"An Incident at Owl Creek Bridge," by Ambrose Bierce

HOMEWORK ASSIGNMENT

Due Tuesday, April 6, 2010

@ 12:00 Midnight

A man stood upon a railroad bridge in northern Alabama,

looking down into the swift water twenty feet below.

The man's hands were behind his back,

the wrists bound with a cord.

A rope closely encircled his neck.

It was attached to a stout cross-timber above his head

and the slack fell to the level of his knees.

("An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge,"

by Ambrose Bierce)

Post a Comment: Ambrose "Bitter" Bierce (1842-1914?):

http://english101wcc02.blogspot.com/2010/04/ambrose-bitter-bierce-1842-1914.html

Post a Comment: The American Civil War (1861-1865):

http://english101wcc02.blogspot.com/2010/04/american-civil-war-1861-1865_01.html

Print out and read An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge (and bring printout with you to class on April 7th):

http://fiction.eserver.org/short/occurrence_at_owl_creek.html

You may also follow along with an online audio version:

An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge (audio)

Write a First Response to An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge.

Use the following writing prompts: What was your initial response to the first few paragraphs of the text? What was your first impression of Peyton Farquhar? Do you think he deserved his fate? What aspect of the work affected you most? Why?

Or free-write your own response.

Be sure to provide specific textual details and quotes from the story to justify and/or explain your response.  Remember, a first response is not a summary -- use 3-5 quotes from the story and discuss how it affected you.

Guidelines for first response papers are available here:

http://english101wcc02.blogspot.com/2010/03/first-response-paper-guidelines.html

If you have any questions, send me an e-mail at english102wcc@gmail.com, and allow up to 24 hours for a response (although I will most likely get back to you much sooner than that).