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Quizzes > Books & Literature

Young Goodman Brown quiz: Check your grasp of Hawthorne's tale

Quick, free Goodman Brown quiz to test your knowledge. Instant results.

Editorial: Review CompletedCreated By: Ellen BehringerUpdated Aug 23, 2025
Difficulty: Moderate
2-5mins
Learning OutcomesCheat Sheet
paper art illustration showing pilgrim walking into a dark forest with hidden faces and symbols on a yellow background

This Young Goodman Brown quiz helps you review plot, symbols, and themes in Hawthorne's classic. Answer clear questions, then see which scenes to revisit before a test. If you're studying similar works, try The Crucible act 2 quiz or The Lottery quiz for more practice with Puritan fear and small-town secrets.

Who wrote Young Goodman Brown?
Herman Melville
Washington Irving
Nathaniel Hawthorne (Explanation: Hawthorne authored Young Goodman Brown in the early American Romantic era.)
Edgar Allan Poe
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Which period and place best describe the story's historical setting?
Revolutionary-era Philadelphia
Early 19th-century Boston
Colonial Virginia tobacco plantations
Late 17th-century Puritan New England (Explanation: The tale is set around the era of Puritan Salem.)
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The story begins in which town?
Plymouth
Concord
Boston
Salem Village (Explanation: Hawthorne situates Goodman Brown's home and departure in Salem Village.)
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Who is Faith in relation to Goodman Brown?
His sister
His wife (Explanation: Faith is both his spouse and an allegorical emblem of his religious faith.)
His mother
A neighbor's daughter
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Why does Goodman Brown go into the forest that night?
To keep an appointment with a mysterious traveler (Explanation: He has a prearranged, secret errand with a stranger.)
To retrieve a lost Bible
To meet Faith's family
To hunt game
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At the start, what does Faith beg Goodman Brown to do?
Carry a lantern
Stay home that night (Explanation: She pleads with him to delay his journey and remain with her.)
Visit the minister
Send word to his father
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What does the title Goodman mean in the context of the story's era?
A landowner of high rank
A traveling judge
A courtesy title like Mister for a common man (Explanation: Goodman was a modest social title in Puritan New England.)
A church deacon
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What distinctive feature is associated with the traveler's walking stick?
It is carved with crosses
It is topped with a silver bell
It glows like a lantern
It resembles a serpent (Explanation: The serpent-like staff signals diabolic influence and temptation.)
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Who is Goody Cloyse in the story?
The governor's wife
The town midwife only
Faith's aunt
Goodman Brown's catechism teacher (Explanation: She is a respected religious instructor revealed to consort with evil.)
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What falls from the sky and convinces Goodman Brown that Faith may be lost?
A silver locket
A catechism booklet
A wedding ring
A pink ribbon (Explanation: Faith's pink ribbon drifts down, prompting the cry, "My Faith is gone!")
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In what year was Young Goodman Brown first published?
1846
1819
1835 (Explanation: The story first appeared in 1835 in The New-England Magazine.)
1851
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How is the traveler's appearance related to Goodman Brown's?
He is a uniformed soldier
He looks much like Goodman Brown, only older (Explanation: Hawthorne notes the traveler resembles Brown, hinting at kinship or temptation.)
He is a child
He is a foreigner with exotic dress
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Which respected community figures are shown linked to the forest gathering?
The schoolmaster and the blacksmith
The judge and the sheriff
The minister and Deacon Gookin (Explanation: Both are depicted as associated with the nocturnal assembly.)
The governor and his chaplain
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The exclamation My Faith is gone functions primarily as what literary device?
A paradox with no literal sense
An oxymoron
A pun with double meaning (Explanation: It refers to both his wife Faith and his spiritual faith.)
A hyperbole
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Which point of view does the story primarily employ?
Third-person limited centered on Goodman Brown (Explanation: The narration filters events through Brown's perceptions.)
Omniscient addressing the reader directly
First-person confession
Second-person imperative
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In which magazine did Young Goodman Brown first appear in print?
The Atlantic
North American Review
The New-England Magazine (Explanation: Hawthorne published the tale there in 1835.)
Harper's Monthly
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Hawthorne's family history with the Salem witch trials most directly informs which concern of the story?
Inherited guilt and the shadow of communal sin (Explanation: Hawthorne often wrestled with ancestral complicity in Puritan persecutions.)
Mercantile trade disputes
Frontier survival skills
Satire of scientific societies
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Which specific color effect in the story is often read as symbolic of mixed purity and passion?
Blue smoke from the hearth
Green of the minister's coat
Black ink on the catechism
The color pink associated with Faith (Explanation: Pink blends white and red, suggesting innocence touched by experience.)
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Which narrative technique is central to the story's enduring interpretation?
Frame narrative with multiple narrators
Epistolary letters between characters
Direct address to the reader with footnotes
Sustained ambiguity about whether the events were dream or reality (Explanation: The tale never resolves the status of the forest vision.)
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True or False: Goody Cloyse identifies the mysterious traveler as the devil.
True (Explanation: She greets him as the devil, revealing her own complicity.)
False
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Study Outcomes

