Use Of Suspense In An Occurrence At Owl Creek Bridge

With his use of imagery Bierce displayed that, in his mind, Farquhar, while being hanged, still had all of his thoughts and he believed that he was escaping the army, bringing suspense to the story. Farquhar thought that the rope had snapped and that he had fallen into the water, he imagined himself escaping the military by swimming away. After he got to shore, Farquhar began to run, he ran as far as he could until he made it back home. While running all he thought about was

Bierce also used the technique of allusion to foreshadow Peyton Farquhar’s death. He does this when Peyton Farquhar says “The black bodies of the trees formed a straight wall on both sides, terminating on the horizon in a point, like a diagram in a lesson in perspective.” This pathway symbolizes the long journey of death. This technique also appears when Bierce says “He stands at the gate of his own home. All is as he left it, and all bright and beautiful in the morning sunshine.” Bierce is alluding to heaven’s

Ambrose Bierce’s “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge” is one of the most thought-provoking Civil War stories written in the 19th century. In this story, Bierce digs his pen into philosophical questions about “the nature of time and the nature of abnormal psychology” (Logan 102). Yet because of the story’s multifaceted poignancy, scholarship has debated whether it is a Romantic yarn, a Gothic tale, or something abruptly more cynical. I will argue that “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge” is actually a transitional short story that explores how the rise of regionalism and realism during the Civil War led to the death of romanticism.

When the term “Strawberry Spring” comes to mind, one assumes that it means something pleasant, and almost sweet sounding to the ear. Yet for Stephen King’s short story, “Strawberry Spring,” the phrase becomes a whole different meaning. Dressed in murder and painted with the vivid colors of narration, the short story reflects upon the deception of a false spring in the early beginnings of March 1968. Several themes and ideas appear within the story, and readers receive the messages that are hidden between the lines. Murder becomes a touchy subject to the college students; the author mixes together a suspenseful atmosphere throughout the community college the protagonist attends as the short story progresses. It almost feels like one is on the edge of their seat when reading it. William Faulkner’s short story, “A Rose for Emily,” displays suspense and tones of slight insanity, but it cannot compare to the undertones that lay beneath Stephen King’s work. The narrator’s foreshadowing of uncovering the truth through his own detailed point of view creates a well written short story dubbed “Strawberry Spring.”

Ambrose Bierce, the Author of “An Occurrence At Owl Creek Bridge” about a man who was being hanged, throughout the story Peyton hallucinates and thinks that he has escaped the hanging but in reality he’s dying. Bierce uses symbolism in “ An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge” to foreshadow that Peyton is going to die. There are multiple allusions throughout the story that Bierce used to convey the death of Peyton. Imagery is used throughout the entire story to show that Peyton is hallucinating. Throughout the entire story Bierce uses multiple literary techniques to foreshadow Peyton’s death.

When a federal spy disguised as a confederate soldier tricks Farquhar into risking his life to become the hero he had always dreamed of, Farquhar is put in his unfortunate situation. Farquhar inability to recognize the difference between a federal spy and a confederate soldier leads him to the decision that results in his untimely death. The story itself gives the readers a false sense of hope that Farquhar might actually escape his own death. Palmisano illustrates the author's deception when he writes"Bierce does not overtly inform the reader that Farquhar's escape is a hallucination but expects that the careful reader will realize the impossibility of events described in the final section of "An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge". Bierce expresses his disdain for the deceptive tactics used during the civil war by causing the reader to feel remorse for Farquhar's death. Without the use of irony, the story wouldn't be as suspenseful and there would be no build up to the

In stories both fiction and nonfiction, the author’s choice in the structure of the said story can greatly affect the meaning given to it, as well as the reader’s response to the story. In Edgar Allan Poe’s The Masque of the Red Death, Poe uses chronological order as well as metaphors and allegory to create a particular feel. Similarly, in A Rose for Emily by William Faulkner, the author uses different structure - beginning with the end, then going more chronologically - to create a different feeling. Both stories would be completely different if it were not for the methods the authors chose to use for their stories’ structure.

Ambrose Bierce’s “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge” revolves around the manipulation of time through the conflict of man versus nature. Bierce uses time in his favor as he switches between the past and the present life of the main character, Peyton Farquhar, as he lives his last moments. He uses this to show how time can be “subjective and phenomenal during times of emotional distress”. (BookRags). The manipulation of time that is unnoticeable whilst reading the story strengthens the themes that are present in this work, such as man’s denial of mortality, and the conjuring of irrational situations.

“Suspense combines curiosity with fear and pulls them up a rising slope,” quote by Mason Cooley summarizes the idea of how W.F. Harvey creates suspense in his short story, “August Heats.” Everyone likes a little suspense in their life so W.F. Harvey attracts his audience by using foreshadowing, “the use of hints to suggest events later in the plot,” (source 1) a reversal is involved, “a sudden change in a character’s situation from good to bad or vice versa,” (source 1) and the narrator withholds information from the reader. With these steps the author intrigues the audience to continue reading and cause them to feel frightened as they read.

Many authors use suspense in order to keep their audiences interested in the story. Edgar Allan Poe in The Masque of the Red Death created suspense by using literary devices. In The Masque of the Red Death Poe, established suspense throughout the story using a clock which symbolizes the passing of time. The first hint the readers are given is that the clock freezes people when it strikes half an hour. Understanding the foreshadowing of the clock allows the readers to comprehend the suspense in the story.

Another example from the text is, “As he rose to the surface, gasping for breath, he saw that he had been a long time under water; he was perceptibly farther downstream-nearer to safety.” (487). This example allows us, readers, to get the concept that Farquhar is traveling downstream, realizing he is getting closer to safety. The details allow us to grasp the visual effect of the story. Another technique that Bierce uses to apprehend foreshadowing is allusion, Bierce uses an allusion to grasp the reader’s attention by making them think something is going to happen and is left with an astonishment. An example of Allusion that is shown towards the end of the story is when us readers think that

To a lot of people water tastes different. For example, lots of people say faucet water is revolting opposed to brand, bottled water, but water is water right? The two different types of water have a variety of differences in taste that people have pointed out, but even though the water has its differences, it still comes down to at least one similarity. It has a lot of similarities like the stories purposes, but it still has its differences. The same can be said about two short stories written way differently but still have many similarities.“An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge” is a short story about a man named Peyton Farquhar, he is sentenced death at Owl Creek Bridge and has to be

“A Rose for Emily” is a unique short story that keeps the reader guessing even though its first sentence already reveals the majority of the content. William Faulkner’s “A Rose for Emily” is the epitome of a work that follows an unconventional plot structure and a non-linear timeline, but this method of organization is intentional, as it creates suspense throughout the story. William Faulkner’s “A Rose for Emily” follows an unusual plot structure, which creates an eccentric application of suspense to a short story.

Authors create suspense in stories by using time,distance,setting,and different thoughts. They also make the danger feel real and they hide what characters are feeling. This story is about a unknown named man who killed an elderly that lives with him because he thinks that the man 's eye is evil. Towards the end of the story it seems like he 's gonna get away with murder because he put the body under the floorboards and sat on it while the cops were there talking to him. Poe builds a lot of suspense towards the end of the book because he leaves the characters feelings out and he leaves us wondering if the narrator will actually kill the man, and then over whether he will be caught. The author also builds suspense because of the timing the

“A black pudding to die for” is one of the elements in the unusual, yet amazing, short story by Stella Duffy. The short story takes you through a rollercoaster of emotions, filled with mysterious elements such as the obscure landlady Mrs. Lenton.