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. Where does K. go when he arrives at the village?

2. Does Frieda agree with what K. wants to do about the assistants?

3. At the end of Chapter VIII, where is K.?

4. What do the assistants do when K. makes them leave?

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

Short Essay Questions

1. What is K.'s attitude toward the gentleman in Chapter IX?

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

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

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

5. What does K. praise Frieda for?

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

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

8. What message does K. send through Barnabas to Klamm?

9. What reason does K. give for refusing to let the assistants come back?

10. How does K. feel in the village?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

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?

Essay Topic 2

In the novel, the bureaucracy of the Castle is both very powerful and lacking in power. Discuss this dynamic.

1) In what ways is the bureaucracy of the Castle powerful? How does it control people's actions?

2) In what ways does the bureaucracy of the Castle lack power? How does K. manage to defy the bureaucracy?

3) How does the bureaucracy's power, and lack of power, affect Amalia and her family?

Essay Topic 3

Discuss insults in the novel.

1) Amalia perceives the letter she receives as an insult. Why does she have this perception? How does she respond to it? Could it be interpreted in any other way? Would the rest of the culture see the letter as an insult?

2) Amalia insults both the official and the secretary when she tears up the letter and throws it at the secretary. How do their feelings of being insulted compare to Amalia's? What are the consequences of both insults?

3) In what other situations do characters feel insulted? What are the causes and results of insults, and what role does this play in the culture of the village?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 881 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample