Analysis of literature and poetry can sometimes be difficult for students to grasp. With the help of acronyms, however, key themes and ideas can be more easily discovered and understood! 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!
TWIST is a key method in literary analysis. As shown in the graphic above, TWIST stands for Tone, Word Choice, Imagery, Style, and Theme. All of these topics are important for students to understand while reading and using a storyboard to visualize TWIST can definitely increase their comprehension.
Below is an example of a TWIST analysis for “The Birthmark” by Nathaniel Hawthorne. You can also read our article to learn more about the TWIST method and find examples of tone words!
Another acronym to start using during ELA units is TP-CASTT. This acronym is traditionally used with poetry, but can be applied to other types of literature, including short stories and chapters in novels.
TP-CASTT helps students look at a work of literature at large while also diving into specific details. By analyzing the title twice and including a paraphrase step, students must revisit the idea of topic and practice summarizing as well!
Take it one step further by asking your students to create a storyboard for their TP-CASTT analysis! Storyboarding helps students visualize each topic in the acronym and increases overall understanding of the story.
Here’s a great example of using the TP-CASTT acronym to examine “Sonnet 73” by William Shakespeare. Create one today using our TP-CASTT Poetry Analysis article!
TWIST is an acronym that stands for Tone, Word Choice, Imagery, Style, and Theme. It is a key method in literary analysis that helps students understand important concepts while reading a work of literature.
Storyboarding can help students visualize each topic in the TWIST acronym, which can increase their overall understanding of the story. By creating a storyboard, students can better understand the tone, word choice, imagery, style, and theme of the work they are analyzing.
TP-CASTT is an acronym used in literature analysis, traditionally with poetry, but it can be applied to other types of literature as well. It stands for Title, Paraphrase, Connotation, Attitude, Shift, Title (again), and Theme. This acronym helps students look at a work of literature at large while also diving into specific details.
Creating a storyboard for their TP-CASTT analysis can help students visualize each step of the acronym, making it easier to analyze the title, paraphrase the text, examine the connotations, identify shifts, and determine the theme of the work.