The Birthmark - TWIST Analysis
You can find this storyboard in the following articles and resources:
The Birthmark by Nathaniel Hawthorne
Lesson Plans by Rebecca Ray
In the “The Birthmark”, the narrator introduces Aylmer, a brilliant scientist, and his wife Georgiana. Aylmer loves his wife, but she has a small birthmark on the side of her left cheek that he despises. This is a dark and eerie tale of one man’s unhealthy obsession with perfection, leaving readers with thoughts on science, life, and love.
Acronyms Explained: TWIST + TP-CASTT
By Emily Swartz
Two acronyms to start incorporating with your ELA students are TWIST and TP-CASTT. Both highlight important concepts from the work and will help increase overall literary comprehension!
![The Birthmark By Nathaniel Hawthorne - "The Birthmark" Summary](http://cdn2.storyboardthat.com/storyboard-cells/989865/cell-col-0-row-0-w400.png "The Birthmark By Nathaniel Hawthorne - "The Birthmark" Summary")
![The Birthmark By Nathaniel Hawthorne - Vocabulary in "The Birthmark"](http://cdn2.storyboardthat.com/storyboard-cells/989868/cell-col-0-row-0-w400.png "The Birthmark By Nathaniel Hawthorne - Vocabulary in "The Birthmark"")
![The Birthmark By Nathaniel Hawthorne - "The Birthmark" TWIST Analysis](http://cdn2.storyboardthat.com/storyboard-cells/989873/cell-col-1-row-0-w400.png "The Birthmark By Nathaniel Hawthorne - "The Birthmark" TWIST Analysis")
![The Birthmark By Nathaniel Hawthorne - "The Birthmark" Themes and Symbols](http://cdn2.storyboardthat.com/storyboard-cells/989876/cell-col-0-row-0-w400.png "The Birthmark By Nathaniel Hawthorne - "The Birthmark" Themes and Symbols")
Storyboard Description
The Birthmark Analysis | Use TWIST to analyze stories!
Storyboard Text
- Slide: 1
- Disgusted: Aylmer has a grotesque fascination with Georgiana’s birthmark. Instead of seeing it as a mark of uniqueness he see’s it as an imperfection.
- Slide: 2
- Degregating, ineludible, sin, sorrow, death, decay, sombre, frightening, trouble, horror.
- Slide: 3
- “The crimson hand expressed the ineludible gripe in which mortality clutches the highest and purest of 6 earthly mould...” The sight of the birthmark reminds Aylmer of Georgiana’s near perfection.
- Slide: 4
- The narrator uses particular imagery and word choice in his description to illustrate Aylmer’s disdain and disappointment in Georgiana’s lack of perfection.
- Slide: 5
- From a Puritan perspective, a possible interpretation for this short passage is that man is flawed and sinful. The lack of perfection he sees in Georgiana is in fact the imperfection in man.