1.12: A Lesson in Perspective (Pg.

65-70)
Learning Targets:
 Analyze the ways in which a narrator's perspective can shift.
 Use telling details to gain insights into the main character's traits and state of mind.

Objective: In this lesson, you will read the first part of a short story and analyze how the author uses shifts in
tone and perspective to create a desired effect.

DEFINE:
PERSPECTIVE:

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Ambrose Bierce (1842–1914) was a journalist, poet, novelist, and short story writer. He
began his career in journalism as a teenager by working as an apprentice on a small
abolitionist newspaper. Then he enlisted in the Union Army's 9th Indiana Infantry, in
1861, at the outset of the American Civil War. During his service as a soldier, he
witnessed some of the Civil War's deadliest battles and nearly died himself, after
sustaining a serious head injury.

Many of Bierce's short stories reflect the brutality of war and undermine romantic notions
about its “glories.” However, Bierce wrote about other topics as well, including politics
and crime. After the American Civil War, he settled in San Francisco for a time and
resumed his journalism career, becoming well known for his witty and sarcastic writing
style. In addition to being famed as a short story writer, Bierce is also noted for his crime
reporting, his scathingly critical articles about public figures, and his compilation of satirical word definitions
entitled The Devil's Dictionary.

AS YOU READ :

 Highlight character traits for the man.

 Place a star */😀 next to details about the setting.

 Underline unfamiliar words and phrases.

Short Story: An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge (Part 1) by Ambrose Bierce

1 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. Some loose boards
laid upon the ties supporting the rails of the railway supplied a footing for him and his executioners—two
private1 soldiers of the Federal2 army, directed by a sergeant3 who in civil life may have been a deputy sheriff.
At a short remove upon the same temporary platform was an officer in the uniform of his rank, armed. He was
a captain.4 A sentinel5 at each end of the bridge stood with his rifle in the position known as “support,” that is
to say, vertical in front of the left shoulder, the hammer resting on the forearm thrown straight across the chest
—a formal and unnatural position, enforcing an erect carriage of the body. 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.

2 Beyond one of the sentinels nobody was in sight; the railroad ran straight away into a forest for a hundred
yards, then, curving, was lost to view. Doubtless there was an outpost farther along. The other bank of the
stream was open ground—a gentle slope topped with a stockade of vertical tree trunks, loopholed for rifles,
with a single embrasure6 through which protruded the muzzle of a brass cannon commanding the bridge.
Midway up the slope between the bridge and fort were the spectators—a single company of infantry in line, at
“parade rest,” the butts of their rifles on the ground, the barrels inclining slightly backward against the right
shoulder, the hands crossed upon the stock. A lieutenant7 stood at the right of the line, the point of his sword
upon the ground, his left hand resting upon his right. Excepting the group of four at the center of the bridge, not
a man moved. The company faced the bridge, staring stonily, motionless. The sentinels, facing the banks of
the stream, might have been statues to adorn the bridge. The captain stood with folded arms, silent, observing
the work of his subordinates, but making no sign. 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. In the code of military
etiquette silence and fixity are forms of deference.

3 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. His features were good—a straight nose, firm
mouth, broad forehead, from which his long, dark hair was combed straight back, falling behind his ears to the
collar of his well fitting frock coat. He wore a moustache and pointed beard, but no whiskers; his eyes were
large and dark gray, and had a kindly expression which one would hardly have expected in one whose neck
was in the hemp. Evidently this was no vulgar assassin. The liberal military code makes provision for hanging
many kinds of persons, and gentlemen are not excluded.

4 The preparations being complete, the two private soldiers stepped aside and each drew away the plank upon
which he had been standing. The sergeant turned to the captain, saluted and placed himself immediately
behind that officer, who in turn moved apart one pace. These movements left the condemned man and the
sergeant standing on the two ends of the same plank, which spanned three of the cross-ties of the bridge. The
end upon which the civilian stood almost, but not quite, reached a fourth. This plank had been held in place by
the weight of the captain; it was now held by that of the sergeant. At a signal from the former the latter would
step aside, the plank would tilt and the condemned man go down between two ties. The arrangement
commended itself to his judgement as simple and effective. His face had not been covered nor his eyes
bandaged. 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!

