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This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. What type of interrogations does Buergel say are best for the person being interrogated?

2. Where do the letters Barnabas delivers come from?

3. Why does K. go to see Barnabas in Chapter XV?

4. What are Barnabas' parents doing when K. arrives at the house?

5. What did Frieda's mother warn her about K.?

Short Essay Questions

1. How does K. respond to what Barnabas tells him about the Castle?

2. What does Buergel say might happen at a meeting in the middle of the night?

3. What was Amalia's father hoping for at his work, before the family's disgrace?

4. What did Olga do to try to remove her family's disgrace?

5. How does K. answer Frieda's mother's objections about him?

6. What reasons does Buergel give against forbidding interrogations at night?

7. Where do Jeremias and Frieda go to work after K. leaves?

8. What does Barnabas say about Klamm's appearance?

9. What is Frieda doing for Jeremias at the end of Chapter XXII?

10. What reason does Erlanger give K. the request Erlanger is making during the meeting?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Throughout the novel, the characters desire favors from the upper class. Favors allow characters to get ahead in life, but both how they are acquired and whether they are deserved is ill-defined. Discuss the role of favors in the novel.

1) Is the lease of the Bridge Inn and the marriage between the landlady and landlord all a favor from Klamm to the landlady? In what ways is it ambiguous? What role does Klamm play in the landlady receiving these things?

2) What does K. expect to receive from Klamm? What does he believe you need to do to receive a favor?

3) What are characters in the novel willing to do for favors? Under what circumstances do the characters receive good things? Is it related to their actions?

Essay Topic 2

Many of the goals and aims of the characters in the novel prove futile. Discuss futility in the novel.

1) When Amalia's father tries to change the fate of his ostracized family, his quest is futile. Why is his quest futile? Why does he continue to strive for it, even though he loses all his money in bribes?

2) K.'s quest to see Klamm seems futile. What makes his quest unsuccessful? Can he have any control over his quest? Why does he continue to try to see K.?

3) What other characters face futility, and what do they do when faced with futility?

Essay Topic 3

Discuss insults in the novel.

1) Amalia perceives the letter she receives as an insult. Why does she have this perception? How does she respond to it? Could it be interpreted in any other way? Would the rest of the culture see the letter as an insult?

2) Amalia insults both the official and the secretary when she tears up the letter and throws it at the secretary. How do their feelings of being insulted compare to Amalia's? What are the consequences of both insults?

3) In what other situations do characters feel insulted? What are the causes and results of insults, and what role does this play in the culture of the village?

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