Occurence at Owl Creek Bridge

Author Overview

Ambrose Bierce was born in 1842 in Ohio. He was an editorialist, short story writer and journalist, among other jobs. His most famous short story is "An Occurence at Owl Creek Bridge", which was originally published in 1890. He is known for his use of dark imagery, vague references to time and war-themed pieces. In 1913, as he travelled to Mexico, Bierce disappeared, thus his year of death is unknown.
Ambrose Bierce's writing was influenced was influenced by his military career (he was a major) and his uncle who was an army general. He decided to start writing in part because his father owned a library, but mainly because he could not fight in the war any longer.

Story Overview

The story was published in 1890 and is set in the 1860s, during the Civil War, in Alabama. It's main character is Peyton Farquhar, a slave owner and Confederate sympathizer who is condemned to death by hanging.

Imagery

1. "They hurt his ear like the thrust of a knife."

2. "The wind made in their branches the music of Aeolian harps."

3. "Death is a dignitary who when he comes announced is to be received with formal manifestations of respect..."

4. "They seemed like streams of pulsating fire heating him to an intolerable temperature."

5. "...he swung through unthinkable arcs of oscillation, like a vast pendulum."

Vocabulary

1. Swift: moving or capable of moving with great speed or velocity; rapid

2. Stout: strong and thick or heavy

3. Sentinels: a solder stationed as a guard to challenge all comers and prevent a surprise attack

4. Secessionist: a person who secedes, advocates secession, or claims secession as a constitutional right

5. Chafed: to be irritated or annoyed

6. Driftwood: wood floating on a body of water or cast ashore by it

7. Ramification: the act or process of branching out or diving

8. Locusts: any of several grasshoppers of the family Acrididae

9. Oscillating: to swing or move to and fro, as a pendulum does

10. Ineffable: incapable of being expressed or described in words