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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 item of his does Karl expect to find in the dining room?

2. What title does Karl's uncle Jakob hold?

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

4. In the story's opening, what does Karl realize he has left below deck?

5. What does the stoker suggest that Karl should do with his life?

Short Essay Questions

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

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

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

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

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

6. What claims does the stoker make against Schubal?

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

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

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

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

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Psychoanalyst and critic Jacques Lacan said that sometimes a distortion can present psychological truth more fully than a factually accurate depiction. How does this insight apply to Kafka's use of the grotesque in Amerika? Write an essay that explores Lacan's idea and then demonstrates how it applies to Kafka's use of the grotesque. Supply supporting evidence from throughout the novel, and cite any outside sources in MLA format.

Essay Topic 2

What is the absurd, and how does Kafka employ it in Amerika? What patterns of detail and language help create a sense of absurdity? What impact does this absurdity have on the reader? How does absurdity support a theme or themes in the novel? Be sure to support your claims with both quoted and paraphrased evidence from the text.

Essay Topic 3

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.

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