Lesson Plan: The Birthmark

Refia Durmaz and Carol Griffiths, Turkey

Refia Durmaz graduated from the ELT department at Marmara University, Istanbul, Turkey. She is currently doing an MA in the ELT department in Istanbul University.

Dr Carol Griffiths has taught in many places around the world, and is currently based in Istanbul, Turkey. She has also published widely and presented at many conferences around the world.

Title: The Birthmark
Author: Nathaniel Hawthorne
Genre: Short story

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Teacher’s guidelines
Student’s worksheet

Teacher’s guidelines

Literature is an invaluable authentic language teaching resource, which can be used to engage the learners with the target culture and language. Given that time is often limited, short stories are the genre which serve this purpose very practically because of their length. They allow the whole passage to be covered in a short time period which avoids breakdowns in comprehension and loss of motivation. Besides, short stories give an opportunity to present target structures and vocabulary to the learners in a real context. Through a short story all skills can be practiced while teaching grammar with no need to introduce new material for each. It is time saving and practical, because, in time learners are getting more familiar with the story which allows them to improve critical thinking skills, comprehension of underlying meaning etc. This plan has a flexible time schedule so that it can be adapted according to the learners’ age, level, teaching objectives and the time available.

Speaking

Before asking learners to read the story, they need to be motivated through arousing curiosity about the story in their minds. A well prepared discussion section can serve this purpose. Besides, this section helps us to build a bridge between learners’ lives and the story. In this plan, the teacher asks learners:

1. What is your perception of perfection?
2. Are you a perfectionist?
3. Do you think the search for perfection is a good thing or a bad thing?

Teacher’s feedback is crucial to motivate the learners to share their experiences and ideas, your responses should show that you are really interested in their experiences and you want to learn more.

Listening

This section provides background information about the story which enhances comprehension. Besides, learners will be more willing to read the story if they find something interesting or familiar about the author. In this plan, a listening passage is given about the life of the author and the teacher asks learners to have a look at the statements given in the ‘true-false section’ before playing a recording or reading the text. An advantage of this method is that it assists comprehension because when the learners know what they are looking for they will be able to catch it more easily. In addition, the ‘not given section’ is added to the activity to decrease the guessing percentage and avoid students solely concentrating on specific information, and encourages students to listen from beginning to end carefully. Be sure students are not given the listening text before they hear it to avoid them reading rather than listening.

Teacher’s answer key: listening comprehension

Listen to the text about Nathaniel Hawthorne and say if the following statements are true (T), false (F) or not given (NG).

1. Nathaniel Hawthorne was born in a seaside town (T)
2. He used to hate reading Shakespeare when he was a child (F)
3. He enjoyed being alone (T)
4. He studied in Bowdoin College. (T)
5. He wrote fiction stories when he was in college. (NG)
6. Later in life he loved nature (T)
7. He had a great imagination. (T)
8. The Birthmark is one his famous short stories. (NG)

Listening text

Nathaniel Hawthorne was born on the 4th of July in 1804 in Salem, Massachusetts, one of New England’s oldest seaport towns. As a child, one of his favorite pastimes was to climb the roof of his grandfather’s house, where propped against the chimney, he would read Shakespeare and Milton. He delighted in nature, preferring the solitude of the woods and fields to the company of others. Later, he was to develop an ambivalent attitude to nature. At Bowdoin College in Maine one of his classmates said: “He lives in a world of thought and imagination, which he never permits one to enter.”

Adapted from Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B9diLEX5iFQ /03.05.2016

Reading

Hand out the text and ask learners to read it either aloud or silently as is most appropriate for the class or the time available.

Comprehension

Give the questions about the text to check learners’ comprehension. The questions are sequenced from knowledge to evaluation level in order to test both sentence and beyond sentence level comprehension, inferencing and critical thinking.

Teacher’s answer key: comprehension

Answer the following questions according to the story.

