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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 title does Karl's uncle Jakob hold?

2. According to the stoker, when is it most likely that a person would become a stoker?

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

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

5. What kind of business does Jakob own?

Short Essay Questions

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

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

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

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

5. What details portray the women in the ship's kitchen as boldly flirtatious?

6. Why is Karl on the ship?

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

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

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

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

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

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 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.

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