Names of those in your group: __________________________________________________
Stafford/American Studies
Stafford/American Studdies/ Group Essay/Literary Analysis of “Young Goodman Brown”/45 points
Due Date: Friday, November 22nd
GROUP PAPER ASSIGNMENT/DIRECTIONS: In groups of three, you will produce a five
paragraph literary analysis focusing on the symbolism and imagery Hawthorne uses to develop a
theme in “Young Goodman Brown.” This assignment will build on our work with themes, symbolism,
imagery, allegory, MLA style, and thesis statements.
IMPORTANT NOTES:
 As a group, you will decide on the one theme you wish to explore.
 Each member of the group will be responsible for one “body” paragraph, and therefore at least
one piece of symbolism or imagery.
 All members will contribute to the introduction and thesis, as well as the conclusion.
 Given that this is a group assignment, tone and transitions may suffer (although they don’t have
to). As such, I will not be grading on these elements.
 “Young Goodman Brown” lends itself to this type of analysis because it is a moral allegory; it
tells its story on two levels, with both a literal and symbolic meaning. Remember, both The
Crucible and “Rip Van Winkle” were allegorical stories as well.
 Do not confuse this with a book summary! Remember, a literary analysis assumes the reader of
the analysis has already read the story – there is no summary required.
As a group, you will be graded on the following:
Adherence to MLA format – works cited not necessary
_____
Elements and strength of thesis statement (see 11/18 for thesis work)
_____
Clear and appropriate theme (see notes from Crucible and “YGB”)
_____
Inclusion of introductory paragraph and concluding paragraph -both should emphasize the theme you have chosen and use sentence variety
_____
Individually, you will be graded on the following:
Identifying of a piece of symbolism or imagery from the text and explaining
how this symbol or image relates to the theme your group has chosen
_____
Using a relevant quote from the text. This quote should
be introduced with the proper punctuation (see 10/14 work on Quotation Integration)
_____
Exercising variety in sentence structure (see 10/15 work on Sentence Structure)
_____
Including a topic sentence, quote, commentary, and concluding statement
that all work to support of your thesis statement (see 10/31 work on Unity of Effect).
Please note that reiterating the same thing differently does not achieve this goal.
_____
Indications that you were thoughtful about the work and a contributor to your group
_____