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An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge

• By Ambrose Bierce

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Ambrose Bierce

• Born in Ohio in 1842
• Parents were poor but literary couple
• The 10th of 13 children
• All kids names began with an A Abigail,
  Amelia, Ann, Addison, Aurelius, Augustus, Almeda,
  Andrew, Albert, Ambrose, Arthur, Adelia, and
  Aurelia

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Ambrose Bierce

• Enlisted in the Union Armys 9th Indiana Infantry
  Regiment.
• Received newspaper attention for his daring
  rescue, under fire, of a gravely wounded comrade
  at the Battle of Rich Mountain
• Sustained a serious head wound at the Battle of
  Kennesaw Mountain

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Ambrose Bierce

• 1913, bored, he sets off for Mexico to report on
  or join in its revolution.
• Goodbye, he wrote, If you hear of my being
  stood up against a Mexican stone wall and shot to
  rags, please know that I think it a pretty good
  way to depart this life. It beats old age,
  disease, or falling down the cellar stairs.
• No further word was ever heard from him.

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Setting

• The action takes place at a railroad bridge in
  northern Alabama during the U.S. Civil War, not
  long after the Battle of Corinth in northern
  Mississippi
• October 3 and 4, 1862.

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Time of Day

• Begins early in the morning, as disclosed by the
  boldfaced words in the following passage in
• Part I
• Peyton Farquhar closed his eyes in order to fix
  his last thoughts upon his wife and children. The
  water, touched to gold by the early sun, the
  brooding mists under the banks at some distance
  down the stream, the fort, the soldiers, the
  piece of driftall had distracted him. 
• Ends in the evening of the same day. 

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First Three Sentences

• A man stood upon a railroad bridge in northern
  Alabama, looking down into the swift water twenty
  feet below. The mans hands were behind his back,
  the wrists bound with a cord. A rope closely
  encircled his neck.

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Characters

• Peyton Farquhar Southern plantation owner who is
  to be hanged by Union soldiers as punishment for
  his attempt (or suspected attempt) to destroy Owl
  Creek Bridge.  Mrs. Farquhar Farquhar's wife.
  Union Soldiers They include executioners,
  sentinels, and overseeing officers on the bridge
  Union Scout Soldier who wears Confederate gray
  when he rides onto Farquhar's plantation (in a
  flashback) and asks for a drink of water. 

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Battle of Shiloh (Near Owl Creek)

• April 6-7
• On the first day of the battle, the Confederates
  struck with the intention of driving the Union
  defenders away from the river and into the swamps
  of Owl Creek to the west, hoping to defeat
  Grant's Army of the Tennessee before
  reinforcements showed up.

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• The Confederate battle lines became confused
  during the fierce fighting, and Grant's men
  instead fell back to the northeast, in the
  direction of Pittsburg Landing. A position on a
  slightly sunken road, nicknamed the "Hornet's
  Nest", defended by Union men and artillery.

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• Reinforcements arrived in the evening and turned
  the tide the next morning, when the Union
  commanders launched a counterattack along the
  entire line.
• The Confederates were forced to retreat, ending
  their hopes that they could block the Union
  advance into northern Mississippi.

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Journal

• In a well-organized essay, explain the nature and
  relative importance of two or three means by
  which you keep track of time and discuss what
  these means reveal about the kind of person you
  are.
• (You are not limited to familiar time-keeping
  devices you may consider recurring events,
  inner clocks, or other means.)

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Soundtrack

• Listen to the following music and imagine where
  it might be placed in a movie soundtrack for
  Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge.
• Where is Farquhar? What is he doing? What are the
  Union soldiers perhaps doing?

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Questions

• Do you sympathize with Farquhar? Explain your
  answer. 
• Did the Union forces have a right to hang
  Farquhar without first trying him in a court of
  law?
• How should civilians who participate in war be
  treated? Like civilians? Like soldiers?

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Questions

• Do you believe Bierces story deserve the
  consideration to be a classic? Explain.

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Questions

• What methods does Bierce use to build suspense?
• Explain Bierces views of war and the military.
  How does he feel about it? Support your response
  with examples from the text.

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Questions

• Is Ambrose Bierce biased toward one side of the
  Civil War? Does the narrator describe the Union
  soldiers more positively than Farquhar, or vice
  versa?

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Questions

• If you knew you were about to die, what would you
  think about? Would it be similar to Farquhars?

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Questions

• If you were one of the Union soldiers, how would
  you deal with the capital punishment about to be
  committed on Peyton Farquar?

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Your Opinion

• Farquhar deserves to be executed since he
  disobeyed a rule and attempted to burn down a
  bridge.

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Your Opinion

• Farquhars sentence is too harsh. He doesnt
  deserve to die as punishment for trying to burn
  down a bridge, especially because he is a
  civilian and not a soldier.

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Your Opinion

• War is an inescapable force that destroys
  everything in its path.

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Your Opinion

• If you were to rewrite the story from the
  perspective of one of the soldiers, what would it
  be like? How would one of the soldiers experience
  reality in the moments before and after Farquhar
  is hanged?

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Questions

• Did the ending surprise you? Why or why not?

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Questions

• How long does it take for Farquhar to die?
• Why does the verb tense change from past tense to
  present tense in the second to last paragraph?

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Peyton Farquhar-

• A. is tricked by a scout for the opposition
• B. betrays his own people for money
• C. turns his back on his wife and children
• D. lives a long and prosperous life

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Early in the story, what interrupts Farquhar's
thoughts about his wife and children?

• A. A train heading toward the bridge
• B. A hail of bullets
• C. the arrival of more troops
• D. The ticking of his watch

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After the board is kicked out from under him,
Farquhar experiences-

• A. an intense sharpening of his senses
• B. despair and grief
• C. a surprising burst of happiness
• D. relief that he is going to live

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After Farquhar appears to have escaped from the
gunfire while in the river, he-

• A. is too exhausted to swim
• B. is kicked up by a passing riverboat
• C. is recaptured and shot at once
• D. lands on a bank and runs through the woods

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How much actual time passes in the story?

• A. A few minutes
• B. A few hours
• C. One day
• D. A day and a night

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In part, the flashbacks in this story best
illustrate-

• A. the importance of staying true to one's values
• B. how all reality is an illusion
• C. the price Confederates pay for being traitors
• D. our deep attachment to life
• E. Farquhar's love of his plantation and the
  Confederacy's values

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When Farquhar hears his watch ticking with an
exaggerated intensity, Bierce is using the point
of view known as-

• A. 2nd person limited
• B. 1st person
• C. Objective
• D. 3rd person limited
• E. 2nd person objective

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Platonic Criticism
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Aristotelian Criticism
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Horatian Criticism
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Longinian Criticism
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Formalist Criticism