Four Great American Authors

Paper Summary:

This paper explains the content and style of Carl Sandburg's poem, "Prairie Waters at Night"; Ambrose Bierce's short story, "Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge"; Steven Crane's novel, "The Red Badge of Courage;" and Arthur Miller's play, "Death of a Salesman". The author points out that Carl Sandburg's poem, "Prairie Waters at Night," emphasizes the theme of the tranquility of waters at night by using repetition, alliteration, and sentence length to convey the sensations of a calming night by the water through sound. The paper relates that the works by Ambrose Bierce and Stephen Crane demonstrate the use of strong narrative; whereas, in Arthur Miller's play, "Death of a Salesman", the Requiem offers incredible ironies.

Table of Contents
Carl Sandburg's Poem, "Prairie Waters at Night"
Ambrose Bierce's Short Story, "An Occurrence at Owl Creek"
Steven Crane's Novel, "The Red Badge of Courage"
Arthur Miller's Play, "Death of a Salesman"

From the Paper:

"Alliteration is also a technique that Sandburg utilizes successfully in this poem. The sound of the letter "l" is particularly effective in that it has a hypnotic quality about it. In the words willows, and laughter, we get a feeling of relaxation and ease associated with this scene. The vowel sound in the words long and drowse are also a form alliteration that forces to read the poem slowly. Another technique of sound that the poet uses is long sentences and line lengths. In this way, he forces us to read the sentences slowly, which reinforces the slow, tranquil mood he is trying to convey."

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