Study Guide
Mrs. Hinton
1.
What is the setting of the story? When__________________
Where______________
2.
Who is the man on the railroad bridge?
3.
What is about to happen to him?
4.
After reading the title of the story, what does the word occurrence suggest?
5.
Look back at the three variations of point of view mentioned on page
467. From what point of view does the story open?
6.
How does the effect of this point of view mirror the perspective of a camera recording the opening scene of a movie?
7.
Define PERSONIFICATION._________________________________
8.
Why does the author personify death as a dignitary? P. 468
9.
Reread the vivid description of “the man” at the top of page 469.
Bierce is trying to gain the reader’s sympathy, thus causing the reader to hope that he manages to escape. IF he were a villain, we would not care about his fate or be eager for him to be hanged.
10.
Define SIMILE _______________________
What makes these statements simile?

A sharp sound, distant, metallic percussion like the stroke of a blacksmith’s hammer upon the anvil (p469)

Its occurrence was regular, but as slow as the tolling of a death knell.

They hurt his ear like the thrust of a knife.
11.
What are all the statements in #10 referring to? What sound was the man actually hearing?
12.
Part II: Sentence 1. Who is Peyton Farquhar?
13.
Part II: In the second sentence, the word secessionist is used. What does that sentence mean?
14.
The author is trying to get the reader to understand the nature of the man Payton Farquhar in Part II.
What do you think are Peyton’s natural instincts?
15.
Notice the gray-clad soldier in Part II. Which side wore gray – the north or the south?
16.
What information does the soldier give Payton Farquhar?
17.
What happened in Part II?
What does the author separate it from Part I?
18.
From what point of view is Part II told?
19.
Reread the first sentence in Part III. How is this sentence important to the ending?
20.
Write three examples that show Peyton was in an altered state in Part
III.
21.
Look for color imagery. Gray, white, black, golden – How are they used in Part III?
22.
How do the five senses become important in Part III? (This is sensory detail.)
Write several examples.
23.
What interrupts Farquhar’s thoughts about his wife and children?
24.
How are the Union soldiers portrayed?
25.
What does Farquhar experience when the board is kicked from under him?
26.
What happens after Farquhar appears to have escaped from the gunfire while in the river?
27.
What was Farquhar’s actual fate?
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