1. What is Aylmer’s job? (scientist)
2. What is the shape of the birthmark? What do you think it symbolizes? (hand, own opinions)
3. How can you define Aylmer’s perception of perfection? (own opinions)
4. What do you think about Georgiana’s drinking the liquid without hesitation. What would you do if you were in her shoes? Why? (own opinions)
5. What is the moral of the story? (own opinions)

Vocabulary

The teacher asks learners to match the words with the given meanings by guessing it from the context. Key items are given in bold in the text to catch learners’ attention while reading, to help them to find them easily in the passage and to see the context in which they are used before matching.

Teacher’s answer key: vocabulary

Pronunciation

Practicing the pronunciation of new vocabulary is important to avoid fossilization in pronunciation. Be careful of silent letters (e.g. “wretched”), and the use of the schwa in unstressed syllables.

Grammar

To increase learners’ awareness about the forms, two sentences from the story are provided and practised in a controlled way. A less controlled activity is then provided which requires the correct use of the forms in a different context to assess if the learners can put their knowledge into practice. It’s important to provide a sample if the learners are not familiar with the activity type, so in this activity the first question is given as completed to provide them with a model.

Look at the sentences underlined from the passage given below. Read them carefully and say which of the actions given in bold happened before the other.

Aylmer now remembered that he had imagined himself trying to remove the birthmark with an operation in his dream.

1. Remembering the dream
2. Imagining himself

The next day they went to Aylmer's laboratory where he had made all his famous discoveries.

1. Going to the laboratory
2. Making discoveries

Teacher’s answer key: grammar

Fill in the blanks with the given verbs in past or past perfect (had+past participle ) forms. The first one is done for you.

1. She had done (to do) her homework before she went (to go) to bed.
2. When she arrived (to arrive), the film had already started .(to start)
3. He had listened (to listen) to his student’s excuse, before he gave (to give) the mark.
4. She turned on (to turn on) the radio after she had cleaned (to clean) the kitchen.
5. I opened (to open) my bag to check if I had forgotten (to forget) my keys

Writing

It is important to give learners an opportunity to relate the story to their own lives and experiences. In this plan the teacher provides learners with two options, since it is more motivating for the learners when they have a chance to choose the essay topic according to their needs, interests or familiarity level. A word target of 200 words is suggested, but this can be adjusted according to the class, the tome available, and the purpose

Student’s worksheet

Speaking-warm-up questions

Discuss with your partner/s.

• How do you define perfection?
• Are you a perfectionist?
• Do you think the search for perfection is a good thing or a bad thing?

Listening

Listen to the text about Nathaniel Hawthorne and say if the following statements are true (T), false (F) or not given (NG).

1. Nathaniel Hawthorne was born in a seaside town ( )
2. He used to hate reading Shakespeare when he was a child ( )
3. He enjoyed being alone ( )
4. He studied in Bowdoin College. ( )
5. He wrote fiction stories when he was in college. ( )
6. Later in life he loved nature ( )
7. He had a great imagination. ( )
8. The Birthmark is one his famous short stories. ( )

Reading

Read the story ‘The Birthmark’. (see Appendix)

Comprehension

Answer the following questions according to the story.

1. What is Aylmer’s job?
2. What is the shape of the birthmark? What do you think it symbolizes?
3. How can you define Aylmer’s perception of perfection?
4. What do you think about Georgiana’s drinking the liquid without hesitation? What would you do if you were in her shoes? Why?
5. What is the moral of the story?

Vocabulary

Find the following words in the passage. Try to infer their meanings from the sentences and match with them the given meanings below.

1. defect a. not having much colour 2. blushed b. a dirty mark that is difficult to remove 3. pale c. to become pink in the face, e.g. from embarrassment 4. stain d. painful or unpleasant 5. unbearable e. a fault or problem 6. stigma f. overwhelming desire 7. imperfection g. extreme joy 8. wretched h. extremely unhappy 9. crimson i. bright red 10. irrepressible j. less than perfect 11. ecstasy k. something to be ashamed of 12. obsession l. cannot be repressed

Pronunciation

Listen and repeat the pronunciations of the words given in the vocabulary section.

