“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 Legacy
Group 5- The Perfect Cynic
Vocabulary From the Story
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-
Journal Entry
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?
Point of View
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 Activity
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 # 1
2. driver # 2
3. sidewalk spectator # 1 (left)
4. sidewalk spectator # 2 (right)
5. a policeman on horseback down the street
6. a man with a video camera who happened to be shooting the scene
7. the pilot of a news helicopter that was flying overhead
8. the owner of the flower shop directly in front of the accident
Sequence of Events
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.
http://www.thoughtaudio.com/titlelist/TA0068-OwlCreek/index.html
Distorted Reality
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?
Literary Structure
• Structure-Structural moves are those large-scale decisions an author
makes that determine the course of the narrative as a whole.
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–
–
–
–
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.
2.
3.
4.
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?
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?
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?
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?
RACE Response
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.