Young Goodman Brown guide - Reading Questions on...

Reading Questions on Hawthorne's "Young Goodman Brown"
Be able to define the following vocabulary terms and apply them to the literature we read
in class:
Vocabulary allegory, Gothic, leit-motif, Puritanism
Character Identifications : Young Goodman Brown, Faith Brown, Goody Cloyse, Deacon
Gookin, the Devil
What does the title "goodman" and "goodwife/goody" mean in Puritan society?
Reading Questions :
● Where is young Goodman Brown headed after sunset?
● What signs do we see in the text that this destination is a frightening one on this
particular night of the year?
● With what character is the leit-motif of the pink ribbon associated? Why is that an
appropriate object for this character?
● How is Brown's wife an allegorical figure given her name?
● How is Brown's own name and title potentially allegorical? Where does Brown fit
on the spectrum of black and white? Why might his youth be important?
● Who does Brown meet first in the dark woods? Why do you suppose that figure
appears the way he does in terms of clothing and mannerisms?
● What is this figure's connection with Brown's family, if we can believe the figure's
claims?
● Who is Goody Cloyse? Why was she special to Brown in the development of his
beliefs?
● What falls from the sky that convinces Brown his wife is attending the witches'
sabbat?