I'd like to build a simple circuit involving two resistors and two switches ... this part is no issue. I want to attach one side of each resistor to a single analog pin on an arduino (probably a mini), then each resistor to a switch, then each switch to ground creating parallel circuits from the one pin.
The circuit you describe has the pin either at ground potential or floating if
both switches are open. Remember an input pin carries no current.
Adding another resistor from the pin to Vcc would create a voltage divider setup,
which would work if the two switch resistors were different values.