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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 makes Karl uncomfortable about the building his uncle lives in?

2. What does Jakob ask Karl if he has cancelled in preparation for his visit to Pollunder's?

3. Besides the letter and his trunk, what else does Pollunder give Karl?

4. What do Karl and Klara get into a fight about after dinner?

5. What does the civilian man with the bamboo stick keep looking at and then looking at Karl?

Short Essay Questions

1. In what way is Karl's experience in the Pollunder house similar to his experience onboard the ship?

2. What mixed messages does Karl get from Jakob about the visit to Pollunder's country home?

3. How does Green's intervention keep Karl from getting back to New York on the same night he left?

4. Describe the building in which Karl finds himself living with his uncle in New York.

5. How does Karl spend his time during his first weeks in New York?

6. What does the letter from Jakob to Karl say?

7. What bizarre interaction does Karl have with Klara after dinner?

8. How does Karl's uncle happen to be present on the ship that Karl sailed on?

9. Why is Karl so exhausted when the story opens?

10. Explain how Karl's inability to keep track of his possessions causes complications in "The Stoker."

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

The end of Kafka's novel introduces the Theater of Oklahama--but is there a sense in which the entire novel can be appropriately called "theatrical"? If so, what purpose would this serve? In what ways is Karl like a puppet or actor throughout the novel? In what ways are the other characters often like stock characters in a melodrama? In what way are the settings more like stage sets than like realistic settings? Write an essay in which you consider the novel's theatricality and what relationship this has to the novel's ending. Make sure that as you discuss theatricality in relationship to the novel's ending, you take and defend a clear position regarding whether the Theater of Oklahama has something to do with religion and an afterlife. Support your ideas with textual evidence.

Essay Topic 2

Write a paragraph that explains the relationship between Karl's journey through America and the descriptions of the major locations that he visits. Consider the locations' sizes, their labyrinthine nature, and the frequent references to stairs, elevators, and balconies. Consider the atmospheres of these locations and how they change over the course of the narrative. Make sure that you do more than describe the various settings and their details: the goal of your essay should be to tie these textual details to the progress of Karl's journey and the overall meaning of the novel.

Essay Topic 3

Write an essay that compares and contrasts Amerika's relationship to the bildungsroman and to the picaresque. Does Kafka seem to intend to parody both? If yes, does he do so with equal clarity? Is his treatment of one tradition more respectful than the other? How does the echo of these traditions impact your understanding of the novel's meaning? Cite evidence from throughout the story as you defend your interpretation of how these two traditions are referenced in Amerika.

(see the answer keys)

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