“The Birthmark” Group 1: What is the theme of the story? Can you support this with details from the text? Group 2: What are 3 examples of figurative language in the text? Group 3: Create a plot diagram of the story. Why is the climax the turning point? Group 4: What are the conflicts in the story? Man vs ____ and which would be the “main” one? Group 5: How can you connect this story to our unit theme or essential questions? Group 6: In the end of the story, does Alymer succeed or fail and why?

Theme The more perfect you try to become the more imperfect you become. No matter how hard you try, perfection cannot be achieved.

Theme Don’t only look at imperfections or judge them.

Theme Expectation of perfection isn’t obtainable by humans. If we don’t accept our imperfections we won’t reach true happiness. * WARNING to people: trying to make everyone perfect /same but it is hurting everyone. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. previous suitors thought it was cute / lucky / unique but Alymer did not Everyone is perfect. Don’t change for someone else. - “in trying to improve his lovely wife he failed to see that she was perfect all along.” - Trying to perfect his imperfect wife. Realizes at end that she was perfect.

Theme No such thing as perfection. He had failed to realize she was perfect all along. Birthmark lessened her beauty / perfection. Seeking perfection. Foolishness of striving for perfection Science vs Nature

Figurative Language Simile: “like a red stain upon snow”, “pale as death”, “shocks me as being a sign of earthly imperfection”

Figurative Language metaphor: “a crimson stain upon the snow” Simile: “pale as death” Hyperbole: “threw away her life” Symbol: the birthmark = unhappiness, pain , sins, life  mortality, humanity, hand  innocence, youth, future, Foreshadowing: dream, Personification: hand clutching heart

Figurative Language Simile: “when she turned pale there was a mark, like a red stain”, “ruby on the whitest marble” Personification: “from the hand of nature” Symbolism: birthmark: “nature is bad” , its imperfection = perfection, Birthmark = humanity, mortality

Figurative Language Hyperbole: “ seemed to have been burning for ages” Foreshadowing: “hand on her face had been linked to her life” – end of her life, - His dream – foreshadows her death “deeper his knife went” Symbolism: mark was in the shape of hand = shows her mortality / humanity / imperfections , hand holding up her life supporting her, magical fairy hand Simile: “like a red jewel on a white stone” “like a red stone” “ red stain on snow” Personification: “caught hold of her heart”

Plot Diagram Exposition: Very devoted scientist, recently married. Conflict: Aylmer isn't into Georgiana's birthmark and wants to remove it. Rising Action: It isn’t as easy as he thought. He is testing, trying, experimenting. 4. CLIMAX! : She drinks it. 5. Falling Action: She is dying. 6. Resolution: She has died. He is to blame.

conflict Man vs Man: Wife didn’t agree with plan but… as story progresses evident that it is : Man vs Self : tries to alter nature using science. Fighting self,

Conflict Man vs Man: Alymer vs wife (birthmark) Tension *Man vs Self: He is the one who is fighting , should I do it, should I not – dreams, battling himself and using science to support his ideas. * Strong Internal Conflict : he stays up at night thinking about it, how he will move on. Ultimately he wil. Struggle within him to “win” , seek the perfection.

Group 5- connect to unit theme Search for tomorrow relates to the story by saying that he is trying to make her perfect, but each day, he doesn’t realize that she already is perfect. Think about what is “tomorrow”. Do not always think that it is just today. Think about the future, not just the present and the consequences of actions. Cannot predict the future. “Why do people seek perfection?” she felt that he didn’t like it and wanted him to be happy. So- essentially to make her husband happy, she wanted to be “perfect”.

Fail? He didn’t realize that she was perfect and she ultimately died. Both because he was able to get the mark off , but he actually lost the thing that he was trying to perfect.