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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 type of apprenticeship does Barnabas have?

2. What do the gentlemen in the Gentlemen's Inn do to call the landlord?

3. Where does K. fall asleep at the end of Chapter XXIV?

4. What does Buergel talk to K. about?

5. Does Olga think her family could have restored their position in the village?

Short Essay Questions

1. What is Frieda afraid might happen to he if her mother's warnings are right?

2. What did the townspeople do after Amalia's disobedience became known?

3. What reason does Amalia give K. that he will have to come visit them more often?

4. How long does K. need to wait to see Erlanger?

5. What does Barnabas say about Klamm's appearance?

6. What does Barnabas' family think about his job with the Castle?

7. What was Amalia's father hoping for at his work, before the family's disgrace?

8. Why does K. stay in the corridor after his meeting with Erlanger?

9. What is Frieda doing for Jeremias at the end of Chapter XXII?

10. At what event does Amalia's family's disgrace begin?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Discuss the town's acceptance of K. as a stranger.

1) How do the people in the town feel about strangers and outsiders? What is the culture's attitude toward outsiders?

2) In what ways does K. become accepted in the town? What role does his relationship with the Castle play in his acceptance? What role does his engagement to Frieda play in his acceptance?

3) In what ways does K. remain an outsider in the town? Is K. responsible for remaining an outsider, and to what extent?

Essay Topic 2

In the novel, the constructed reality of the culture is more important than a natural reality. The rules of the culture are artificial, created by people and enforced by people on themselves. Discuss constructed reality in the novel.

1) In what way is the life of the town artificial? How does this allow K. to break rules and do things other characters constrained by the constructed reality couldn't do?

2) What makes the constructed reality of the culture of the village powerful? Why is it important to the characters in the novel?

Essay Topic 3

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?

(see the answer keys)

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