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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 do Robinson and Karl tear the apartment apart looking for during Brunelda's bath?

2. What does the other lift boy think will be the likely outcome of Karl's interview with the head waiter?

3. When he is in the office talking with the head waiter and the head porter, what does Karl believe is the cause of most of their accusations against him?

4. What does Therese confide in Karl that she asks him to keep secret from the head cook?

5. Why does the chauffeur ask Karl for money after they arrive at their destination?

Short Essay Questions

1. What two reasons does Robinson have for coming to see Karl?

2. What shared background do Karl and the head cook discover they have?

3. How does Karl end up having a conversation with Therese in his room on his first night at the Occidental Hotel?

4. Describe Brunelda's personality.

5. How does Therese's backstory support the idea that life for immigrants in America is difficult and somewhat dependent on sheer luck?

6. How does Karl try to improve his position in life while he is at the Occidental Hotel?

7. What convinces Karl to stay at Brunelda's apartment even after Delamarche assaults him?

8. Describe Robinson's appearance at the Occidental Hotel in Chapter VI, "The Robinson Affair."

9. What do Karl's actions while he is fetching and serving breakfast demonstrate about his character?

10. What is ironic about Karl's actions with his trunk during the night he spends in the inn after leaving Pollunder's house?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Write an essay in which you take and defend a position about the symbolic value of the sword held by Lady Liberty in the opening paragraph of Amerika. As you formulate your idea about the sword's meaning, consider questions like the following: How does the symbol relate to Kafka's perceptions of America? What historical lens did Kafka view this country through? How does the symbol relate to a long tradition of European art? What impact would the sword have on a reader acquainted with this tradition? How does the idea of America itself contrast with old European traditions like this? Be sure to support your ideas with textual evidence from throughout the novel, and if you use outside sources, credit these in MLA format.

Essay Topic 2

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.

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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