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1. According to Father Flynn, how did President Kennedy's death bring people together?

After President Kennedy's death, the people were brought together by a common feeling of hopelessness. It was a public experience shared by everyone in society.

2. In Scene 1, why does Father Flynn say a private calamity is worse than a public one?

A private calamity is worse because the person experiencing it is isolated. They have no one who know what is troubling them and no one to identify with them.

3. In Scene 1, why does the sailor in Father Flynn's sermon feel despair when clouds cover the sky?

The sailor feels despair because the clouds cover the stars so he cannot use them to navigate. Because the clouds are covered, he doesn't know if he's headed home or further out to sea.

4. How do we know that this play is set in 1964?

We know Doubt: A Parable is set in 1964 because Father Flynn says the death of President Kennedy occurred "last year." President Kennedy's assassination took place in 1963.

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