Victoria Culpepper, in her essay “Realism and Romanticism in ‘An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge’”, explores how Ambrose Bierce reflects the literary change from Romanticism to Realism in his short story “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge”. Culpepper argues that Bierce’s use of literary devices such as structure, perception, irony, and symbolism come together to illustrate the ways in which Romanticism and Realism complement and contrast. The essay follows a simple structure, exploring each of the literary devices and their roles within the short story. Although this essay has some room for improvement in connecting together some of the supporting arguments, the paper as a whole is logically organized, reflects a deep analysis with support
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These individual support paragraphs do not directly tie back to the thesis in their opening statements but rather force the reader to wait through explanation of the examples before revealing how that example illustrates the thesis. This lack of direction may be the cause of some confusion from the audience. For example, although the introduction to symbolism as a whole ties back to the thesis with the opening statement, “Bierce also employs symbolism to reveal the shift between the two periods” (Culpepper 8), the following paragraphs on examples of symbolism do not open with ties to the thesis. One of the example paragraphs opens with “Another element of symbolism is Farquhar’s watch, which represents the warping of time as the changing speed of the creek does” (Culpepper 9). Although the opening does tie to the element of symbolism, it does not tie into the thesis of the change in literary periods. However, later in the paragraph, the issue is resolved with the clarifying sentence: “His heightened awareness of the sounds around him further labels him the Romantic hero with abilities beyond most people” (Culpepper 9). The example ties into the thesis only after explaining the example thoroughly. Therefore, even though the symbol does eventually support the thesis, earlier clarification in the opening statements would help guide readers and remove any unnecessary
These individual support paragraphs do not directly tie back to the thesis in their opening statements but rather force the reader to wait through explanation of the examples before revealing how that example illustrates the thesis. This lack of direction may be the cause of some confusion from the audience. For example, although the introduction to symbolism as a whole ties back to the thesis with the opening statement, “Bierce also employs symbolism to reveal the shift between the two periods” (Culpepper 8), the following paragraphs on examples of symbolism do not open with ties to the thesis. One of the example paragraphs opens with “Another element of symbolism is Farquhar’s watch, which represents the warping of time as the changing speed of the creek does” (Culpepper 9). Although the opening does tie to the element of symbolism, it does not tie into the thesis of the change in literary periods. However, later in the paragraph, the issue is resolved with the clarifying sentence: “His heightened awareness of the sounds around him further labels him the Romantic hero with abilities beyond most people” (Culpepper 9). The example ties into the thesis only after explaining the example thoroughly. Therefore, even though the symbol does eventually support the thesis, earlier clarification in the opening statements would help guide readers and remove any unnecessary