An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge Group at eNotes

To quickly summarize: Peyton Farquar is an Alabama plantation owner who...

Mon, 2 Nov 2009 20:58:15 PST

To quickly summarize: Peyton Farquar is an Alabama plantation owner who has been caught spying for the Confederacy during the American Civil War. He is about to be hanged by Union troops on the Owl Creek Bridge. However, the rope apparently breaks and he tumbles into the water below. He frees himself, swims to safety, and heads home on foot to reunite with his wife and kids. However, a surprise ending awaits the reader just as he is about to...

The plot is hard to follow because it is divided into parts and features...

Mon, 2 Nov 2009 11:01:26 PST

The plot is hard to follow because it is divided into parts and features a flashback (Part II). Also, some of the story takes place in reality and much of it happens only in Peyton's mind. Check out the summary of the story at the enotes link I'm posting for you. This should help you unravel the plot of the story. http://www.enotes.com/occurrence-owl/summary

an occurrence at owl creek bridge

Sun, 1 Nov 2009 21:34:04 PST

i read the story but cant seem to map out the plot

Bierce uses the dream vs. reality stylistic device in "An Occurence at...

Sun, 1 Nov 2009 02:05:27 PST

Bierce uses the dream vs. reality stylistic device in "An Occurence at Owl Creek Bridge" to show the horrific psychological trauma that civilians experienced during the civil war. His techniques highlight the emotional and psychological affect that torure and death has on people even before they actually die. In the story after the reader sees the man on the bridge, the story structure goes to the man's past to explain what happened. Then the...

The story structure is dramatic because it goes between three different...

Sun, 1 Nov 2009 01:44:35 PST

The story structure is dramatic because it goes between three different realities--the present, the past and what is happening only in the main character's mind. The reader is confused which is real and which part is only in his mind. At the beginning, before the reader sees the man actually being hanged, the past is introduced to the reader, as a sort of backstory. The backstory is set up in such a way as to elicit sympathy from the reader...

What is the plot structure of the story "An Occurrence at Owl Creek...

Sat, 31 Oct 2009 22:34:50 PST

What is the plot structure of the story "An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge"?

Quiz--"An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge"

Both "Paul's Case" and "An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge" rely heavily...

Wed, 28 Oct 2009 11:31:57 PST

Both "Paul's Case" and "An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge" rely heavily upon the stream-of-consciousness technique, meaning that they take place in a character's head and stream that character's thoughts. Specifically, in regards to death, the authors portray the idea of escaping one's fate/death and viewing the life each character had right up to his death. In "Bridge," Peyton Farquhar actually creates another reality in his head right...

Compare Cather's account of Paul's death in "Paul's Case" with accounts...

Wed, 28 Oct 2009 07:24:03 PST

Compare Cather's account of Paul's death in "Paul's Case" with accounts of dying in other stories (like "An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge").

If you're after certain structural elements instead of simple partitions...

Fri, 23 Oct 2009 03:11:00 PST

If you're after certain structural elements instead of simple partitions of the story, consider these - Use of the third person limited point of view - The story takes place from the viewpoint and understanding of the protagonist only. Most of what happens is only in his mind, as the reader learns at the end of the story. Use of flashback and virtual reality - Although the reader is not aware of it at first, the "events" in the story don't...

Your question is a bit unclear, but I assume you are referring to the...

Thu, 22 Oct 2009 18:24:22 PST

Your question is a bit unclear, but I assume you are referring to the main elements of the three parts of the Ambrose Bierce short story, "An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge." In Part I, Peyton Farquar is about to be hanged on the railroad bridge over Owl Creek. He sees everything more clearly and in slow motion as his execution nears. As he thinks about his home and family, the captain signals the execution to be carried out. Part II is...

What were the three main elements of "An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge"?

Thu, 22 Oct 2009 17:39:34 PST

What were the three main elements of "An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge"?

Thank you so much! Ms. Mcgregor I wish you would have been my high...

Wed, 21 Oct 2009 00:19:10 PST

Thank you so much! Ms. Mcgregor I wish you would have been my high school English teacher!

Why don't you actually read the story? I mean come on. Easy question, so...

Wed, 21 Oct 2009 00:11:31 PST

Why don't you actually read the story? I mean come on. Easy question, so easy that I could tell you didn't even read it. You're graduating high school in 2010? Good luck in college buddy.

Peyton Farquar, the main character of Ambrose Bierce's short story "An...

Tue, 13 Oct 2009 21:32:43 PST

Peyton Farquar, the main character of Ambrose Bierce's short story "An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge," is sentenced to be hanged on a railroad bridge in Alabama. Although the reader is led to believe that Farquar's noose has broken, and he has escaped his execution by falling in the river and swimming away, we find at the end that this is not true. In the end, we find that Farquar is dead, and hanging from a noose on the Owl Creek Bridge....

In the Ambrose Bierce short story "An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge,"...

Tue, 13 Oct 2009 19:02:40 PST

In the Ambrose Bierce short story "An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge," the main character Peyton Farquar is about to be hanged from a railroad bridge in Alabama. But when he steps between the planks, the rope breaks and he tumbles into the river below. Or does he? We know that Farquar is a wealthy Alabama plantation owner who has attempted to set fire to the Owl Creek Bridge, but before he can do so, he is caught and tried as a spy. He is...

Why was Peyton Farquhar hanged?

Tue, 13 Oct 2009 17:57:11 PST

Why was Peyton Farquhar hanged?

Both of these ideas apply to some degree in Ambrose Bierce's short story...

Tue, 13 Oct 2009 08:53:56 PST

Both of these ideas apply to some degree in Ambrose Bierce's short story "An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge." The man vs. man relationships are obvious: Farquar, the spy, has been caught by his adversaries, and they are about to execute the sentence of hanging. His imagined escape also involves surviving the pursuit of his captors. If he is the stronger, faster and smarter man, he may yet elude his foes. Farquar's mental images before the...

In "An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge," does "Man vs. Man" or "Man vs....

Tue, 13 Oct 2009 08:02:13 PST

In "An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge," does "Man vs. Man" or "Man vs. Nature" apply to the story?

There is the theory that just before one dies, and if there is time...

Fri, 9 Oct 2009 10:35:19 PST

There is the theory that just before one dies, and if there is time enough, one's whole life passes before one's eyes. A nice and poignant theory, but it is completely unprovable. For no one who has ever died, and that's a whole lot of people, has ever returned to relate what went through his or her mind the moment before death. From the time Peyton Farquhar falls and the fatal noose tightens around is neck, he sees an imagined future. It is...