Grammar

Look at the sentences underlined from the passage given below. Read them carefully and say which of the actions given in bold happened before the other.

Aylmer now remembered that he had imagined himself trying to remove the birthmark with an operation in his dream.

3. Remembering the dream
4. Imagining himself

The next day they went to Aylmer's laboratory where he had made all his famous discoveries.

3. Going to the laboratory
4. Making discoveries

Fill in the blanks with the given verbs in past or past perfect (had+past participle) forms. The first one is done for you.

1. She had done (to do) her homework before she went (to go) to bed.
2. When she _________ (to arrive) the film, it ___ already _________ .(to start)
3. He __________ (to listen) to his student’s excuse, before he ________ (to give) the mark.
4. She ___________ (to turn on) the radio after she _______ (to clean) the kitchen.
5. I _________ (to open) my bag to check if I ____________ (to forget) my keys

Choose one of the topics given below and write an essay of about 200 words.

1. Have you ever experienced failure while trying to achieve perfection?
2. “Women should not be expected to obey their husbands at all costs.” To what extend do you agree or disagree with this statement?

Appendix

The Birthmark- Nathaniel Hawthorne (shortened from the original)

A long time ago, there lived a man of science, an eminent man, proficient in every branch of natural philosophy, who persuaded a beautiful woman to become his wife. In those days, it was not unusual for the love of science to rival the love of a woman in its depth and absorbing energy. His love for his young wife might prove the stronger of the two; but it could only be by intertwining itself with his love of science. One day, very soon after their marriage, Aylmer sat gazing at his wife with a troubled countenance that grew stronger until he spoke: Georgiana," he said, "has it never occurred to you that the mark upon your cheek might be removed?"

"No, indeed," she said, smiling. "To tell you the truth it has been so often called a charm that I was simple enough to imagine it might be so."

"Ah, upon another face perhaps it might," replied her husband; "but never on yours. No, dearest Georgiana, you came so nearly perfect from the hand of Nature that this slightest possible defect shocks me, as being the visible mark of earthly imperfection."

It should be explained that in the center of Georgiana's left cheek there was a mark in a deep red color. When Georgiana blushed, the mark became less visible. But when she turned pale, there was the mark, like a red stain upon snow. The birthmark would come and go with the emotions in her heart. It was shaped like a very small human hand. Some thought that it quite destroyed the effect of Georgiana's beauty and found the mark unbearable. Aylmer now remembered that he had imagined himself trying to remove the birthmark with an operation in his dream.

"Dearest Georgiana, I have spent much thought upon the subject. I am convinced of the perfect practicability of the mark’s removal."

"If there be the remotest possibility of it," continued Georgiana, "let the attempt be made at whatever risk. Either remove this dreadful hand, or take my wretched life!”

Her husband tenderly kissed her cheek--her right cheek--not that which bore the mark of the crimson hand. The next day they went to Aylmer's laboratory where he had made all his famous discoveries. One by one, Aylmer tried a series of powerful experiments on Georgiana. But the mark remained.

"My noble wife," said Aylmer, deeply moved, "I have already administered powerful agents. Only one thing remains to be tried. If that fail us we are ruined, because there is danger."

"Danger? There is but one danger--that this horrible stigma shall be left upon my cheek!" cried Georgiana. "Remove it, remove it, whatever be the cost, or we shall both go mad!" She drank the liquid then fell asleep.

Aylmer sat by her side, watching her. "By Heaven! it is gone!" said Aylmer to himself, in almost irrepressible ecstasy. "I can scarcely trace it now. Success! success! And now it is like the faintest rose color. The lightest flush of blood across her cheek would overcome it. But she is so pale!"

Georgiana slowly unclosed her eyes and said, "My poor Aylmer, you have aimed loftily; you have done nobly. Do not repent that with so high and pure a feeling, you have rejected the best the earth could offer. Aylmer, dearest Aylmer, I am dying!”

Aylmer’s obsession with perfection and his attempts to perfect his wife caused him to miss the fact that his wife was already perfect.

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