Read the poem “Half-Hanged Mary” by Margaret Atwood and read the suggested annotations within the poem. Take a look at these flashcards. Then, in the comments, write about your reaction to the poem. What was Margaret Atwood attempting to highlight? Finally, respond to one other person’s reactions.
50 Comments
Cameron Tracy
3/18/2020 05:55:23 am
This poem gave dark and sinister vibes. Not only was this creepy, but it showed how cruel the world and life can be on a person. Margaret was trying to prove how easily people could be convicted of something they were not back in the day.
Reply
Jose Garcia
3/18/2020 06:24:01 am
Ah yes Cameron, the world can be cruel but it is what it is. That is just something we are gonna have to keep in mind while we grow up.
Reply
mia brown
3/18/2020 09:56:02 am
i agree the world is cruel and it is something that we do have to keep in mind
Shy Jack
3/18/2020 06:34:04 am
it was very sinister
Reply
Macey Lawrence
3/18/2020 09:17:47 am
I totally agree that she was trying to prove how easily people could believe and convict people of something that they aren't.
Reply
Kalana Garner
3/18/2020 09:25:11 am
Agreed, Margaret was trying to prove something to others and no one wanted anything to do with it because of her appearance.
Reply
Trevor Lovett
3/18/2020 02:58:10 pm
I agree life and the world can be cruel.
Reply
Jose Garcia
3/18/2020 06:18:43 am
This poem was alright kinda scary if you ask me. She didn't panic at first which was kind of alarming, because who wouldn't be afraid. At the end of the day it is what it is, especially when you got the whole world praying on your downfall. I believe that Margret was trying to tell us that at our hour of need most people aren't going to be there for us.
Reply
Cameron Tracy
3/18/2020 06:50:07 am
This is well said Jose, the world does not want to see us succeed and is waiting for our failure.
Reply
Courtney Anglin
3/18/2020 12:32:50 pm
I agree with the first part but I don’t think she’s trying to emphasize that not everyone is going to be there for you, although that is true. I think she was trying to point out that we are sheep that don’t want to stray from the herd in fear of being strung up.
Reply
Liam Phillips-Denson
3/18/2020 12:46:29 pm
Definitely, i'm sure many of the people she had helped wanted to save her, but just couldn't
Trevor Lovett
3/18/2020 02:59:59 pm
I agree that the world is praying on our downfall
Reply
Shy Jack
3/18/2020 06:34:38 am
In Half Hanged Mary, Margaret Atwood tells the story of a woman who is accused of witchcraft, and sentenced to hang with no evidence apart from that she lived alone, had blue eyes, and sunburned skin. She had apparently given others a home remedy to cure warts, and was accused of witchcraft. Her appearance fitting the charge was enough to have her hanged. Margaret mentions that her breasts were another reason that led her to be hanged. Atwood was trying to paint the picture that, as a woman, she did not stand a chance against the accusation of men.
Reply
Monee Judkins
3/18/2020 07:17:43 am
Your reaction is totally relatable she couldn't go against the men because she was female and they accused her of being something ( a witch) because of her appearance and her home remedy.
Reply
Monee Judkins
3/18/2020 07:13:18 am
The poem seems very dark, she seems to have a lot of anger. It seems to me that they killed her because she was different, because she wasn't normal to them and her differences made the others scared.
Reply
3/18/2020 08:47:31 am
I agree, others were afraid of her and didn't help because thought they would meet the same fate.
Reply
Tara Scott
3/18/2020 09:18:07 am
I agree, she didn't "fit in" to the standards of society at the time, so they came after her.
Reply
Dianna Aguilar
3/18/2020 08:26:00 pm
I agree the poem was very dark and it showed lots of anger.
Reply
3/18/2020 08:45:09 am
The poem showed just how far some people are willing to go for others. Margaret was different from most and was accused of something she hadn't done. All of those people she helped, didn't bother to look her way when she needed it the most. You could do anything and everything to help someone, but they probably wouldn't do the same. People would rather to save their own necks.
Reply
Dianna Aguilar
3/18/2020 08:29:26 pm
I agree that people rather save their own interest than other people’s interest.
Reply
Macey Lawrence
3/18/2020 09:14:43 am
This poem had a very dark and scary tone to it. Margaret Atwood was trying to showcase that people can be influenced very easily by the thoughts and ideas of others.
Reply
Tara Scott
3/18/2020 09:15:17 am
This poem was very interesting because its weird that this woman was being hung all night then she survives and continues on. But it was also kind of sad because her friends couldn't help her or else they would face the same consequences. It was sad again because she was wrongfully accused of witchcraft by the people of her community. Margaret Atwood was trying to highlight the feeling of despair felt by Mary.
Reply
Mackenzie May
3/25/2020 10:24:18 am
It is very weird she survived but that fact could mean bad things for the rest of the town. The fact she lives all night is, to the townsfolk, solid proof that witches are among them which justifies the idea of unlawfully hanging woman on the mere implication that they are a witch.
Reply
Kalana Garner
3/18/2020 09:21:52 am
The poem had an angry and dark tone. It showed how cruel others can be towards people, when someone needs something or somebody the most.
Reply
Bella Van
3/18/2020 10:31:31 am
I agree! People didn’t help her because they didn’t want to be associated with having empathy for her as the people believe she did wrong.
Reply
abryanna
3/18/2020 08:12:04 pm
I agree, because everyone was so scared they didn't want to be seen associating or helping her .
Reply
mia brown
3/18/2020 09:59:18 am
this poem was really dark in many ways, but it did explain how cruel the world and people can be. shows how even the ones you want or think you need the most isn't really there and that is cruel
Reply
adriana irizarry
3/18/2020 11:55:43 am
I agree with what you are sayig. We has humans tend to believe we need someone or something to keep us going, but in reality, it is the thing that is killing us inside.
