Ambrose

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…

Courage Ambrose Redmoon states, “Courage is not the absence of fear, but rather the judgment that something else is more important than fear.” Courage is a very strong word that can frequently be hard to show. It does show how much heart a person might have. They go through things that will show the true person they are and how they will react on their problems. Will he or she push through or quit? Courage is standing up for the beliefs a person might have, following their heart, and not being…

The Horseman in the Sky is a beautifully described story written by a man named Ambrose Bierce. It is a wonderfully written short story that has caught the interest of many, and without disappointment continued to impress each of the readers. This story explains the struggles of a young man, by the name of Carter Druce, who must overcome many obstacles in his life. Which starts in the beginning of the story, where the young boy feels he must help the army troops that had just arrived in his…

The only definite thing in life is that it will one day end. That truth is perhaps the defining feature of the human condition. Mortality is inevitable act, so we can either accept it, or continue to deny the coming day of our own deaths. In Ambrose Bierce’s short story, “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge,” the principal character, Peyton Farquhar, experiences both the denial and acceptance of his impending death. Farquhar is sentenced to be hanged by Union soldiers and as he faces his final…

Today I would like to propose a film adaptation of the poem, “My Last Duchess” by Robert Browning. There have been very few adaptations of the work since its creation, and none within the film industry, so it would be a perfect, new medium for the story to be told. With the recent successes of films like Gone Girl and Nightcrawler, there is a clear public desire to witness passion, egotism, and sociopathology unravel; the narrator from “My Last Duchess” would provide a new archetype for these…

God’s and Generals depiction of Civil War On November 19, 1863 President Abraham Lincoln gave the Gettysburg Address after the ending of the Gettysburg War, which ended the Civil War as a whole. It can be said that the Civil War erupted due to the disagreement between states as it relates to slavery. The Gettysburg War was fought between the Union (the North) and the Confederates (the South). The Union wanted to do away with slavery and let African Americans have choices on where, how, and who…

In the short story Sonny’s Blues, by James Baldwin and short story The Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge, by Ambrose Bierce, the narrators included related events throughout the short stories. For instance the protagonists, Sonny and Farquhar, both dealt with family affairs and getting punished due to their past actions. However, the two short stories, both share similar, yet different symbols that connected to the protagonists, the theme of not everyone gets a second chance, which includes a style…

In Ambrose Bierce’s “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge,” the reader is introduced to a man who is about to be hanged. Throughout the short story, there are multiple themes proposed from beginning to end. One leading theme is suspense. The story switches between reality and imagination, which creates even more suspense right before Farquhar is about to be hanged. Another major theme placed throughout the short story is imagination. Farquhar imagines certain events before the time of his death.…

As we view the evolvement of American literature, we begin to move away from the transcendentalist impressions of writers, and move toward a more realistic notion. The texts and authors of this era were greatly influenced by the circumstances around them: the American Civil War, the rush to the Alaskan Yukon for gold, or the Industrial Revolution, which incited them to see the world in a different light than those before them. To a reader with little to no knowledge on the background of the…

Chickamauga, Ambrose Bierce’s short story, begins with a little boy adventuring in the woods, pretend playing at war. The story shifts from the playful wanderings of the boy to integrating the actual horrific reality of a nearby battle’s aftermath. Such change does not immediately impact the boy, who continues playing even as the terrifying scene unfolds around him. This passage occurs towards the end of the story, when the child has been fully immersed into the gruesome chaos around him. It…