Good Omens: The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch

Use these essay questions as writing and critical thinking exercises for all levels of writers, and to build their literary analysis skills by requiring textual references throughout the essay.

Differentiation Suggestion: For English learners or struggling writers, strategies that work well include graphic organizers, sentence frames or starters, group work, or oral responses.

Scaffolded Essay Questions

Student Prompt: Write a short (1-3 paragraph) response using one of the below bulleted outlines. Cite details from the text over the course of your response that serve as examples and support.

1. Adam thinks to himself at the end of the novel that there never was an apple that wasn’t worth the trouble you got into for eating it.

• What is the message the authors are attempting to convey about the nature of free will and the (possible) disobedience that goes with it? (topic sentence)
• Find two or three examples of action or dialogue that support the authors’ point. Explain how they support the authors’ point. If you disagree with the authors’ point, explain why.
• In your concluding sentence or sentences, show the connection between these points and the novel’s theme of The Rights and Limitations of Free Will. You may also consider addressing how the reader might use the insights gained from the story to change their own actions.

2. The authors often use satire to make their points, which can be boiled down to the message of “Look how silly you/we are.”

• Why is satire an effective tool for conveying messages in this work? (topic sentence)
• Using examples, show how the author uses the scene or scenes to make a point. How likely is it that a reader will change their point of view after reading this story?
• In your concluding sentence or sentences, show the connection between these messages and the novel’s themes of Nature Versus Nurture, The Hypocrisy of Organized Religion, and/or The Rights and Limitations of Free Will. You may also consider addressing whether you think the authors were effective in persuasively conveying their message.

3. The characters of Aziraphale and Crowley should be natural (also supernatural, technically) enemies, yet they develop a friendship and seem to be working on the same side—against the bureaucracy of Heaven and Hell.

• How is bureaucracy the real antagonist of the story? (topic sentence)
• Choose three examples of how the bureaucracy of Heaven and Hell cause problems for Aziraphale and Crowley and explain how or why bureaucracy does not work efficiently to bring about Armageddon.
• In your concluding sentence or sentences, show the connections among this bureaucracy, its role in the novel, and the novel’s themes of The Hypocrisy of Organized Religion and The Cosmos as a Massive Bureaucracy. You may also consider addressing how the bureaucracy of Heaven and Hell in the novel serves to comment on bureaucratic institutions on Earth.

Full Essay Assignments

Student Prompt: Write a structured and well-developed essay. Include a thesis statement, at least three main points supported by text details, and a conclusion.

1. Aziraphale and Crowley, as representatives of Heaven and Hell, should be mortal (also immortal, technically) enemies. Instead, neither one is sure they are really doing the right or wrong thing, respectively. What does this say about the nature of good and evil? Illustrate your conclusion using examples from the text.

2. The authors seem to suggest that organized religion has problems with correctly identifying good and evil and fully understanding the nature of morality. How does organized religion differ from (or form the basis of) morality? Support your points using examples from the text.

3. Aziraphale and Crowley frequently remark that the ineffability of God means that they can never really know what his real Plan is. How does the concept of ineffability relate to free will? How do Agnes Nutter’s prophecies relate to free will? Are they similar or different? Support your conclusions with examples from the text.