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

2. What is the chairman suffering from?

3. What does the gentleman want K. to do?

4. Who leases the inn to the landlady and landlord?

5. What does the chairman say is the reason K. was sent for?

Short Essay Questions

1. To what does the landlady attribute the profitability of the inn?

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

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

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

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

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

7. What use does Frieda think the position offered to K. might serve?

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

9. How does the chairman characterize the Castle's bureaucracy?

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

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Obedience is an important aspect of the characters' lives in the village. Discuss the role of obedience in the novel.

1) To whom are the characters in the novel obedient or disobedient?

2) What happens to characters who disobey authority in the novel? For what reasons do the characters disobey authority?

3) Why does the culture in the story value obedience?

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

The bureaucracy of the Castle seems to have no guiding force or leader, and is self-reinforcing, following only rules and regulations. Discuss the leaderless nature of the machine of bureaucracy.

1) Who assesses how well the bureaucracy of the Castle is functioning? What are the consequences?

2) How does the Castle itself function as a leader for the village? What are the consequences of the fact that the Castle is not a person, but an institution? What difference would it make if instead of a Castle, the village followed a King?

3) What controls the Castle? How is bureaucratic control different than control by a leader?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 907 words (approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample