1. “Half-Hanged Mary”
By Margaret Atwood

2. The story goes…
Mary Webster lived in a Puritan town in Massachusetts during the late 1600s. Around 1680, she was accused of witchcraft and hanged. Surviving accounts tell us that she was left for dead– or almost dead– overnight. However, when the villagers returned the next morning, they discovered… That Mary was still alive!

3. About the poem What effect might this hour-by-hour structure produce?
The poem has ten sections
It is chronological, spanning the course of a night
It moves in increments of hours
It starts at “7pm” and goes on until “8am” or “later,” narrating the horrific and life-changing, near-death experience of Mary, who is the speaker.
Why do you think the writer might have chosen to structure the poem
this way?
What effect might this hour-by-hour structure produce?

4. 7 pm
Rumour was loose in the air Hunting for some neck to land on. I was milking the cow, The barn door open to the sunset
I didn’t feel the aimed word hit
And go in like a soft bullet.
I didn’t feel the smashed flesh
Closing over it like water
Over a thrown stone.

5. I was hanged for living alone for having blue eyes and a sunburned skin, Tattered skirts, few buttons, A weedy farm in my own name, And a surefire cure for warts;
Oh yes, and breasts,
And a sweet pear hidden in my body.
Whenever there’s talk of demons
These come in handy.

6. What’s happening?
The speaker, unsuspecting, is outside, doing chores in her barn as the sun sets.
Meanwhile, the village is astir with rumors about witchcraft. The villagers come for her, call her a “witch!”
Why? Because she is a widow. Why? Because she is poor, perhaps different, perhaps knowledgeable in homeopathic remedies.
Why? Because she has land that others think she doesn’t deserve. Why? Because she is a woman.

7. 7 pm
Personification:
Here, rumor is personified, out “hunting.”
Giving rumor this kind of power and intention
helps underscore how dangerous and powerful
It is. One rumor can mean death.
Rumour was loose in the air Hunting for some neck to land on. I was milking the cow, The barn door open to the sunset
Diction /word-choice:
The writer uses words like “loose” and “neck”
to suggest (even foreshadow) hanging. “Loose”
sounds like noose and may also remind one of a
loose rope. “Neck” obviously is the vulnerable
place a noose would be placed.
I didn’t feel the aimed word hit
And go in like a soft bullet.
I didn’t feel the smashed flesh
Closing over it like water
Over a thrown stone.
Simile:
Here, the “word,” perhaps “witch,” is compared
to a soft bullet. Even though it is just a word, it is
an accusation, it is “aimed” and just as deadly as
a weapon. An accusation, a word, is all it took to
be hanged.

8. And a sweet pear hidden in my body. Whenever there’s talk of demons
Details / characterization
These details tell us about the speaker and
what kind of person was targeted as a “witch.”
“Alone” tells us that widows /single women
were more vulnerable. “Tattered skirts” and
“few buttons” tell us that poor /overworked
women were targeted. “A weedy farm in my
own name” suggests that perhaps
women who owned land were targeted
because they were viewed as undeserving of
the land and an easy means to an end.
Someone
vulnerable
I was hanged for living alone for having blue eyes and a sunburned skin, Tattered skirts, few buttons, A weedy farm in my own name, And a surefire cure for warts;
Someone
different
Someone poor
Or unkempt—
Unable to maintain
themselves
Metaphor:
The speaker was hanged for her breasts and
the sweet pear in her body. In other words, for
things that make her a woman. Here, the sweet
pear perhaps represents the womb. The shape
of the pear and womb are similar.
Someone with land to lose
Someone who is struggling to keep up with it.
Oh yes, and breasts,
And a sweet pear hidden in my body.
Whenever there’s talk of demons
These come in handy.
Allusion:
The sweet pear may also
be an allusion to the “forbidden fruit,”
the apple that Eve took. Women were blamed for
the fall from Eden. Women were more often accused
because it was believed they were weaker and more prone
to evil temptations.
Tone: What is the speaker’s tone in this last stanza?

9. For Homework: You should read the rest of the poem and annotate.
Vocabulary Homework (10 words and sentences) will now be due Thursday, 2/2.
Reading of Pages (to the bottom) in Act 4 will be due Friday, 2/3
(You should aim to answer questions 1-6)
Today, I will assign you a section. Your group (2-3 people) will be responsible for preparing a presentation on this section.
The presentations will take place on Monday and Tuesday of next week: 2/6 and 2/7.