Ygbquestions
Mr. Lutz 2010
YGB Seminar Prep
1. What is revealed in the first seven paragraphs about the characters of Goodman Brown and Faith?
2. Citing specific details from the text, explain whether you think GB saw or dreamed the incidents in the forest.
3. How has Brown’s character changed in the final paragraph of the story?
4. Would you consider GB’s change more plausible if he actually had seen the events I the forest or if he had only imagined or dreamed them? Explain.
5. Brown is viewed by some as a sympathetic character – an innocent young man whose life is blighted by an encounter with evil. Others consider Brown an unsympathetic character, righteous, unfeeling, and unwilling to accept flawed humanity. Which opinion do you hold? Explain.
6. What do you think that daylight and the town versus darkness and the forest symbolize? Note: Your answer will depend on your interpretation of the story.
7. “YGB” can be considered an allegory – that is, a story in which characters, action, and setting represent abstract concepts apart from the literal meaning of the action. Choose from the following interpretations the one you think is most convincing and defend your choice.
a. Hawthorne is revealing the hypocrisy of Puritanism by highlighting the fact that even those who appear to be pious and noble are actually sinners.
b. The story represents on man’s disillusionment and loss of faith. Unable to accept either the evils or joys of life, GB lives and dies in despair.
c. This is a reenactment of the story of Eden – an allegory of humanity’s first fall from innocence and the resulting guilt.
YGB Seminar Prep
1. What is revealed in the first seven paragraphs about the characters of Goodman Brown and Faith?
2. Citing specific details from the text, explain whether you think GB saw or dreamed the incidents in the forest.
3. How has Brown’s character changed in the final paragraph of the story?
4. Would you consider GB’s change more plausible if he actually had seen the events I the forest or if he had only imagined or dreamed them? Explain.
5. Brown is viewed by some as a sympathetic character – an innocent young man whose life is blighted by an encounter with evil. Others consider Brown an unsympathetic character, righteous, unfeeling, and unwilling to accept flawed humanity. Which opinion do you hold? Explain.
6. What do you think that daylight and the town versus darkness and the forest symbolize? Note: Your answer will depend on your interpretation of the story.
7. “YGB” can be considered an allegory – that is, a story in which characters, action, and setting represent abstract concepts apart from the literal meaning of the action. Choose from the following interpretations the one you think is most convincing and defend your choice.
a. Hawthorne is revealing the hypocrisy of Puritanism by highlighting the fact that even those who appear to be pious and noble are actually sinners.
b. The story represents on man’s disillusionment and loss of faith. Unable to accept either the evils or joys of life, GB lives and dies in despair.
c. This is a reenactment of the story of Eden – an allegory of humanity’s first fall from innocence and the resulting guilt.