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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 instrument does Karl play?

2. What is the first thing Green discusses with the group during dinner at the Pollunder house?

3. What is the large room that Karl sees over the balustrade?

4. What is the attitude Green takes toward Klara that so offends Karl?

5. What does Jakob insist that Karl be home in the morning in time to do?

Short Essay Questions

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

2. Describe Karl's first vision of the Statue of Liberty.

3. What is so fascinating to Karl about the desk in his room?

4. What does Karl imagine about his parents when he is in the office with the stoker?

5. When the attendant tells the stoker to get out of the office, what does Karl do?

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

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

8. What does Karl discover about Mak on his trip to the Pollunder home?

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

10. What conclusions has Karl already come to about America when the second chapter opens, and why?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Research more deeply into Kafka's works and the characteristic themes and motifs that critics have noted in them. Write an essay in which you situate Amerika in this context. Which of Kafka's other works do its motifs and themes echo? In what sense is this novel sui generis? How do its similarities to and differences from Kafka's other words demonstrate both the evolution of his thought and the persistence of ideas throughout his life? Use textual evidence to support your assertions, and be sure to cite all of your sources in MLA format.

Essay Topic 2

Write an analysis of "The Stoker" as a stand-alone work. As you come to a conclusion about the meaning of this section of the text, you will want to take into account at least the following: plot, setting, atmosphere, symbolism, and characterization. Be sure to support your ideas with textual evidence.

Essay Topic 3

Do some online research to find out about the various titles that Kafka suggested for his novel before, apparently, settling on Der Verschollene. Then, consider what Brod was aiming for by titling the novel Amerika: The Missing Person and what impact it has when publishers shorten the title to simply Amerika. What do these various iterations of the title each imply? Write an essay in which you establish which title--Kafka's or Brod's--is more in keeping with the novel's thematic content. Support your assertions with evidence from the text, and cite any outside sources in MLA format.

(see the answer keys)

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