Write an analysis that describes what you think Ambrose Bierce might have been trying to communicate to the reader about his views on the military. Use textual evidence to support your analysis. At least 3 direct quotes from the text are required.
Select at least 3 literary devices used by the author to create and maintain suspense in the story from the beginning to the end. Use textual evidence to support your selection.
Device 1: Metaphor/ Personification " Death is a dignitary who when he comes announced is to be received with formal manifestations of respect, even by those most familiar with him." This is a metaphor, because it says death actually is a dignitary, no t similar to one. It is also personification, because, outside of religion, death is not considered a human entity capable of rising to dignitary status or having a gender. "He" is described as coming announced because, since it is an execution, the death is openly planned and set. The executioners are "those most familiar with him" because, as soldiers, they are accustomed to dealing, witnessing, and constantly being at risk of death. It builds suspense with the idea of death as some kind of nobleman or official just about to make his grand entrance.
Device 2: Personification "... the brooding mists under the banks at some distance down the stream..." This is personification, because mist is a nonliving entity, and, as far as we know, has no emotions. Therefore it cannot brood of feel grief or anger. This maintains the suspense by giving the impression that even the inanimate precipitation is grim at the thought of the impending death. Also, by mentioning this dark presence under the bank, the author hints that death is lurking in every nook and cranny, waiting to pounce.
Device 3: Simile "As Peyton Farquhar fell straight down through the bridge he lost consciousness and was as one already dead." This simile states that, though Farquhar was not actually dead yet, it was as though he was. He feels and thinks nothing. Obviously, it increases suspense by showing he is almost dead.
Device #1:Simile: "They hurt his ear like the trust of a knife; he feared he would shriek." This is a simile because he is comparing the trust of a knife to how much the pain would be if they hurt his ear. This proves that he is actually still feeling emotions and thoughts even when he is on the verge of dying.
Device #2:Climax: "From this state he was awakened -- ages later, it seemed to him -- by the pain of a sharp pressure upon his throat, followed by a sense of suffocation." I think that this would basically be the turning point of the whole story. After having all of his recollections of his wife and children, he suddenly feels a sharp pain.
Device #3:Foreshadowing: "How softly the turf had carpeted the untraveled avenue -- he could no longer feel the roadway beneath his feet!" Again, in this sentence, you can see that even in his imagination, he is beginning to lose his senses. By this, you can infer that he is slowly starting to die out. As he still keeps going, you can tell that he is becoming weaker and weaker as he progresses
Device #1:Foreshadowing "One lodged between his collar and neck; it was uncomfortably warm and he snatched it out." This is a clever allusion to the fact that he is being hung. Throughout the text you can see examples of this.
Device #2 Personification "A rising sheet of water curved over him, fell down upon him, blinded him, strangled him! The cannon had taken an hand in the game." These devices lack the ability of thought. This is an example of personification due to that.
Device #3: Metaphor "the wind made in their branches the music of Aeolian harps." An aeolian harp is an instrument that doesn't need to be played. The wind simply blowing causes sound. The branches weren't actually harps. Henceforth it is a metaphor.
Device 1: (Personification) "then let his gaze wander to the swirling water of the stream racing madly beneath his feet" and "A piece of dancing driftwood caught his attention"
I chose these two quotes as personification because a stream can't actually race, and a piece of wood can't actually dance. That is a human quality given to non-human objects, therefore creating an example of personification.
Device 2: (Simile) "metallic percussion like the stroke of a blacksmith's hammer upon the anvil" and "he swung through unthinkable arcs of oscillation, like a vast pendulum"
I chose these quotes as examples of similes because they compare two things using "like". In the first quote, Ambrose Bierce compares the metallic percussion sound with the sound of a blacksmith's hammer. In the second quote, he compares how Farquhar's body swung to how a pendulum swings.
Device 3: (Metaphor/ imagery) "Encompassed in a luminous cloud, of which he was now merely the fiery heart"
I chose this quote as an example of a metaphor because it compares Farquhar's role/placement in the cloud to a fiery heart. This could also be an example of imagery, because I can visualize a burning heart in the middle of a cloud of mist.
Foreshadowing: A piece of dancing driftwood caught his attention and his eyes followed it down the current. How slowly it appeared to move, What a sluggish stream! This foreshadows that he will “escape”. Because he sees how slow the water is moving, he has hope that if he can untie his hands he won’t die when he falls into the river. It makes the story more exciting.
Simile: They seemed like streams of pulsating fire heating him to an intolerable temperature. “They” is the pain he feels when he is hung. He compares it to fire. It makes the story more suspenseful because by describing it in graphic detail it makes it more exciting and unpredictable.
Personification: His neck ached horribly; his brain was on fire; his heart, which had been fluttering faintly, gave a great leap, trying to force itself out at his mouth. It says his heart is leaping, and trying to get out of his mouth. Hearts can’t do that. It makes the story more interesting to give the graphic details.
device 1: Personification; "The railroad ran straight away into a forest for a hundred yards, then, curving, was lost to view." This sentence represents personification because it takes an inanimate object and gives a human-like quality. A railroad cannot literally run straight away. This sentencce gives the reader descriptive detail and allows them to create a picture in their mind.
Device Number One: Foreshadowing: "A piece of dancing driftwood caught his attention and his eyes followed it down the current. How slowly it appeared to move, what a sluggish stream!" This foreshadows Farquhar's escape as he is about to plunge into the river.
Device Numero Three: Simile: "As Peyton Farquhar fell straight down through the bridge he lost consciousness and was as one already dead." Farquhar is not actually dead yet but it appears as if he already is. Although he only imagines eascape in his subconcious this is showing as he fell Farquhar felt as if he was dead before the rope even tightened around his neck.
