Ambrose Bierce

 Born: 1842, January 24 th in Horse Cave Creek, Meigs County, Ohio. He was the 10 th of 13 children in a very poor family.  Death: Unknown – Last correspondence dated December 26, 1913 in Texas

 1861: Bierce enlisted in the Ninth Indiana Infantry for the Civil War. He was a soldier for the entire duration of the war until resigning in 1865 after receiving a bullet wound to the head.

 As a soldier, the war and the experience influenced many of his works. Bierce’s short story “An Occurrence At Owl Creek Bridge” was written with the setting of the war, the mood, and the people of the war in mind. 23 rd Ohio Volunteer Infantry Color Guard

North Wore blue Referred to as Yanks or Yanks Referred to as Federal Were for the Union South Wore gray Referred to as Confederates Referred to as secessionists Were for the Confederacy

 The story is set during the Civil War, focusing on the civilian, Peyton Farquhar, who has a strong desire to serve as a Confederate soldier, but cannot. Farquhar is waiting to be hung.  The story was written in three sections:

 Section 1: Reader is introduced to Peyton’s present situation and his mindset.  Section 2: Peyton’s background and how he came to the misfortune of having a noose around his neck on Owl Creek Bridge.  Section 3: What goes on in Peyton’s mind.

 Point of View – the narrative perspective from which it is told.  1 st person – the narrator is the character in the work who describes events and uses I, me, and my.  3 rd person – events are related by a voice outside the action and uses words like he, she, and they  Omniscient – aware of all characters’ thoughts  Limited – focuses on one character’s thoughts

 Ambrose Bierce’s “An Occurrence At Owl Creek Bridge” uses descriptive and poetic language as a device in many ways throughout the story; foreshadowing, character portrayal, identifying between fantasy and reality and to evoke a mood.

 Ambrose Bierce’s story takes the reader on an incredible journey with the hero.  Your assignment after reading this short story:  Identify eight instances in which Bierce uses descriptive or poetic language throughout this literary work.

 Words used in such a way that allow the reader to precisely picture the details the author/poetic has written. An Example: The stench in the cold, unlit cellar was suffocating, and, off in the cobweb filled corner, she sensed the presence of Death.

1. This assignment can be handwritten or typed and is due on Wednesday, January 25 th at the beginning of class.

2. Number your paper Correctly quote and cite 8 lines from the text. 4. Quotes can come only from Section III.

“A man stood upon a railroad bridge in northern Alabama, looking down in the swift water twenty feet below” (581).

 This assignment is worth 24 points:  Each quote is worth three points: * Taken from the appropriate section of the text; * Properly quoted; * Proper MLA Citation.