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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 he arrives at the cathedral square, K. remembers “that even as a small child it had struck him that the curtains of the houses in the narrow square were nearly always all” what, in “In the Cathedral”?

2. Titorelli describes one of the tenement children as having hidden where in his apartment the previous night in “The Lawyer – The Factory-Owner – The Painter”?

3. Where do K. and the two strange guards go after departing the city in “The End”?

4. What is K.’s head placed on by the strange guards in “The End”?

5. What object does Herr Huld’s maid give to K. so that he can return and visit her in “His Uncle – Leni”?

Short Essay Questions

1. What element of symbolism in The Trial connects K. to the theme of “Original Sin”?

2. How is K. first introduced to Herr Block in “Block, the Corn Merchant – The Dismissal of the Lawyer”?

3. How is the character of Dr. Huld described in “His Uncle – Leni”?

4. Who does K. meet with in his office in “The Lawyer – The Factory-Owner – The Painter”? What does this character give to K.?

5. In what ways does K. demonstrate the theme of the individual versus society in The Trial?

6. In what way is K.’s character similar to Job from the Old Testament?

7. What does Uncle Karl relate to K. about his actions and their reflection on the family in “His Uncle – Leni”?

8. What does Block tell K. about his impressions on the defendants in the Court Offices in “Block, the Corn Merchant – The Dismissal of the Lawyer”?

9. How is the weather described in the opening of “The Lawyer – The Factory-Owner – The Painter”? Where is K. located in the beginning of the chapter?

10. What is K.’s duty with the Italian Businessman in “In the Cathedral”? What does the Italian represent symbolically to K.?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Analyze and discuss the character of Josef K. as the protagonist of The Trial. What was K.’s life like prior to the arrival of the guards that appear in “The Arrest”? What is K.’s position within his society? What do you find to be K.’s “fatal flaw” in the story?

Essay Topic 2

Analyze the characters of Bertold and the Usher’s Wife in the novel. What is Bertold a student of? How do the Usher and the Usher’s Wife describe his character? What power does Bertold hold within the courts?

Essay Topic 3

Describe and discuss the setting established in “The Arrest.” How large is the boarding house where K. lives with Frau Grubach and others? What part of town is the boarding house located in? How far away is the bank where K. works?

(see the answer keys)

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