Device Number 2: Personification: "A rising sheet of water curved over him, fell down upon him, blinded him, strangled him! The cannon had taken an hand in the game." This is personification due to the fact that that these things lack the ability to do the things Farquhar described.
device 2: Foreshadowing; He unclosed his eyes and saw again the water below him. "If I could free my hands," he thought, "I might throw off the noose and spring into the stream. By diving I could evade the bullets and, swimming vigorously, reach the bank, take to the woods and get away home. My home, thank God, is as yet outside their lines; my wife and little ones are still beyond the invader's farthest advance." This passage represents foreshadowing because Peyton basically thinks of his escape before he actually imagines it in his head moments before his death. The imagery of the actual escape, Peyton is unaware of the difference between reality and fantasy.
device 3: Imagery/Auditory; "He felt the ripples upon his face and heard their separate sounds as they struck. He looked at the forest on the bank of the stream, saw the individual trees, the leaves and the veining of each leaf--saw the very insects upon them: the locusts, the brilliant-bodied flies, the grey spiders stretching their webs from twig to twig. He noted the prismatic colors in all the dewdrops upon a million blades of grass. The humming of the gnats that danced above the eddies of the stream, the beating of the dragon flies' wings, the strokes of the water-spiders' legs, like oars which had lifted their boat--all these made audible music. A fish slid along beneath his eyes and he heard the rush of its body parting the water." This passage shows detailed imagery. The reader can just see the things described in their head. Not only does this passage include pictures it includes sounds. The reader is able to imagine the beating of dragon fly wings and the strokes of the water-spider.
"An hour later, after nightfall, he repassed the plantation, going northward in the direction from which he had come. He was a Federal scout." Here Ambrose Bierce obviously thinks that Federal scouts are good at their game of trickery. I am sure Bierce thinks of the union military as quite clever to be able to trap a southern civilian so easily.
"The liberal military code makes provision for hanging many kinds of persons, and gentlemen are not excluded." I think when bierce wrote this line he was thinking of what a controlled military he was part of. Know one was an exception, everyone was thought of equally no matter what. in some ways that can be bad and some ways it can be positive.
"The captain had drawn his pistol, but did not fire; the others were unarmed. Their movements were grotesque and horrible, their forms gigantic." What i think Bierce was trying to convey when he wrote this line was what the union looked like to the south. I think that he is trying to say that the union was stronger than the south and that they seemed like monsters who were much more powerful that their opponents.
#1: Climax- At the bottom of the steps she stands waiting, with a smile of ineffable joy, an attitude of matchless grace and dignity. Ah, how beautiful she is! He springs forwards with extended arms. As he is about to clasp her he feels a stunning blow upon the back of the neck; a blinding white light blazes all about him with a sound like the shock of a cannon -- then all is darkness and silence! Here, Peyton Fahrquhar is just about to hold his wife, after almost dying. It is the highest point in the book because he is about to finish his journey. Just then, he is hung. #2: Simile- They seemed like streams of pulsating fire heating him to an intolerable temperature. Here, the main character compares the feeling of being hanged like that of burning. Because he used the word like in this comparison, it is a simile. #3: Personification- The water roared in his ears like the voice of Niagara, yet he heard the dull thunder of the volley and, rising again toward the surface, met shining bits of metal, singularly flattened, oscillating slowly downward. Here, the main character compares the roaring water to the voice of Niagra. Niargra falls is an inanimate boject, so giving it a voice is personification.
Ambrose Bierce doesn't seem to like the military, especially the North, a whole lot. He keeps describing the soldiers in ways that make them seem anything but human.
"It did not appear to be the duty of these two men to know what was occurring at the center of the bridge; they merely blockaded the two ends of the foot planking that traversed it." This sentence implies that the soldiers at the ends of the bridge didn't care what was going on, that they were heartless monsters who would look the other way as a fellow human being was put to death.
"Midway up the slope between the bridge and fort were the spectators..." This part of the story make the reader feel as if the soldiers who weren't ignoring the hanging were actually enjoying it, making them sound even more inhuman.
"...[he] had a kindly expression which one would hardly have expected in one whose neck was in the hemp." Now it sounds like the soldiers are just having fun by hanging innocent people. If we hadn't watched the begging of the story where there was the notice about messing with the train tracks, we would've never known why the poor man was being hanged.
In addition, some parts of the story are about the man-to-be-hanged envisioning his family, and being with them. This makes the Union soldiers sound even more merciless.
There are about a billion more ways the author tries to describe the Union soldiers, and none of them are complimentary.
Device # 1: (Personification): "A piece of dancing driftwood caught his attention" This is personification because a piece of driftwood cannot “dance” in the water. I think Peyton was soaking everything about life in. The driftwood was just describing the beauty of a piece of a wood in water, and the beauty of the movement of the water making the driftwood dance. Device # 2: (Metaphor) “His neck ached horribly; his brain was on fire; his heart, which had been fluttering faintly” I chose this quote because your brain can’t actually be on fire. I think Ambrose put this in to describe the pain, without saying it hurt really bad. Also, a heart can’t flutter. Ambrose chose this to show Peyton’s excitement for being free and alive. Device #3: (Simile) “The strokes of the water-spiders' legs, like oars which had lifted their boat--all these made audible music” This is another way of describing beauty of the world. It’s almost like Peyton was taking granted of the world and now he is thankful. It makes the scenery majestic and unique by saying how things are like others. He’s using comparison.
Metaphor: The first paragraph of section 3...: "Encompassed in a luminous cloud, of which he was now merely the fiery heart, without material substance, he swung trough unthinkable arcs of oscillation, like a vast pendulum"
At first he describes being about to feel torment, but that quickly turns into him being conscious of motion. It's almost as though he's feeling dizzy, using a metaphor to describe so, calling it a "vast pendulum".
