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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. Who does the letter from K.'s director tell him to report to?

2. Who does K. say summoned him?

3. What answer do K.'s assistants get when they call the Castle for permission to visit?

4. How does the landlady say she feels about K. staying at the inn?

5. What reason does Frieda's mother give for letting K. stay in the inn when he first arrived?

Short Essay Questions

1. What does the landlady say will happen to the record of K.'s talk with the gentleman?

2. What does K. ask Frieda about when he first meets her?

3. What does Klamm write about K.'s assistants, and how does this compare to the reality of K.'s assistants' roles?

4. How does K. react to the gentleman who comes to the coach while K. is there waiting?

5. What does the coachman tell K. about Klamm's arrival at the coach?

6. What do Artur and Jeremias know about land surveying?

7. How does K. discover that Klamm is staying at the Gentlemen's Inn?

8. How does the Castle react to inquiries about K. when he first arrives?

9. What does the gentleman who comes to the coach while K. is there waiting want?

10. What impression does Frieda make when K. first meets her?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Discuss THE CASTLE as a religious allegory.

1) Considering The Castle as a religious allegory, what role does Klamm play? What does the nature of Klamm say about the author's viewpoint?

2) What role does the Castle bureaucracy play? Who do Klamm's representatives represent?

3) What moral dilemma does The Castle present about the nature of being good, based on K.'s arguments about intention?

Essay Topic 2

Throughout the novel, bureaucracy causes obstructions for the characters. Discuss the obstructions of bureaucracy in the novel.

1) How does bureaucracy call K. to the town? How does it affect the plot?

2) Inside the Castle bureaucracy, is it possible to tell what actually happened and what is important? What is the significance of the obscuring nature of bureaucracy?

3) How do the inhabitants of the town view their own town's bureaucracy? What are the consequences of complaining about bureaucracy?

Essay Topic 3

In the novel, the motivations of people are often open to question. Discuss the significance of the ambiguity of characters' motivations.

1) Are K.'s motivations clear? What are his possible motivations for being with Frieda? Do his motivations make a difference? What do you think of K.'s argument that his motivations don't necessarily matter?

2) What are conflicting reports of Frieda's motivations? How ambiguous are her motives? How important is it that other people can't necessarily ever fully understand her motivations?

3) How does the obscurity of the workings of the Castle compare to the obscurity of the motives of the characters?

(see the answer keys)

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