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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 Frieda think of K.'s conversation with Hans?

2. What type of apprenticeship does Barnabas have?

3. Who led the family toward Sortini when they saw him approaching?

4. Who does K. intend to use his weapon against when he leaves Olga's house?

5. What does K. say about Olga's attractiveness?

Short Essay Questions

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

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

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

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

5. What happens to Jeremias and Artur when they are not together?

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

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

8. How long does K. need to wait to see Erlanger?

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

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

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Discuss the unspoken and unwritten rules in the novel.

1) What are the rules of behavior in the village? How do the people in the village know those rules?

2) What are the rules of behavior for secretaries in the Castle? How do the Castle employees know those rules?

3) What does K. think of unspoken and unwritten rules? What is the result of his attitude?

Essay Topic 2

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 3

In THE CASTLE, the relationship between individuals in groups is important. Discuss the role of social dynamics in the novel.

1) How does the relationship between the twins Jeremias and Artur compare to the social dynamics in the culture of the village? What is the significance of the fact that they age faster apart? How do they act as individuals, and how do they act as a group?

2) How does the culture of the village and the dynamics of groups have power in the novel? How does the village as a whole act differently from individuals?

3) How does the bureaucracy of the Castle reflect the dynamics of groups, as opposed to individuals?

(see the answer keys)

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