Simile: "He was not conscious of an effort, but a sharp pain in his wrist apprised him that he was trying to free his hands. He gave the struggle his attention as, an idler might observe the feat of a juggler, without interest in the outcome" The man's sharp pain in the wrist tells him that he's trying to free his hands, and here, the author executes a simile, comparing his effort to a juggler's effort.
Personification: "Farquhar dived--dived as deeply as he could. The water roared in his ears like the voice of Niagara, yet he heard the dulled thunder of the volley, and rising again toward the surface, met shining bits of metal, singularly flattened, oscillating slowly downward". The author describes the water's sound as roared.
Analysis: The author obviously has a very strong opinion towards the Union.
1. “The man in the water saw the eye of the man on the bridge gazing into his own through the sights of the rifle. He observed that it was a grey eye and remembered having read that grey eyes were keenest, and that all famous marksmen had them. Nevertheless, this one had missed.” – Union soldiers fail at shooting. 2. “The soldiers had almost finished reloading; the metal ramrods flashed all at once in the sunshine as they were drawn from the barrels, turned in the air, and thrust into their sockets. The two sentinels fired again, independently and ineffectually.” – Union soldiers fail at tactics 3. “A whiz and a rattle of grapeshot among the branches high above his head roused him from his dream. The baffled cannoneer had fired a random farewell. He sprang to his feet, rushed up the sloping bank, and plunged into the forest.
I think Ambrose Bierce was against the Union when he wrote this story. I can tell because he explains how Peyton Farquhar is very nice (since he is Confederate). He also portrays the Union as the villains.
"Peyton Farquhar was a well to do planter, of an old and highly respected Alabama family. Being a slave owner and like other slave owners a politician, he was naturally an original secessionist and ardently devoted to the Southern cause." In this he narrates as the Farquhar is part of the 'wonderful' Confederacy.
"He was now in full possession of his physical senses. They were, indeed, preternaturally keen and alert." Bierce respects Farquhar and is complimenting him in this section.
"By nightfall he was fatigued, footsore, famished. The thought of his wife and children urged him on. At last he found a road which led him in what he knew to be the right direction." I would guess this quote is supposed to tell the reader that Farquhar is a very kind man. He loves his wife and children and that is the only reason he needs to live.
To sum it up, I really think that Ambrose Bierce thinks Peyton Farquhar is a great man. I also think he is taking the Conferderacy's side.
Tone: Ambrose Bierce tries to portray a somber tone at when he is about to die but where he is escaping she never states the actual atmosphere but only what Farquhar is thinking or dreaming of. This might be so that the reader can understand what actually happened instead of what Farquhar is portraying for us. The water, the banks, the forests, the now distant bridge, fort and men--all were commingled and blurred. Objects were represented by their colors only; circular horizontal streaks of color--that was all he saw.
Ambrose Bierce was trying to communicate that the war was horrible. People were thoughtlessly killed and hung, like the southern civilian in this story. "The company faced the bridge, staring stonily, motionless." This quote shows that hanging a man, who's not even a soldier, has no emotional effect on them. Judging from this story, Ambrose Bierce is probably a supporter of the Confederate army because the Union officers are the antagonists in it. "and his executioners--two private soldiers of the Federal army, directed by a sergeant who in civil life may have been a deputy sheriff." In this quote, Bierce is painting the the Federal army officers as murderers, which is not associated with happy thoughts. Overall, Bierce just didn't like the war and thought the killing was meaningless. "Peyton Farquhar was dead; his body, with a broken neck, swung gently from side to side beneath the timbers of the Owl Creek bridge." This quote shows the gloom Bierce sees in the war.
Foreshadowing: "a sharp, distinct, metallic percussion like the stroke of a blacksmith's hammer upon the anvil:........... Its recurrence was regular, but as slow as the tolling of a death knell."
When the man beings to hear that noise, even though it's just his watch, it foreshadows for the death and doom about to come. It gives hints for the certain death that awaits the man.
Irony: "Peyton Farquhar was dead; his body, with a broken neck, swung gently from side to side beneath the timbers of the Owl Creek bridge."
This is the final sentence in the story and it completes the irony of it. The reader thinks that the man has escaped and reunited with his wife, but really all along he was dead, hanging from the bridge. This passage completely twists around the feeling and ideas of the reader. The reader is happy for the man and believes he has escaped, but that is not actually the case.
Simile: "They tore it away and thrust it fiercely aside, its undulations resembling those of a water snake."
This is a simile because the author is comparing the noose's movements to those of a water snake around it's neck. This simile doesn't use "like" or "as", but "resembling" to compare the two things.
Analysis: Ambrose Bierce was trying to say that war is cruel. “…The frankly villainous dictum that all is fair in love and war,” is a good quote to show this. He says straight out that war is villainous. Another good quote states “Circumstances of an imperious nature, which it is unnecessary to relate here, had prevented him from taking service with that gallant army which had fought the disastrous campaigns ending with the fall of Corinth, and he chafed under the inglorious restraint…” This quote is another direct statement about how war is ‘disastrous.’ War is not a good thing. Another way Ambrose Bierce shows the cruelty of war is by showing that the soldiers will kill anybody. They will kill people who aren’t soldiers. They don’t have mercy on people. “The man who was engaged in being hanged was apparently about thirty-five years of age. He was a civilian, if one might judge from his habit, which was that of a planter.” This quote shows that they are not afraid to hang just a regular civilian. “Peyton Farquhar was a well to do planter, of an old and highly respected Alabama family.” This quote shows that soldiers don’t have much respect. Another quote saying this is “Evidently this was no vulgar assassin. The liberal military code makes provision for hanging many kinds of persons, and gentlemen are not excluded.”
