View a FREE sample

This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. What does Robinson tell Karl that Brunelda is talented at?

2. Regardless of which dress she has on, what other item of clothing does Brunelda usually wear?

3. What compliment does Karl offer Therese about her job?

4. When Robinson appears at the hotel, what does Karl see sticking out of Robinson's pocket?

5. What is the cause of the crowd gathering in the street outside the apartment on the first night that Karl spends there?

Short Essay Questions

1. What grudge does the head porter have against Karl, and how does it underscore the ridiculous labor conditions in the hotel?

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

3. How does the head cook try to soften the blow of Karl's dismissal?

4. What annoys Karl about finding the salami in his trunk in Chapter IV, "The March to Ramses," and what is the salami's eventual fate?

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

6. Why does Karl have a hard time sleeping when he is living at the Occidental Hotel?

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

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

9. How does Robinson end up in Rennel's bed in the dormitory?

10. What is ironic about Karl getting in trouble for being away from his lift?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

What is Kafka saying about America through the motif of automation? Where are the most prominent images of automation? Are they all literal, or are there also figurative images of automation? How does this automation both attract and repel Karl? Is the audience meant to feel this same ambivalence? Write an essay in which you take and defend a position on the meaning of automation in Amerika. Use textual evidence from throughout the novel in support of your claims.

Essay Topic 2

Write an essay that analyzes Amerika through the lens of Le Grand Guignol. Explain the hallmarks of this theatrical tradition and where they are seen, at minimum, in Kafka's settings, moods, and plot. Finally, explain what significance these similarities have to the book's overall meaning. Support your claims with evidence from the text.

Essay Topic 3

Write an essay in which you create a continuum of Amerika's female characters--based on a single criterion of your choosing--and then explain what this ordering of the characters conveys about the role of women in this text. Include, at a minimum, the following characters in your discussion: Therese, Line, Klara, Johanna, Brunelda, and the head cook. Be sure to offer textual evidence to support your assertions.

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 1,161 words (approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample