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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. When does K. say he wants to see Klamm?

2. How does K. feel when he leaves the meeting with the chairman?

3. When K. lights a match, who does he startle?

4. Who does Frieda's mother say an official will talk to?

5. What do Artur and Jeremias look like?

Short Essay Questions

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

2. What does K. praise Frieda for?

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

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

5. What does K. call Artur and Jeremias and why?

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

7. What does K. believe is the reason that Hans and his family never received favors from Klamm?

8. What reason does the landlady give K. that her conversation with him is important, and does her reason seem true, based on the conversation?

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

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

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Discuss the setting of the novel.

1) Discuss the Castle as part of the setting of the novel. Why does the reader never visit the inside of the Castle? How does the reader learn about the Castle? What does the appearance and structure of the Castle say about it and about the village?

2) How does the setting of the village influence the novel?

3) Why do the inns become a major part of the novel's setting? What is the importance of the two inns in the novel?

4) What significance does the schoolhouse have as a setting?

Essay Topic 2

Discuss the role of women in THE CASTLE.

1) What role does Amalia play in the novel? What is her role as a woman in the village's culture? How does she defy that role, and what are the consequences?

2) What role does Frieda play in the novel? Does she use her gender to gain a social advantage? How does the culture promote that behavior?

3) What role does the landlady play in the novel? What does her position say about the role of women in the society?

Essay Topic 3

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?

(see the answer keys)

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