Literary Devices: Simile: "As Peyton Farquhar fell straight down through the bridge he lost consciousness and was as one already dead." This is a simile comparing Peyton Farquhar to a dead man. This creates suspense because it makes the reader think Peyton is going to die soon. It adds suspense to the story. Metaphor: “A strange roseate light shone through the spaces among their trunks and the wind made in their branches the music of Aeolian harps.” This is a metaphor comparing the wind and the music of Aeolian harps. It provides a calm, soothing mood and relieves the suspense for a little bit. Personification: “The water roared in his ears like the voice of Niagara, yet he heard the dull thunder of the volley and, rising again toward the surface, met shining bits of metal, singularly flattened, oscillating slowly downward.” Bierce personifies the water by making it roar. This creates suspense by creating a dark, ominous mood. Roaring water doesn’t usually represent a happy flowery field, it usually represents rapids. The rapids represented are also usually dangerous rapids. Rapids are also hard to swim through. Another thing about rapids is that they can bring a swimmer to the bottom and it will be hard to get out for a short time. The suspense in the story is whether he’s going to die or live, and this doesn’t really shout out that he’s going to live. Hyperbole: “[His senses] were, indeed, preternaturally keen and alert. Something in the awful disturbance of his organic system had so exalted and refined them that they made record of things never before perceived. He felt the ripples upon his face and heard their separate sounds as they struck. He looked at the forest on the bank of the stream, saw the individual trees, the leaves and the veining of each leaf—he saw the very insects upon them: the locusts, the brilliant bodied flies, the gray spiders stretching their webs from twig to twig. He noted the prismatic colors in all the dewdrops upon a million blades of grass. The humming of the gnats that danced above the eddies of the stream, the beating of the dragon flies’ wings, the strokes of the water spiders’ legs, like oars which had lifted their boat—all these made audible music. A fish slid along beneath his eyes and he heard the rush of its body parting the water.” This paragraph exhibits hyperbole. Ambrose Bierce exaggerates Peyton’s senses, for Peyton cannot even have senses that good. His senses may have been heightened, but it is impossible for one to have senses like this. This adds suspense by making the story longer. Heightened senses are also just something that adds suspense. They add awareness.
Device 1: (Personification)"then let his gaze wander to the swirling water of the stream racing madly beneath his feet" and "A piece of dancing driftwood caught his attention"
I chose this because it shows how he notices the last things such as that before he is hanged. It shows the brutality of the Union and the Confederate forces. I also chose this because it shows personification. Driftwood does not actually dance, but the writer portrays the piece of wood to be dancing. This shows how graceful things in nature can be and how you are actually one piece of driftwood dancing through water, which is life.
Device 2:(Simile) "They seemed like streams of pulsating fire heating him to an intolerable temperature."
The writer uses this word to show how painful his hanging was. The pain however, is not fire. This is just used to make the reader make a connection to what the pain is like. This makes the story suspenseful and filled with action.
Device 3: (Foreshadowing0 "One lodged between his collar and neck; it was uncomfortably warm and he snatched it out."
I used this quote because it hints that he is being hung. The reader does not know that so it is possible for the reader to make inferences about the text.
Device 1: Climax - As he is about to clasp her he feels a stunning blow upon the back of the neck; a blinding white light blazes all bout him with a sound like the shock of a connon-then all is darkness and silence!" - This is the climax of the story because all suspense and past events have led up to this exact moment. His brain creates the illusion that he escapes and is about to reunite with his wife, the last step of his travels/journey, when it all of a sudden stops, and reveals the truth; that it was all one big complex dream.
Device 2: Foreshadowing: He unclosed his eyes and saw again the water below him. "If I could free my hands," he thought, "I might throw off the noose and spring into the stream..." - I consider this passage an example of foreshadowing because it is building up tension, and suspension, showing what he COULD do if he had the chance, causing the reader to inference that this is a possibility furthur along in the reading.
Device 3:Foreshadowing-He looked a moment at his "unsteadfast footing," then let his gaze wander to the swirling water of the stream racing madly beneath his feet. A piece of dancing driftwood caught his attention and his eyes followed it down the current. How slowly it appeared to move, what a sluggish stream! - This selection is a example of foreshadowing because it shows how much Farquhar is attempting to slow time down for himself, and appreciate the last minute or two of his life, showing that something spontanious and exciting is about to happen, thus bulding up suspense for the reader.
Device 1: Foreshadowing "One lodged in-between his collar and neck; It was Uncomftorably warm and he snatched it out." -I chose this quote because it hints at him being hung. The reader doesn't know that so the reader can make the inferences about the literature.
Device 2:simile: "they seemed like streams of pulsating fire heating him to an intolerable temperature." - The author uses this quote to show how painful his hanging was. The pain wasn't fire of course, this is just used to let the reader make an connection to how the pain left.
Device 3:simile: "They tore it away and thrust it fiercely aside, it's undulations resembling those of a water snake." - This is the author comparing the noose's movements to those of awater snake around his neck. This similie however doesn't use "like" or "as" but "resembling" to compare
1. Fore shadowing. He kept mentioning the water and thing that were floating by. That let us know that the water would play a part in the story. 2. Personification. "A peice of dancing driftwood...". Driftwood cant dance 3. Simile. "They seemed like streams of pulsating fire heating him to an intolerable temperature." Ambrose almost exxagerates the pain, to give us a more vivid image.
I dont think Ambrose likes the war. He talks about it in disgust. He writes the soldiers out as villians and that Farquhar is just an inoccent victem of war.
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Device 1: Metaphor/ Personification
ReplyDelete" Death is a dignitary who when he comes announced is to be received with formal manifestations of respect, even by those most familiar with him."