5 He closed his eyes in order to fix his last thoughts

upon his wife and children. The water, touched to gold
by the early sun, the brooding mists under the banks at
some distance down the stream, the fort, the soldiers,
the piece of drift—all had distracted him. And now he
became conscious of a new disturbance. Striking
through the thought of his dear ones was sound which
he could neither ignore nor understand, a sharp,
distinct, metallic percussion like the stroke of a
blacksmith's hammer upon the anvil; it had the same ringing quality. He wondered what it was, and whether
immeasurably distant or near by—it seemed both. Its recurrence was regular, but as slow as the tolling of a
death knell. He awaited each new stroke with impatience and—he knew not why—apprehension. The intervals
of silence grew progressively longer; the delays became maddening. With their greater infrequency the sounds
increased in strength and sharpness. They hurt his ear like the thrust of a knife; he feared he would shriek.
What he heard was the ticking of his watch.

6 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.”

7 As these thoughts, which have here to be set down in words, were flashed into the doomed man's brain
rather than evolved from it the captain nodded to the sergeant. The sergeant stepped aside.

1 A private is someone serving in the military at the lowest rank.

2 Something described as “Federal” is related to a union's central government, as opposed to one of its
local governments.

3 A sergeant is someone in the military who serves in a position of authority. A sergeant is lower in rank
than a captain.

4 A captain is someone in the military who is in charge of carrying out certain tasks.

5 A sentinel is a guard.

6 An embrasure is an opening in a wall through which weapons are fired.

7 A lieutenant is someone in the military who serves in a position of authority. A lieutenant is lower in
rank than a captain and higher in rank than a sergeant.

Making Observations:
1. What is about to happen to the man who stands upon the railroad bridge?
The man on the railroad bridge is about to die

2. What do you know about the man, so far?

The man Is getting executed and he has a wife and kids, he is on a bridge and there are
soldiers around him
Returning to the Text: Return to the text as you respond to the following questions. Use evidence
from the text to support your responses. (Answers must be in CER format.)

1. From what he has seen, what does the man think of the mechanism by which he'll be hanged?
This man is getting hung off bridge. It says “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”

2. In paragraph 4, how does the narrator describe the stream? What does the man think about
the stream? What does this tell you about the man's state of mind?
In paragraph 4 it says “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!” and this says that the man is
analyzing everything and so that means he is a very stressed state of mind.

3. In paragraph 5, what specific things does the man remember about the river's water and banks
as he closes his eyes, and why do you think he notices these things?
In paragraph 5 the man thinks about how “The water, touched to gold by the early sun, the brooding
mists under the banks at some distance down the stream” he is thinking about something peaceful wich
means he is in a somewhat state of peace with his fate.

4. In paragraph 6, how do the man's surroundings inspire a plan for his survival?
In paragraph 6 the man thinks about how he could esacape, “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”

Appreciating the Author's Craft:

Before joining a group discussion, respond to the first question in one sentence. Start your sentence
with the word if.

1. How would the story be different if the man were blindfolded?

If the man were blindfolded, the story be different because he wouldn’t be able to analyze path to
escape and he wouldn’t know that he as on a bridge looking down into the water

2. How does the shift to the gaze upon the water affect the overall tone of the story in Part 1?
 The shirt of the gaze makes him a little more stressed because now he thinks he can escape
even thought he can’t.
Check Your Understanding: Think about the prediction you made in Activity 1.11. Then use the
following paragraph frame to revise your prediction, as needed, to reflect what you have learned so
far about the main character of “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge.”

the short story would be about the civil war because of the vocabulary words used. Based on what
I've learned about the main character of this story, I now think It is based on a war time because Of
the telling details in the story