Brokeback Mountain

Jack appears more willing to acknowledge and embrace his orientation than Ennis does. Identify two to three passages from the text that illustrate this difference and discuss each character’s (conscious or unconscious) reasons for behaving how they do. Address how the characters’ attitudes change throughout the story, assuming they do.

Choose another work that deals with forbidden love, such as Romeo and Juliet, and discuss the similarities and differences between the two stories. Is “Brokeback Mountain” a “traditional” story of star-crossed love in everything but the protagonists’ gender?

The story “Brokeback Mountain” was first published in 1997, and the film adaptation was released in 2005. Consider cultural attitudes toward LGTBQ+ characters and stories in the late 20th and early 21st century. Was either work groundbreaking for queer media? If so, explain why and in what way.

After reading the story and watching the film adaptation, discuss the similarities and differences between the two. Does the story’s Wyoming setting have the same effect on the screen as on the page?

Annie Proulx’s writing has been discussed as naturalistic. How does this story fit the mold of naturalism? Does it deviate from naturalism’s conventions in any ways?

The primary characters in “Brokeback Mountain” are multidimensional. Are any of the secondary characters complex? If so, in what way? If not, how does their flatness serve the narrative?

How does Proulx use foreshadowing in the story “Brokeback Mountain”? Identify two to three instances of foreshadowing and describe their significance and effect.

The narrative point of view is omniscient but spends the most time with Ennis’s perspective. What are some passages that illustrate this? When the narrator switches perspective to another character, how does that switch affect the story?