This is a metaphor, because it says death actually is a dignitary, no t similar to one. It is also personification, because, outside of religion, death is not considered a human entity capable of rising to dignitary status or having a gender. "He" is described as coming announced because, since it is an execution, the death is openly planned and set. The executioners are "those most familiar with him" because, as soldiers, they are accustomed to dealing, witnessing, and constantly being at risk of death. It builds suspense with the idea of death as some kind of nobleman or official just about to make his grand entrance.
Device 2: Personification
"... the brooding mists under the banks at some distance down the stream..."
This is personification, because mist is a nonliving entity, and, as far as we know, has no emotions. Therefore it cannot brood of feel grief or anger. This maintains the suspense by giving the impression that even the inanimate precipitation is grim at the thought of the impending death. Also, by mentioning this dark presence under the bank, the author hints that death is lurking in every nook and cranny, waiting to pounce.
Device 3: Simile
"As Peyton Farquhar fell straight down through the bridge he lost consciousness and was as one already dead."
This simile states that, though Farquhar was not actually dead yet, it was as though he was. He feels and thinks nothing. Obviously, it increases suspense by showing he is almost dead.
Device #1:Simile: "They hurt his ear like the trust of a knife; he feared he would shriek."
ReplyDeleteThis is a simile because he is comparing the trust of a knife to how much the pain would be if they hurt his ear. This proves that he is actually still feeling emotions and thoughts even when he is on the verge of dying.
Device #2:Climax: "From this state he was awakened -- ages later, it seemed to him -- by the pain of a sharp pressure upon his throat, followed by a sense of suffocation."
I think that this would basically be the turning point of the whole story. After having all of his recollections of his wife and children, he suddenly feels a sharp pain.
Device #3:Foreshadowing: "How softly the turf had carpeted the untraveled avenue -- he could no longer feel the roadway beneath his feet!"
Again, in this sentence, you can see that even in his imagination, he is beginning to lose his senses. By this, you can infer that he is slowly starting to die out. As he still keeps going, you can tell that he is becoming weaker and weaker as he progresses
Device #1:Foreshadowing
ReplyDelete"One lodged between his collar and neck; it was
uncomfortably warm and he snatched it out."
This is a clever allusion to the fact that he is being hung. Throughout the text you can see examples of this.
Device #2 Personification
"A rising sheet of water curved over him, fell down upon
him, blinded him, strangled him! The cannon had taken an hand in the
game." These devices lack the ability of thought. This is an example of personification due to that.
Device #3: Metaphor
"the wind made in their branches the music of Aeolian harps." An aeolian harp is an instrument that doesn't need to be played. The wind simply blowing causes sound. The branches weren't actually harps. Henceforth it is a metaphor.
Device 1: (Personification) "then let his gaze wander to the swirling water of the stream racing madly beneath his feet" and "A piece of dancing
ReplyDeletedriftwood caught his attention"
I chose these two quotes as personification because a stream can't actually race, and a piece of wood can't actually dance. That is a human quality given to non-human objects, therefore creating an example of personification.
Device 2: (Simile) "metallic percussion like the stroke of a blacksmith's hammer upon the anvil" and "he swung through unthinkable arcs of oscillation, like a vast pendulum"
I chose these quotes as examples of similes because they compare two things using "like". In the first quote, Ambrose Bierce compares the metallic percussion sound with the sound of a blacksmith's hammer. In the second quote, he compares how Farquhar's body swung to how a pendulum swings.
Device 3: (Metaphor/ imagery) "Encompassed in a luminous cloud, of which he was now merely the fiery heart"
I chose this quote as an example of a metaphor because it compares Farquhar's role/placement in the cloud to a fiery heart. This could also be an example of imagery, because I can visualize a burning heart in the middle of a cloud of mist.
Foreshadowing: A piece of dancing driftwood caught his attention and his eyes followed it down the current. How slowly it appeared to move, What a sluggish stream!
ReplyDeleteThis foreshadows that he will “escape”. Because he sees how slow the water is moving, he has hope that if he can untie his hands he won’t die when he falls into the river. It makes the story more exciting.
Simile: They seemed like streams of pulsating fire heating him to an intolerable temperature.
“They” is the pain he feels when he is hung. He compares it to fire. It makes the story more suspenseful because by describing it in graphic detail it makes it more exciting and unpredictable.
Personification: His neck ached horribly; his brain was on fire; his heart, which had been fluttering faintly, gave a great leap, trying to force itself out at his mouth.
It says his heart is leaping, and trying to get out of his mouth. Hearts can’t do that. It makes the story more interesting to give the graphic details.
device 1: Personification; "The railroad ran straight away into a forest for a hundred yards, then, curving, was lost to view."
ReplyDeleteThis sentence represents personification because it takes an inanimate object and gives a human-like quality. A railroad cannot literally run straight away. This sentencce gives the reader descriptive detail and allows them to create a picture in their mind.
i will finish the rest of my post soon....
ReplyDeleteDevice Number One: Foreshadowing: "A piece of dancing driftwood caught his attention and his eyes followed it down the current. How slowly it appeared to move, what a sluggish stream!"
ReplyDeleteThis foreshadows Farquhar's escape as he is about to plunge into the river.
Device Numero Three: Simile: "As Peyton Farquhar fell straight down through the bridge he lost consciousness and was as one already dead."
Farquhar is not actually dead yet but it appears as if he already is. Although he only imagines eascape in his subconcious this is showing as he fell Farquhar felt as if he was dead before the rope even tightened around his neck.
