“An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge” by Ambrose Bierce

“An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge”

by Ambrose Bierce

Ambrose Bierce Biography

Let’s JIGSAW the info on p. 506 to learn about Washington Irving.

Expert Groups: You and your group members need to be experts on your paragraph. You will discuss your section in detail and then stand up in front of the rest and ensure that they have also noted the same points.

Group 1- Ambrose Bierce Group 2- A Civil War Soldier Group 3- Poisoned Pen Group 4- Establishing his LegacyGroup 5- The Perfect Cynic

Like we have done for our Vocabulary Units, you will create mini-quizzes for your classmates. Copy down these words, look them up, write the definitions and create 10 sentences with blanks in the spaces of where the word would go. We will be taking these quizzes in class tomorrow.

1. ardent(ly)-

2. poignant-

3. etiquette-

4. deference-

5. imperious-

6. dictum-

7. summarily-

8. oscillation-

9. apprised-

10. ineffable-

Vocabulary From the Story

Respond to the following statement in your notebooks with examples and connections to

either other texts, historical events or your own personal lives:

All is fair in love and war.

Do you think that there are times when the rules of the game involve no rules at all?

Journal Entry

Objective Point of View: With the objective point of view, the writer tells what happens without stating more than can be inferred from the story's action and dialogue. The narrator never discloses anything about what the characters think or feel, remaining a detached observer.

First Person Point of View: In the first person point of view, the narrator does participate in the action of the story. When reading stories in the first person, we need to realize that what the narrator is recounting might not be the objective truth. We should question the trustworthiness of the account.

Second Person Point of View: Probably the rarest mode in literature (though quite common in song lyrics) in which the narrator refers to one of the characters as "you", therefore making the audience member feel as if he or she is a character within the story.

Third Person Point of View: Here the narrator does not participate in the action of the story as one of the characters, but lets us know exactly how the characters feel. We learn about the characters through this outside voice.

Omniscient Point of View: A narrator who knows everything about all the characters is all knowing, or omniscient.

Limited Omniscient Point of View: A narrator whose knowledge is limited to one character, either major or minor, has a limited omniscient point of view.

Point of View

Directions: In groups, you will be given one of the points of view for the following situation. You must write one paragraph using as much detail as possible to describe what happened. I will be interviewing you as a news reporter once all groups have finished, so be sure to assign a scribe and take on the persona of the character you are assigned to. An automobile accident occurs in the middle of a New York City street. Two drivers are involved and it is approximately 3:30 in the afternoon. Witnesses include: 1. driver # 12. driver # 23. sidewalk spectator # 1 (left)4. sidewalk spectator # 2 (right)5. a policeman on horseback down the street6. a man with a video camera who happened to be shooting the scene7. the pilot of a news helicopter that was flying overhead8. the owner of the flower shop directly in front of the accident

Point of View Activity

Directions: Since the events of the story are presented in a way that is out of order, in the following boxes, track the events that happen by putting them in the correct order.

Sequence of Events

http://www.thoughtaudio.com/titlelist/TA0068-OwlCreek/index.html

1. Identify two-three examples of Farquhar’s distorted perception. What causes this?

2. What does Farquhar visualize moments before he is being hanged? In what way is his journey connected to this vision?

3. What details suggest that Farquhar’s escape occurs in this mind?

Distorted Reality

Literary Structure• Structure-Structural moves are those large-scale decisions an author makes

that determine the course of the narrative as a whole.– Does the author proceed through a narrative in strict chronological order? – Is the ending going to be comic or tragic? – What informs the decision to begin the narrative in a particular? – or end it in a particular place? – How do these decisions help the author express her or his major message?

Practice: Gathering Data In small groups or individually, explore the text from the perspective of its “large

pieces,”: – What is the story’s setting? – How has the author structured chronological order in this story? – What is the primary event that occurs in Part I? Part II? Part III? – How much time initially seems to be covered by the story, particularly by Part III? – How much time is actually covered by the story? – How does point of view change in each part of the story? – How do tone and mood change in each part of the story?

Digging Deeper-Small-Group Practice - Asking Harder Questions more complex investigations of author purpose and intent.

• Almost any “fact question” can be turned into a deeper and more meaningful one that explores theme and purpose by the simple addition of the word “why.”

• The first two questions have been done for you.

-Example of Question Revisions -• What is the story’s setting? • Change to: Why set this story during the American Civil

War? • How has the author structured chronological order in this story? • Change to: Why has Bierce divided time into these

parts? Answer both questions with textual evidence.

Higher Level Thinking-Revision Questions-

– How does point of view change in each part of the story?

• Change to: Why does POV change? How does is affect the story?

– How do tone and mood change in each part of the story?

• Change to: Why does the tone and mood change in each part of the story?

Answer both questions with textual evidence.

Culminating Discussion: Putting the Pieces Together

1. Generally, readers feel as if they are “drawn in” to Peyton’s perception through the use of a tight, third-person limited point of view that allows readers to see Peyton objectively, yet share his perceptions and consciousness. What argument is Bierce making about human consciousness?

2. Given that Bierce delays telling us a crucial feature of the plot -- the fact that the protagonist’s escape has occurred only in his own mind in the seconds before his death - -what argument is Bierce making about reality?

3. Given that Bierce could have made Peyton an ordinary criminal hanged for a capital offense, what was his symbolic or thematic reason for setting the story during the Civil War and making Peyton a Confederate saboteur?

4. What connections exist between Bierce’s ideas about time, reality, and perception and the symbolic possibilities of the Civil War as a metaphor for the human mind?

The character Farquhar in "An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge" was a civilian in the war - not a soldier.

• What role did he play in "An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge"?

• Do you believe his death justified? Why or why not?

Use examples from the text to support your response.

RACE Response