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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 are the "gilded caryatids" on the door outside the office (10)?

2. What is the stoker's job?

3. What kind of business does Jakob own?

4. Although Karl thinks that Jakob indulges him generously, what does the narrative imply is true about Jakob's behavior toward Karl?

5. Why are Karl and Jakob confused when Pollunder shows up to take Karl home with him?

Short Essay Questions

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

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

3. What claims does the stoker make against Schubal?

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

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

6. What analogy does Jakob draw between Karl and a newborn baby?

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

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

9. What unexpected news does Klara give her father when he and Karl arrive at the Pollunder home, and how does Pollunder react?

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

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

What does the innocence of wanderers such as Karl and Candide highlight about the nature of the world? In what sense is Karl a "transparent" character because of his innocence? How does this characteristic relate to the idea of the "missing person" mentioned in the book's full title? Write an essay in which you take and defend a position about the significance of Karl's innocence within the travel narrative form of Amerika. Establish and then discuss the significance of Karl's initial innocence, his ability--or inability--to learn from his experiences, and his eventual fate. Support your assertions with evidence from throughout the text, and if you consult outside sources, be sure to credit these in MLA format.

Essay Topic 2

How does Karl's trunk represent his ambivalence about his parents, and what role have they played in creating this ambivalence? Write an essay in which you consider the trunk's provenance, its contents, its role in the novel's plot, and what Karl's treatment of the trunk reveals. Offer textual evidence from throughout the novel in support of your assertions.

Essay Topic 3

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.

(see the answer keys)

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