Device Number 2: Personification: "A rising sheet of water curved over him, fell down upon
him, blinded him, strangled him! The cannon had taken an hand in the game." This is personification due to the fact that that these things lack the ability to do the things Farquhar described.
device 2: Foreshadowing; He unclosed his eyes and saw again the water below him. "If I could free my hands," he thought, "I might throw off the noose and spring into the stream. By diving I could evade the bullets and, swimming vigorously, reach the bank, take to the woods and get away home. My home, thank God, is as yet outside their lines; my wife and little ones are still beyond the invader's farthest advance."
ReplyDeleteThis passage represents foreshadowing because Peyton basically thinks of his escape before he actually imagines it in his head moments before his death. The imagery of the actual escape, Peyton is unaware of the difference between reality and fantasy.
device 3: Imagery/Auditory; "He felt the ripples upon his face and heard their separate sounds as they struck. He looked at the forest on the bank of the stream, saw the individual trees, the leaves and the veining of each leaf--saw the very insects upon them: the locusts, the brilliant-bodied flies, the grey spiders stretching their webs from twig to twig. He noted the prismatic colors in all the dewdrops upon a million blades of grass. The humming of the gnats that danced above the eddies of the stream, the beating of the dragon flies' wings, the strokes of the water-spiders' legs, like oars which had lifted their boat--all these made audible music. A fish slid along beneath his eyes and he heard the rush of its body parting the water."
This passage shows detailed imagery. The reader can just see the things described in their head. Not only does this passage include pictures it includes sounds. The reader is able to imagine the beating of dragon fly wings and the strokes of the water-spider.
"An hour later, after nightfall, he repassed the plantation, going northward in the direction from which he had come. He was a Federal scout."
ReplyDeleteHere Ambrose Bierce obviously thinks that Federal scouts are good at their game of trickery. I am sure Bierce thinks of the union military as quite clever to be able to trap a southern civilian so easily.
"The liberal military code makes provision for hanging many kinds of persons, and gentlemen are not excluded."
I think when bierce wrote this line he was thinking of what a controlled military he was part of. Know one was an exception, everyone was thought of equally no matter what. in some ways that can be bad and some ways it can be positive.
"The captain had drawn his pistol, but did not fire; the others were unarmed. Their movements were grotesque and horrible, their forms gigantic."
What i think Bierce was trying to convey when he wrote this line was what the union looked like to the south. I think that he is trying to say that the union was stronger than the south and that they seemed like monsters who were much more powerful that their opponents.
#1: Climax-
ReplyDeleteAt the bottom of the steps she stands waiting, with a smile of ineffable joy, an attitude of matchless grace and dignity. Ah, how beautiful she is! He springs forwards with extended arms. As he is about to clasp her he feels a stunning blow upon the back of the neck; a blinding white light blazes all about him with a sound like the shock of a cannon -- then all is darkness and silence!
Here, Peyton Fahrquhar is just about to hold his wife, after almost dying. It is the highest point in the book because he is about to finish his journey. Just then, he is hung.
#2: Simile-
They seemed like streams of pulsating fire heating him to an intolerable temperature.
Here, the main character compares the feeling of being hanged like that of burning. Because he used the word like in this comparison, it is a simile.
#3: Personification-
The water roared in his ears like the voice of Niagara, yet he heard the dull thunder of the volley and, rising again toward the surface, met shining bits of metal, singularly flattened, oscillating slowly downward.
Here, the main character compares the roaring water to the voice of Niagra. Niargra falls is an inanimate boject, so giving it a voice is personification.
Ambrose Bierce doesn't seem to like the military, especially the North, a whole lot. He keeps describing the soldiers in ways that make them seem anything but human.
ReplyDelete"It did not appear to be the duty of these two men to know what was occurring at the center of the bridge; they merely blockaded the two ends of the foot planking that traversed it."
This sentence implies that the soldiers at the ends of the bridge didn't care what was going on, that they were heartless monsters who would look the other way as a fellow human being was put to death.
"Midway up the slope between the bridge and fort were the spectators..."
This part of the story make the reader feel as if the soldiers who weren't ignoring the hanging were actually enjoying it, making them sound even more inhuman.
"...[he] had a kindly expression which one would hardly have expected in one whose neck was in the hemp."
Now it sounds like the soldiers are just having fun by hanging innocent people. If we hadn't watched the begging of the story where there was the notice about messing with the train tracks, we would've never known why the poor man was being hanged.
In addition, some parts of the story are about the man-to-be-hanged envisioning his family, and being with them. This makes the Union soldiers sound even more merciless.
There are about a billion more ways the author tries to describe the Union soldiers, and none of them are complimentary.
Device # 1: (Personification): "A piece of dancing driftwood caught his attention"
ReplyDeleteThis is personification because a piece of driftwood cannot “dance” in the water. I think Peyton was soaking everything about life in. The driftwood was just describing the beauty of a piece of a wood in water, and the beauty of the movement of the water making the driftwood dance.
Device # 2: (Metaphor) “His neck ached horribly; his brain was on fire; his heart, which had been fluttering faintly”
I chose this quote because your brain can’t actually be on fire. I think Ambrose put this in to describe the pain, without saying it hurt really bad. Also, a heart can’t flutter. Ambrose chose this to show Peyton’s excitement for being free and alive.
Device #3: (Simile) “The strokes of the water-spiders' legs, like oars which had lifted their boat--all these made audible music”
This is another way of describing beauty of the world. It’s almost like Peyton was taking granted of the world and now he is thankful. It makes the scenery majestic and unique by saying how things are like others. He’s using comparison.
Omg you guys stole all the good ones oh wells.
ReplyDeleteMetaphor:
The first paragraph of section 3...: "Encompassed in a luminous cloud, of which he was now merely the fiery heart, without material substance, he swung trough unthinkable arcs of oscillation, like a vast pendulum"
At first he describes being about to feel torment, but that quickly turns into him being conscious of motion. It's almost as though he's feeling dizzy, using a metaphor to describe so, calling it a "vast pendulum".
