, we see a more narrative tone and feel like we're reading more of a story book. When "one morning" is said first, we immediately set up the setting with the element of time.The structure of the fourth option differs from the other three because of the use of commas. This allows for removable clauses in the sentence, implying that the sentence could be reduced down to: "One morning Gregor Samson found himself transformed into a monstrous vermin," and have roughly the same effect.

I don't know which one I would consider "most effective" as I'm not sure what that's supposed to mean. Is "most effective" closest to the original? Or the one that has the biggest impact on the audience? If it were which one had the largest impact, I would say the fourth option is most effective because it's most dramatic. However, I don't think it has the same meaning as the original.

This exercise shows that it is virtually impossible to translate text from one language to another in the exact form and have it say exactly what it means in another language. This could cause problems in the world as even those who are multilingual could misinterpret something that is said and react in an inappropriate manner. There truly isn't, and probably never will be, an universal language. So how can we communicate with those of different cultures effectively? Do we ignore the differences in translation and hope that they're "close enough?"