TTLG: Author’s Craft

Lesson Title: “Half Hanged Mary” Literary Device Analysis

Learning Goal: Students will be able to identify and analyze literary devices and interpret the effect
of the literary devices on tone.
❖ State Standard: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.9-10.4
➢ Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in the text, including
figurative and connotative meanings; analyze the cumulative impact of specific word choices
on meaning and tone (e.g., how the language evokes a sense of time and place; how it sets a
formal or informal tone).
❖ State Standard: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.9-10.9
➢ Draw evidence from literary or informational texts to support analysis, reflection, and
research.
Launch Summary:
Students have read Act 1 of The Crucible and are now familiar with the characters and the exposition of the text.
We are moving into Act 2 which is full of literary devices and figurative language that drives the development of
tone and theme in the play. It is critical that students understand how to identify and analyze literary devices and
can interpret the effects of these devices on the overall tone and theme of the play. The launch will include a
quick review of figurative language and some practice on analyzing. The review and practice will be brief.
Activity:
Today we will be practicing identifying and analyzing literary devices with the short story “Half-Hanged Mary”
by Margaret Atwood.
In table groups, students will read “Half Hanged Mary” and mark as many literary devices that they can find.
After reading the poem, the groups will pick a literary device to analyze.
In groups they will produce a poster with their lit device, a visual representation, analysis, and effect on tone or
theme. Each student in the group will have their own color of pencil. Each person can only use their color to
demonstrate their participation.
Modifications
Original Lesson:
This lesson is typically done with Honors students at the beginning of the year. They go on a nature walk and
create literary devices based on what they see on the walk. Then, students create a poster naming their device,
providing the device, creating a visual representation, and analyzing the device.
Modified Lesson:
The English 10 class needs practice with working with literary devices. Their work so far shows an ability to
identify literary devices, but difficulty in analyzing these devices and determining effect on tone. I took the idea
of the Poster Activity and decided to use it as a review of literary devices and extended practice for identification,
analysis, and interpretation of literary devices before starting Act II of The Crucible. I added a text to the activity.
The students will do this activity with the poem “Half-Hanged Mary.” I chose this poem because it directly
relates to The Crucible and is full of literary devices. Students will read a text in groups and identify as many
literary devices as they can. Then, they will choose one of the literary devices to analyze. They will create their
poster analysis. The marked up copy of the text will serve as a formative assessment on the skill of identifying.
The poster will serve as a formative assessment for analyzing and interpreting. I am choosing group work for this
activity because my students are not ready to do this activity independently.
Appraisal of Text
❖ Student Interest: The poem is of appropriate reading level for English 10. It is a change of pace from the
play. It is also a shorter piece, which should help hold student attention, focus, and interest.
❖ Related Content: The poem is a change up from the play, however, it is still directly related to The
Crucible because it is also about the Salem Witch Trials.
❖ Alignment to the Learning Goal: To restate, the learning goal is that students will be able to identify
and analyze literary devices and interpret the effect of the literary devices on tone. This text aligns with
this goal because it is full of literary devices. This text gives students many examples of literary devices to
identify. This text will be coupled with a task that requires students to analyze literary devices and then
interpret the effect on tone.
Appraisal of Task
❖ Student Interest: The task requires hands-on engagement. Having each student assigned to a color
requires them to participate and show their engagement/involvement. The visual representation
portion affords the students to be creative, but also demonstrates whether or not they understand the
literary device that they are choosing to analyze.
❖ Related Content: The task asks students to analyze literary devices and interpret the effect on tone. This
practice directly relates to The Crucible because they will be required to identify and analyze literary
devices and then determine the effect that a specific literary device has on the overall tone of the poem.
❖ Alignment to the Learning Goal: This task aligns with the learning goal because it asks students to do
each skill that is in the learning goal. Through this task, the students will identify and analyze literary
 devices. They will also have to determine the effect on tone. These are the three skills laid out in the
learning goal. The skills will be measurable because the students will turn in a piece of work at the end
of the hour proving that they can do all of these things in small groups. This lesson is scaffolded in with
teaching these skills, the class has seen teacher demonstrations and worked on these skills as a whole.
Now they are working on it in small groups. This lesson and activity will be followed up with students
being assigned work to practice these skills independently.
Launch Script:
Today we are going to be working on Author’s Craft stuff with a focus on literary devices/figurative language.
What are literary devices/figurative language? (let students answer)

Slide 2 - The goal of today’s activity is to practice identifying and analyzing literary devices and determining
effect on tone.

Slide 3 - So, independently, you will read a poem titled “Half-Hanged Mary” which is about...

As you read, you will identify as many literary devices as you can. Underline them and then write the name in
the margin. Slide 5 - Here’s an example of what that should look like.

Then, once you have read independently and identified literary devices. You will discuss your findings with your
table groups. As a team, you will choose 1 literary device to analyze. To complete your analysis, you will be
creating a poster. Each person in your group will pick one color of construction paper and one color of marker
to use. On the back of your poster, you will create a key to tell me your name and what colors are yours on the
poster. On the front of the poster, you will write the name of your literary device, put the quoted text that
contains the literary device, create a visual representation, write an analysis of the device, and determine the
effect of the device on tone. The poster should look something like this. Slide 6

Let’s run through a quick example of what I want you all to be able to do today. Slide 7

So, what is our goal for today? (let students answer) Slide 8

Slide 9 Put this up to remind students of the materials that they need for the assignment. Hand out instruction
sheets in case students need reminders as they work.
Conclusion Script:
Before we get packed up to leave, by a show of hands who feels more comfortable analyzing literary devices than
they did before the activity? (let students raise hands, get a basic percentage of the yes answers)

Today we identified and analyzed literary devices, and determined their effect on the overall tone of the poem.
Can anyone remind me what our learning goal was for today? (wait for a student response)
The purpose of this task was to get you all practicing with identifying, analysing, and determining effect as a
group so that you can understand the process before attempting to do this independently. By a show of hands,
who feels confident in trying to do this on their own? (count it up)
Okay, please come up here, turn your poster in and take an exit slip. I need you to fill it out and turn it in before
you leave.

Accommodations
❖ Colored pencils/markers will be provided - socioeconomic accommodation.
❖ Students will be grouped based on NWEA reading score. That way there is a high, medium-high,
medium-low, and low scoring reader in each group - reading comprehension accommodation.
➢ This seating arrangement will also allow students to aid one another in understanding and
learning.
❖ 5th Hour (focal class) has no students with 504s or IEPs to accommodate.
❖ For the A Block hours that I will eventually be doing this assignment with, I will provide an
accommodated version of the poem to students with qualifying IEPs and 504s in which some of the
literary devices are in bold and they will only have to identify which type of device it is. Then, they will
only be required to locate and name 2 other devices on their own.
Materials:
Learning goal displayed on board
Presentation
Speaker notes
60 copies of “Half-Hanged Mary”
10 accommodated copies of “Half-Hanged Mary”
60 exit tickets
Teacher example
6 poster boards
At least 4 colors of construction paper
At least 4 colors of colored pencils or markers