Simile: "He was not conscious of an effort, but a sharp pain in his wrist apprised him that he was trying to free his hands. He gave the struggle his attention as, an idler might observe the feat of a juggler, without interest in the outcome" The man's sharp pain in the wrist tells him that he's trying to free his hands, and here, the author executes a simile, comparing his effort to a juggler's effort.
Personification: "Farquhar dived--dived as deeply as he could. The water roared in his ears like the voice of Niagara, yet he heard the dulled thunder of the volley, and rising again toward the surface, met shining bits of metal, singularly flattened, oscillating slowly downward". The author describes the water's sound as roared.
Analysis: The author obviously has a very strong opinion towards the Union.
1. “The man in the water saw the eye of the man on the bridge gazing into his own through the sights of the rifle. He observed that it was a grey eye and remembered having read that grey eyes were keenest, and that all famous marksmen had them. Nevertheless, this one had missed.” – Union soldiers fail at shooting.
2. “The soldiers had almost finished reloading; the metal ramrods flashed all at once in the sunshine as they were drawn from the barrels, turned in the air, and thrust into their sockets. The two sentinels fired again, independently and ineffectually.” – Union soldiers fail at tactics
3. “A whiz and a rattle of grapeshot among the branches high above his head roused him from his dream. The baffled cannoneer had fired a random farewell. He sprang to his feet, rushed up the sloping bank, and plunged into the forest.
yay
I think Ambrose Bierce was against the Union when he wrote this story. I can tell because he explains how Peyton Farquhar is very nice (since he is Confederate). He also portrays the Union as the villains.
ReplyDelete"Peyton Farquhar was a well to do planter, of an old and highly
respected Alabama family. Being a slave owner and like other slave
owners a politician, he was naturally an original secessionist and
ardently devoted to the Southern cause." In this he narrates as the Farquhar is part of the 'wonderful' Confederacy.
"He was now in full possession of his physical senses. They were,
indeed, preternaturally keen and alert." Bierce respects Farquhar and is complimenting him in this section.
"By nightfall he was fatigued, footsore, famished. The thought of his
wife and children urged him on. At last he found a road which led him
in what he knew to be the right direction." I would guess this quote is supposed to tell the reader that Farquhar is a very kind man. He loves his wife and children and that is the only reason he needs to live.
To sum it up, I really think that Ambrose Bierce thinks Peyton Farquhar is a great man. I also think he is taking the Conferderacy's side.
Tone: Ambrose Bierce tries to portray a somber tone at when he is about to die but where he is escaping she never states the actual atmosphere but only what Farquhar is thinking or dreaming of. This might be so that the reader can understand what actually happened instead of what Farquhar is portraying for us.
ReplyDeleteThe water, the banks, the forests, the now distant bridge, fort and men--all were commingled and blurred. Objects were represented by their colors only; circular horizontal streaks of color--that was all he saw.
Ambrose Bierce was trying to communicate that the war was horrible. People were thoughtlessly killed and hung, like the southern civilian in this story. "The company faced the bridge, staring stonily, motionless." This quote shows that hanging a man, who's not even a soldier, has no emotional effect on them. Judging from this story, Ambrose Bierce is probably a supporter of the Confederate army because the Union officers are the antagonists in it. "and his executioners--two private soldiers of the Federal army, directed by a sergeant who in civil life may have been a deputy sheriff." In this quote, Bierce is painting the the Federal army officers as murderers, which is not associated with happy thoughts. Overall, Bierce just didn't like the war and thought the killing was meaningless. "Peyton Farquhar was dead; his body, with a broken neck, swung gently from side to side beneath the timbers of the Owl Creek bridge." This quote shows the gloom Bierce sees in the war.
ReplyDeleteForeshadowing: "a sharp, distinct, metallic percussion like the stroke of a blacksmith's hammer upon the anvil:........... Its recurrence was regular, but as slow as the tolling of a death knell."
When the man beings to hear that noise, even though it's just his watch, it foreshadows for the death and doom about to come. It gives hints for the certain death that awaits the man.
Irony: "Peyton Farquhar was dead; his body, with a broken neck, swung gently from side to side beneath the timbers of the Owl Creek bridge."
This is the final sentence in the story and it completes the irony of it. The reader thinks that the man has escaped and reunited with his wife, but really all along he was dead, hanging from the bridge. This passage completely twists around the feeling and ideas of the reader. The reader is happy for the man and believes he has escaped, but that is not actually the case.
Simile: "They tore it away and thrust it fiercely aside, its undulations resembling those of a water snake."
This is a simile because the author is comparing the noose's movements to those of a water snake around it's neck. This simile doesn't use "like" or "as", but "resembling" to compare the two things.
Analysis:
ReplyDeleteAmbrose Bierce was trying to say that war is cruel. “…The frankly villainous dictum that all is fair in love and war,” is a good quote to show this. He says straight out that war is villainous. Another good quote states “Circumstances of an imperious nature, which it is unnecessary to relate here, had prevented him from taking service with that gallant army which had fought the disastrous campaigns ending with the fall of Corinth, and he chafed under the inglorious restraint…” This quote is another direct statement about how war is ‘disastrous.’ War is not a good thing. Another way Ambrose Bierce shows the cruelty of war is by showing that the soldiers will kill anybody. They will kill people who aren’t soldiers. They don’t have mercy on people. “The man who was engaged in being hanged was apparently about thirty-five years of age. He was a civilian, if one might judge from his habit, which was that of a planter.” This quote shows that they are not afraid to hang just a regular civilian. “Peyton Farquhar was a well to do planter, of an old and highly respected Alabama family.” This quote shows that soldiers don’t have much respect. Another quote saying this is “Evidently this was no vulgar assassin. The liberal military code makes provision for hanging many kinds of persons, and gentlemen are not excluded.”