  1. Analyze Hawthorne's Symbolism -

    Dissect the use of symbolic imagery such as the forest and serpent staff in Young Goodman Brown to deepen thematic understanding.

  2. Identify Plot Twists and Their Impact -

    Pinpoint key moments in the narrative and explain how each twist influences the story's moral and suspense.

  3. Evaluate Character Motivations -

    Assess the personal drives and moral dilemmas of characters like Goodman Brown and Faith to reveal deeper psychological insights.

  4. Interpret Moral Ambiguities -

    Distinguish between good and evil themes and how Hawthorne blurs these lines to provoke critical reflection.

  5. Navigate the Quizlet Format -

    Leverage the structure of our Young Goodman Brown Quizlet quiz to self-assess and reinforce your understanding of key plot points.

  6. Master CommonLit Answer Strategies -

    Apply insights from Hawthorne's narrative to confidently tackle Young Goodman Brown CommonLit answers and related exam questions.

Cheat Sheet

  1. Symbolism of the Forest -

    Hawthorne uses the forest as a multifaceted symbol of temptation, fear, and the unknown, drawing on Puritan lore (Oxford University Press). Try the mnemonic "F.O.R.E.S.T." (Fear, Obscurity, Rebellion, Evil, Shadows, Temptation) to recall key elements in your Young Goodman Brown Quizlet review. Notice how every gnarled tree and winding path mirrors Brown's internal struggle against sin.

  2. Faith versus Doubt -

    Brown's journey tests his Puritan faith, exposing how quickly belief can fracture under suspicion (Harvard English Department analysis). Use the simple memory phrase "Faith Often Resists Doubt" to anchor your understanding of this central conflict in young goodman brown quizlet drills. Observing Brown's wavering prayers reveals Hawthorne's critique of unquestioning orthodoxy.

  3. Allegory of Puritan Society -

    The story functions as an allegory critiquing 17th-century Puritan rigidity and hidden hypocrisy, as noted in the Journal of American Literature. Identifying key figures - like Faith and the Devil - as symbolic stand-ins will sharpen your Young Goodman Brown trivia answers and deepen thematic insight.

  4. Ambiguity: Dream versus Reality -

    Critics at Cambridge University highlight Hawthorne's deliberate ambiguity - was Brown's experience a nightmare or actual event? Remember the acronym "D.R.E.A.M." (Doubt, Reality, Evil, Ambiguity, Morality) to unpack this duality in your CommonLit answers and class discussions.

  5. Using Quizlet & CommonLit Resources -

    Combine flashcards from Young Goodman Brown Quizlet with annotated CommonLit primary-text questions to reinforce plot, motif, and symbolism. Group study sessions using the "Q-A-R" method (Question, Answer, Review) can boost retention and ensure you ace any Nathaniel Hawthorne quiz.

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