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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 does the letter praise?

2. What does Schwarzer tell K. in the beginning of the novel when the two first meet?

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

4. How does the landlord say that the landlady has been feeling?

5. What answer does K. get when he calls the Castle himself for permission to visit?

Short Essay Questions

1. What does K. do to get fuel for a fire?

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

3. How does the chairman's wife act during K.'s visit?

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

5. What is the landlady's relationship to Klamm?

6. What happens between K. and the assistants after Frieda gets up in the middle of the night at the school?

7. What happens when K. first wakes up the morning after meeting Frieda?

8. How does K. feel when he goes to see the village chairman?

9. What does K. suspect about Frieda, at the end of Chapter XII?

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

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Throughout the novel, the characters desire favors from the upper class. Favors allow characters to get ahead in life, but both how they are acquired and whether they are deserved is ill-defined. Discuss the role of favors in the novel.

1) Is the lease of the Bridge Inn and the marriage between the landlady and landlord all a favor from Klamm to the landlady? In what ways is it ambiguous? What role does Klamm play in the landlady receiving these things?

2) What does K. expect to receive from Klamm? What does he believe you need to do to receive a favor?

3) What are characters in the novel willing to do for favors? Under what circumstances do the characters receive good things? Is it related to their actions?

Essay Topic 2

Many of the goals and aims of the characters in the novel prove futile. Discuss futility in the novel.

1) When Amalia's father tries to change the fate of his ostracized family, his quest is futile. Why is his quest futile? Why does he continue to strive for it, even though he loses all his money in bribes?

2) K.'s quest to see Klamm seems futile. What makes his quest unsuccessful? Can he have any control over his quest? Why does he continue to try to see K.?

3) What other characters face futility, and what do they do when faced with futility?

Essay Topic 3

In THE CASTLE, the relationship between individuals in groups is important. Discuss the role of social dynamics in the novel.

1) How does the relationship between the twins Jeremias and Artur compare to the social dynamics in the culture of the village? What is the significance of the fact that they age faster apart? How do they act as individuals, and how do they act as a group?

2) How does the culture of the village and the dynamics of groups have power in the novel? How does the village as a whole act differently from individuals?

3) How does the bureaucracy of the Castle reflect the dynamics of groups, as opposed to individuals?

(see the answer keys)

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