Literary Devices:
Simile: "As Peyton Farquhar fell straight down through the bridge he lost consciousness and was as one already dead." This is a simile comparing Peyton Farquhar to a dead man. This creates suspense because it makes the reader think Peyton is going to die soon. It adds suspense to the story.
Metaphor: “A strange roseate light shone through the spaces among their trunks and the wind made in their branches the music of Aeolian harps.” This is a metaphor comparing the wind and the music of Aeolian harps. It provides a calm, soothing mood and relieves the suspense for a little bit.
Personification: “The water roared in his ears like the voice of Niagara, yet he heard the dull thunder of the volley and, rising again toward the surface, met shining bits of metal, singularly flattened, oscillating slowly downward.” Bierce personifies the water by making it roar. This creates suspense by creating a dark, ominous mood. Roaring water doesn’t usually represent a happy flowery field, it usually represents rapids. The rapids represented are also usually dangerous rapids. Rapids are also hard to swim through. Another thing about rapids is that they can bring a swimmer to the bottom and it will be hard to get out for a short time. The suspense in the story is whether he’s going to die or live, and this doesn’t really shout out that he’s going to live.
Hyperbole: “[His senses] were, indeed, preternaturally keen and alert. Something in the awful disturbance of his organic system had so exalted and refined them that they made record of things never before perceived. He felt the ripples upon his face and heard their separate sounds as they struck. He looked at the forest on the bank of the stream, saw the individual trees, the leaves and the veining of each leaf—he saw the very insects upon them: the locusts, the brilliant bodied flies, the gray spiders stretching their webs from twig to twig. He noted the prismatic colors in all the dewdrops upon a million blades of grass. The humming of the gnats that danced above the eddies of the stream, the beating of the dragon flies’ wings, the strokes of the water spiders’ legs, like oars which had lifted their boat—all these made audible music. A fish slid along beneath his eyes and he heard the rush of its body parting the water.” This paragraph exhibits hyperbole. Ambrose Bierce exaggerates Peyton’s senses, for Peyton cannot even have senses that good. His senses may have been heightened, but it is impossible for one to have senses like this. This adds suspense by making the story longer. Heightened senses are also just something that adds suspense. They add awareness.
Device 1: (Personification)"then let his gaze wander to the swirling water of the stream racing madly beneath his feet" and "A piece of dancing
ReplyDeletedriftwood caught his attention"
I chose this because it shows how he notices the last things such as that before he is hanged. It shows the brutality of the Union and the Confederate forces. I also chose this because it shows personification. Driftwood does not actually dance, but the writer portrays the piece of wood to be dancing. This shows how graceful things in nature can be and how you are actually one piece of driftwood dancing through water, which is life.
Device 2:(Simile) "They seemed like streams of pulsating fire heating him to an intolerable temperature."
The writer uses this word to show how painful his hanging was. The pain however, is not fire. This is just used to make the reader make a connection to what the pain is like. This makes the story suspenseful and filled with action.
Device 3: (Foreshadowing0 "One lodged between his collar and neck; it was
uncomfortably warm and he snatched it out."
I used this quote because it hints that he is being hung. The reader does not know that so it is possible for the reader to make inferences about the text.
Device 1: Climax - As he is about to clasp her he feels a stunning blow upon the back of the neck; a blinding white light blazes all bout him with a sound like the shock of a connon-then all is darkness and silence!"
ReplyDelete- This is the climax of the story because all suspense and past events have led up to this exact moment. His brain creates the illusion that he escapes and is about to reunite with his wife, the last step of his travels/journey, when it all of a sudden stops, and reveals the truth; that it was all one big complex dream.
Device 2: Foreshadowing: He unclosed his eyes and saw again the water below him. "If I could free my hands," he thought, "I might throw off the noose and spring into the stream..."
- I consider this passage an example of foreshadowing because it is building up tension, and suspension, showing what he COULD do if he had the chance, causing the reader to inference that this is a possibility furthur along in the reading.
Device 3:Foreshadowing-He looked a moment at his "unsteadfast footing," then let his gaze wander to the swirling water of the stream racing madly beneath his feet. A piece of dancing driftwood caught his attention and his eyes followed it down the current. How slowly it appeared to move, what a sluggish stream!
- This selection is a example of foreshadowing because it shows how much Farquhar is attempting to slow time down for himself, and appreciate the last minute or two of his life, showing that something spontanious and exciting is about to happen, thus bulding up suspense for the reader.
Device 1: Foreshadowing "One lodged in-between his collar and neck; It was Uncomftorably warm and he snatched it out."
ReplyDelete-I chose this quote because it hints at him being hung. The reader doesn't know that so the reader can make the inferences about the literature.
Device 2:simile: "they seemed like streams of pulsating fire heating him to an intolerable temperature."
- The author uses this quote to show how painful his hanging was. The pain wasn't fire of course, this is just used to let the reader make an connection to how the pain left.
Device 3:simile: "They tore it away and thrust it fiercely aside, it's undulations resembling those of a water snake."
- This is the author comparing the noose's movements to those of awater snake around his neck. This similie however doesn't use "like" or "as" but "resembling" to compare
1. Fore shadowing. He kept mentioning the water and thing that were floating by. That let us know that the water would play a part in the story.
ReplyDelete2. Personification. "A peice of dancing driftwood...". Driftwood cant dance
3. Simile. "They seemed like streams of pulsating fire heating him to an intolerable temperature." Ambrose almost exxagerates the pain, to give us a more vivid image.
I dont think Ambrose likes the war. He talks about it in disgust. He writes the soldiers out as villians and that Farquhar is just an inoccent victem of war.