11th Grade: "An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge" by Ambrose Bierce – Flashcards

Ambrose Bierce creates a compelling depiction of the Civil War hanging of a Southern planter who has attempted (and failed at) an act of sabotage. Bierce explores the rapid movement of people's thoughts in the moments before death and the way in which the perception of time can become distorted in traumatic situations. As the character, Peyton Farquhar, falls toward his death by hanging, he imagines that the rope breaks and sets him free. In his fantasy, Farquhar plunges into the stream below, swims to safety, and returns home. Unaware that the events are taking place in the condemned man's imagination, the reader is surprised by the story's abrupt ending, when Farquhar's thoughts suddenly stop. Bierce describes Farquhar's dead body swinging "gently from side to side beneath the timber's of the Owl Creek Bridge."

appropriate behavior and ceremonies

respect; courtesy; regard

urgent; imperative

formal statement of fact or opinion

promptly and without formality

erased

act of swinging back and forth

informed; notified

malicious; very harmful

too overwhelming to be spoken