Reply
Bella Van
3/18/2020 10:29:56 am
The poem made me afraid and feel bad for the woman.I could feel her emotion through the tone of how she felt inferior to the rest of the world and felt as though she is worth nothing. The poem really represents how the world and people can be unruly and judgmental.
Reply
Nneka okere
3/18/2020 11:33:46 am
I agree I felt bad for her because she helped them but no one wanted to help her and she clearly expressed that throughout the poem
Reply
Nneka okere
3/18/2020 11:20:50 am
It was very morbid and while she was getting hanged I think she felt anger towards some of the people she helped because they wouldn’t help her down after she helped them they just stood there.
Reply
adriana irizarry
3/18/2020 11:54:18 am
The poem was a dark topic convey into the most extremes of situations. Ms. Attwood attempted to highlight what it seemed that men hold a high power over women. They have the capability of either bringing them or tearing them down till they feel they have no way out.
Reply
Reagan Gallman
3/18/2020 02:11:38 pm
Very true!! The author conveys how even though some of the women in the town had personal relationships with her (delivering their babies, helping others with abortions, friend of many), the women would cower to their fear of men. Especially in a society as old as this one, the men held every ounce of power.
Reply
Courtney Anglin
3/18/2020 12:30:01 pm
The poem was really depressing and not for the faint of heart. She was highlighting the power men and even just a group of people can have over a person. Going back to the herd mentality everyone would point and accuse only because they don’t want to be in her position.
Reply
Liam Phillips-Denson
3/18/2020 12:43:45 pm
Very depressing, The whole situation of the Salem witch trials are based off her mentality
Reply
morgan hill
3/18/2020 02:14:44 pm
I totally agree with this statement.
Reply
Liam Phillips-Denson
3/18/2020 12:42:10 pm
I wasn't frightened by the poem, more or less disturbed. How the author vividly pictured the hanging made it surreal. The pain and fear the woman felt seemed so real. It was also a sad story, as we read the story of an innocent woman dying (or how she at least should've died).
Reply
Reagan Gallman
3/18/2020 02:08:10 pm
I agree, the imagery in the poem was very powerful. It was almost as if the author had survived a hanging herself.
Reply
Reagan Gallman
3/18/2020 02:06:56 pm
I think the author is trying to portray a picture that when there is fear, we will find someone to blame whether they are guilty or not. We see this in our lives today. While the country is living in fear of coronavirus, we see people blaming others left and right. (Ex. People blaming travelers for coming home, people blaming China and North Korea, etc.)
Reply
Trystan Beach
3/18/2020 08:47:36 pm
Simplifying blame on entire groups within crisis is an ugly part of nature formed from an ignorance within our desperation and impatience. This was highlighted then and within our present crisis.
Reply
morgan hill
3/18/2020 02:19:20 pm
Reply
Trevor Lovett
3/18/2020 02:56:20 pm
The poem was very angry. She helped others and all she got in return was people hanging her and people not sticking up for her. That would make me very angry.
Reply
Patrick Dill
3/18/2020 06:28:18 pm
Throughout the poem, Atwood highlights the anger and resentment felt towards those who feared Mary. This is felt especially towards the women whom Mary was a midwife for, as she helped them through matters of life and death that they didn't understand, yet they still brought it upon themselves to decide it was her time to die.
Reply
Trystan Beach
3/18/2020 08:45:20 pm
Their willingness to see her die is understandable yet upsetting as well.
Reply
abryanna
3/18/2020 08:11:05 pm
The poem/story was very disturbing as others have stated due to the fact that she wasn't alarmed and it felt very vivid. She may have been trying to show that when people are very afraid they could turn on you no matter how much you have helped them.
Reply
Dianna Aguilar
3/18/2020 08:24:23 pm
The poem was dark but also sad. Throughout the poem the author made certain parts very detailed which allowed us to picture it in our heads. It showed how even though she helped those people they weren’t there to return the favor to her.
Reply
Trystan Beach
3/18/2020 08:43:17 pm
The poem highlighted the anger she felt towards the people that put her in this position. She seems full of resentment towards the bystanders, more so towards women. Her anger because of this conviction stands out more than her pain.
Reply
Mackenzie May
3/25/2020 10:21:59 am
The Author, Margaret Atwood, was trying to highlight the experiences of a woman during the Salem trials, to capture their terrible pain of being hanged for a crime (witchcraft) that they did not exist, to try and understand how alone, hopeless, and ostracized they could have felt. To be completely abandoned by your own people, especially by some of which you have helped, you friends and even family, on the mere implication you MAY be a witch must be terrifying. I, personally, love the dark tones of the poem and watching how those tones keep the dark theme, but go from a somber struggle to a sort of acceptance and peacefulness. This can be seen in how the author represents death, first as a malicious beast, a crow who will feast upon your decaying corpse, feasting on your eyes; ravenous and hungry. But, then the imaged of death turns into a judge, someone who merely enacts a job, not because they want to, but because it is their duty to take those whose time is up. Finally, death shifts into a more benevolent figure as an angel; one who is not beast-like, or evil, but as a kind gesture that will put an end to your pain so you may find peace in the end.
Reply
Kyra Jarvis
4/7/2020 09:30:39 am
Really well said, There is a lot of that heartbreak and fear in the whole town turning on her.
Reply
Kyra Jarvis
4/7/2020 09:29:37 am
It was a very sad and dark poem, really amplified the terror and heart break that comes from an entire town turning on you, for no reason. Margaret Atwood did a really good job of showing that fear and pain.
Reply
Leave a Reply. |
Analyze all the thingsHere is a space for you to respond to the prompts for each day. ArchivesCategories |