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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 does K. see being delivered in the Gentlemen's Inn, as the morning approaches?

2. Who is waiting at the meeting place when K. gets there?

3. What does Frieda think of K.'s conversation with Hans?

4. What type of apprenticeship does Barnabas have?

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

Short Essay Questions

1. What did the townspeople do after Amalia's disobedience became known?

2. Why has Hans come to see K. and what is he supposed to be doing instead?

3. What is Frieda afraid might happen to he if her mother's warnings are right?

4. What does Amalia accuse K. of using Barnabas for?

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

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

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

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

9. Why does K. stay in the corridor after his meeting with Erlanger?

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

In the novel, the bureaucracy of the Castle is both very powerful and lacking in power. Discuss this dynamic.

1) In what ways is the bureaucracy of the Castle powerful? How does it control people's actions?

2) In what ways does the bureaucracy of the Castle lack power? How does K. manage to defy the bureaucracy?

3) How does the bureaucracy's power, and lack of power, affect Amalia and her family?

Essay Topic 2

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?

Essay Topic 3

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?

(see the answer keys)

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