Throughout literary history, one of the most amazing mysteries that still lingers in great literary minds today is about Ambrose Gwinett Bierce. He disappeared in the early 1900s never to be found again. He is remarkably remembered by his literary works of sarcasm and illusion. Throught his lasting life he wrote many fascinating short stories that reflected his experiences during his time as a soldier in combat during the American Civil War. His two most famous works being “Killed at Resaca” and “An Occurrence at Owl Creek”. Through the use of war-like scenarios, sarcasm and the use of personification, Ambrose Bierce implies them all in his two most famous short stories of his time. “ Killed At Resaca and “An Occurrence At Owl Creek”. Ambrose
The inimitable novel “A Confederacy of Dunces” written by author John Kennedy Toole was not even published until after his suicide. The story in the pages of this novel reveals a hilarious, funny, sidesplitting, yet brilliantly crafted fictional masterpiece. The picaresque novel focuses on the life of the main character Ignatius J. Reilly. The character of Ignatius is a protagonist against the modern age. In his writing Toole saturates the narrative of the novel with an absurd sense of humor that stimulates both laughter and sympathy from readers. With his unique writing style Toole seamlessly combines, symbolism, sadness and humor in a literary
Ambrose has shown his great admiration for his country, reflecting upon his views for America and writing what he has done to help benefit this country, such as his D-day Museum. He visibly shows his patriotism and his fascination for military history as he recounts stories of World War 2 and the War of 1812 and speaks highly of countries achievements of helping rebuild Europe after the war and gaining independence for colonies held by Japan during the war. He uses imagery, contrasting ideas, and quotes from other historians or Americans to back up his messages he tries to convey to his readers. His background also influenced him very heavily in his writing as well and was what encouraged him to keep on writing to the very end.
McQuade, Donald, ed. The Harper American Literature. Harper & Row Publishers: New York, 1987, pp. 1308-1311. This paper is the property of NetEssays.Net Copyright © 1999-2002
Updike, John. “A&P”. The Norton Anthology of Short Fiction. Eds. R.V. Cassill and Richard Bausch. Shorter Sixth Edition. New York: W.W. Norton and Company, 2000. 864 - 869.
Bierce is most known for his short stories “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge” and “Chickamauga.” Even though he did not have that many short stories, he was still a well-known, influential writer. The public loved him; and was very interested by his stories, his personality, his life, and even his death. In 1913 Bierce disappeared over the Mexican border and still, until this day, no one has documented proof on exactly how, when, or where Ambrose Gwinnett Bierce died.
Franklin, Gura, Klinkowitz, Krupat, Levine, Loeffelholz, Reesman, Wallace. The Norton Anthology of American Literature Seventh Edition Volume A. New York : W.W. Norton & Company, Inc. , 2007.
Murphy, B. & Shirley J. The Literary Encyclopedia. [nl], August 31, 2004. Available at: http://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=2326. Access on: 22 Aug 2010.
In Bierce’s “One of the Missing”, the protagonist, Jerome Searing, is expose to fear when he is trap under a building that has collapse on him. His evolution, from perfectly sane to completely crazy, is clearly visible.
Experience is the hidden inspiration in all of literature. Every letter, word, and sentence formed, every plot imagined, and every conflict conceived has a trace amount of its creator’s past ingrained within it. But most of all, authors reflect themselves in the characters they create. The protagonist of any story embodies certain traits and qualities of his or her creator; the virtues and vices, ambitions and failures, strengths and weaknesses of an author are integral parts of their characters lives. When authors’ experiences differ, so do their characters, as seen with Welty and King. Both authors had distinct upbringings, each with their own forms of hardship. The contrasting nature of these authors’ struggles is why their characters are the antithetical. As a result of these
In the fictional short story of “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge,” the author Ambrose Bierce does a superior job of making the mind of a reader wonder. Throughout the story, the reader is able to watch and experience the hanging of a local plantation owner Peyton Farquhar. The story contains three parts that show the present, a flash back to the past, and into an altered reality of Farquhar’s “getaway.” The story of “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge” demonstrates the theme of how the nature of time is free-flowing. Bierce uses three elements of fiction to successfully support the story in its free flow of time. Ambrose Bierce uses the setting, point of view, and plot structure to help organize the theme and the story’s unique elements.
The Horsemen in the Sky by Ambrose Bierce Works Cited Missing "The Horseman in the Sky" by Ambrose Bierce has many meanings in the
M.H. Abrams et al, eds. The Norton Anthology of English Literature, 7th ed. NY: Norton, 2000. Pgs. 2092-2120.
Hopkins, Ernest Jerome. The complete Short Stories of Ambrose Bierce. Nebraska: University of Nebraska, 1970. 305-319. Print.
Lye, John. The ‘Death of the Author’ as an instance of theory. Brocku.ca. Department of English Language and Literature, April 30, 2008. Web. Feb 14. 2011.
Poe, E. (2011). The Masque of the Red Death. In Literature: An Introduction to Reading and Writing (pp. 233-237). Upper Saddle River: Pearson College Div.