Ambrose Gwinnett Bierce (born June 24‚ 1842; assumed to have died sometime after December 26‚ 1913) was an American editorialist‚ journalist‚ short story writer‚ fabulist‚ and satirist. He wrote the short story "An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge" and compiled a satirical lexicon The Devil’s Dictionary. His vehemence as a critic‚ his motto "Nothing matters"‚ and the sardonic view of human nature that informed his work‚ all earned him the nickname "Bitter Bierce". Despite his reputation as a searing
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while dodging bullets‚ and then he gets into the forest where he must make a long and miserable trip back to his house. Just as he is about to reach his wife’s arms his neck breaks and he dies‚ but he didn’t die there‚ he died long ago at the bridge. Bierce makes you truly think that Farquhar has escaped from death‚ but just as you think you are going to witness a happy ending‚ you figure out Peyton Farquhar has died at Owl Creek Bridge. Another example of irony in the short story "An Occurrence at
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Analyses of “Chickamauga” Analyzed “Chickamauga” is short story by Ambrose Bierce that takes place in 1863 during the American Civil War. It is an anti-war narrative that also speaks to the evolution of humans in battle. A young child‚ the son of a veteran is the central character. Having grown up around war and being born of a soldier the child shows insensitivity to wounded men that few could understand. Not only insensitive to the setting‚ the child makes a game of the situation at hand
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Swift 1 Samuel Swift English 2312 Dr. Chuck Jackson 02/10/2011 Ambrose Bierce’s Twisted Naturalist Short Story “Chickamauga” The author of “Chickamauga‚” Ambrose Bierce‚ created this short story as a naturalist visualization of the devastating effects that wars and battles had on the soldiers which fought in them. The short story “Chickamauga” is defined as naturalist literature because of the author’s employment of specific literary techniques which define naturalism‚ such as the way the author
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that all creatures and occasions in the universe are natural. The story tells of a small boy‚ who‚ with toy wooden sword in hand‚ strolls off into the woods to fight unseen enemies‚ just as his descendants have fought real ones. Ambrose Bierce’s Chickamauga is an example of the philosophy of Naturalism. The boy wanders off too far and becomes lost. He decides to lie down to rest for a bit. He sleeps for several hours. Soon after he awakes‚ he is joined by hundreds of injured and dying soldiers making
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Bierce’s “Chickamauga‚” the deaf child depicts today’s society as individuals are ignorant during dark times because they are unaware of their surroundings until it affects them directly. Topic Sentence: Through his use of simile‚ Bierce is able to display how innocent society acts in times of despair in the story by comparing the ignorance the world exemplifies to the boy’s inability to hear the situation which causes the readers to think of him as a very innocent child. Textual Evidence: Bierce captures
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writers‚ Ambrose Bierce is considered by many to be one of the greatest writers of war stories ever. His blunt‚ yet descriptive stories certainly put forward strong feelings about war‚ and how he feels about it while still maintaining an interesting storyline that keeps the reader interested. None of his stories‚ however‚ have a happy ending. It seems to me that all of the stories by Ambrose Bierce that we read in class have sad endings because they all have the same message‚ and Bierce tries to make
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Bridge”‚ “Devil’s Dictionary”‚ and “Chickamauga.” Bierce’s works represent his view of military life‚ recollections of the Civil War and his humorous way of coping with death. He later characterized the war as a “by product of the arts of peace.” (Devil’s Dictionary) Ambrose Bierce was influenced at an early age by his
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John KleinKlein 1 Short Story Analysis July 7‚2013 Analysis of “An Occurrence at Owl Creek” Do you like surprise endings? “An Occurrence at Owl Creek”‚ by Ambrose Bierce supplies a startling one. Set in Alabama during the Civil War‚ Peyton Farquar‚ a well-to-do‚ slave owning plantation owner “who was at heart a soldier‚” was kept out of the military service for reasons left vague. A Union scout‚dressed as a Rebel‚ stops at his house and suggests burning a near by bridge now in Union hands
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Occurence at Owl Creek Bridge Approach Ambrose Bierce‚ the author of the short story “An Occurrence At Owl Creek Bridge” used his own life experiences to create successful and expressive writing. The time period in which Bierce lived had a significant influence on his writing. Bierce’s experiences fighting the front lines in the civil war are brought out in his writings and short stories. The historic time period‚ in which Bierce placed the setting of “Owl Creek Bridge”‚ is very significant
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