Abstract The paper examines Ambrose Bierce's short story "An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge." The paper looks at the author's style of lyric realism and the use of irony. The paper reviews the main character and the plot.
From the Paper "Ambrose Bierce wrote "An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge" in order to crawl inside the minds of her audience and psychologically play with their brains just to find out what might happen at the other end. The detailed characterization of the unlucky protagonist, as well as the elegantly crafted style of the narrative work together produce the irony that so often characterizes Bierce's writing and causes us to marvel at its composition."
Abstract This paper explains that, in February of 1972, a dam built of coal waste refuse collapsed, unleashing a torrent of water and waste, sludge derived from coal-mining and coal-washing operations, killing 25 people and leaving the four thousand survivors homeless, their lives devastated, and their personal properties destroyed. The author recounts that Washington DC-based Arnold and Porter, for which Gerald Stern worked, took on the case; Stern's work as an advocate for disenfranchised minority citizens of the American Deep South made him an ideal and idealistic lawyer representing the survivors of the Buffalo Creek disaster. The paper relates the two main aspects to the Buffalo Creek Disaster lawsuit, which Stern won,: (1) The plaintiffs had to prove that Pittston was not simply careless or negligent, but was actually recklessly responsible for the disaster; and (2) Stern had to come up with monetary figures for his plaintiffs, assessing the damages due to them should the lawsuit be successful.
From the Paper "Following the disaster, which occurred in a section of rural Logan County, West Virginia, the coal company blamed nature, calling the dam failure an "act of God." This vague term was meant to assuage the survivors of the disaster and ease the pain of losing their loved ones and friends. However, the collapse of a waste water dam was obviously no "act of God" and it became apparent that the only way to prevent the coal company from getting away with their gross negligence was to sue and sue big. Stern had hoped to file criminal as well as civil charges against Pittston, the New York corporation that owned the Buffalo Mining Company. Although the Buffalo Mining Company was itself the owner of the dam, Stern reasoned that it would be far simpler and more effective to directly sue Pittston. Part of this decision was based on what Pittston describes as "piercing the corporate veil.""
Abstract On February 26, 1972, the coal waster dam at Buffalo Creek collapsed and flooded Logan County's communities with water, sludge, waste and rubble. More than 125 people were killed, 1000 were injured and 4000 left homeless. This paper focuses on this disaster which was not attributed to mother nature. The Buffalo Creek Disaster of 1972, in many circles within the Appalachian community, was considered to be the fault of a mining company. In contrast, the mining company's upper management claim that the dam breaking was an act of God. From an outside point of view, it is difficult to decide which is correct and this is what continues to create controversy. This paper looks at the disaster from many standpoints. First, this paper describes exactly what happened that fateful morning. It looks at different accounts and descriptions of the event. Second, this paper examines the existing trauma still evident among the disaster's survivors and also explores how this event has affected the coal mining industry from the worker's perspective. Third, this paper looks at the lawsuit that quickly followed as part of the aftermath. Finally, this paper attempts to determine who is to blame. The paper looks at steps that the coal-mining executives have taken to improve dam technology and other business practices that seem to incriminate.
Paper Outline:
Introduction
The Disaster
Survivors' Trauma and Long Term Affects
The Lawsuit
Who is to Blame?
Conclusion
Works Cited
From the Paper "The people of Buffalo Creek would like to see someone accountable for the disaster. Even before the collapse, many citizens had gone to Pittston to complain and display their concern over the dam's safety. Giardina writes, "residents of Buffalo Creek had repeatedly complained to the company that dam was unsafe but had received no response" (2). This would later become an issue as the settlement was being decided based on three out of five manifestations of survivor syndrome. The three being: death imprint, death guilt and psychic numbing."
Abstract This paper describes the battle of Wilson's Creek, which is often overlooked when recounting Civil War skirmishes. The writer includes a complete order of the battle and identifies several notables in this battle, among others - Brigadier General Nathaniel Lyon and Colonel Franz Sigel.
From the Paper "On the edge of the meadow"was a low rail fence; the Rebels rallied under the shelter of it, and, as if by some inspiration or immediate change of orders, they broke it down in places and started for our artillery. As they got nearer to us, their own artillery ceased firing, because it endangered them. When they got close the firing began on both sides. How long it lasted I do not know; it was probably 20 minutes. Every man was shooting as fast, on our side, as he could load, and yelling as loud as his breath would permit. Most were on the ground, some on one knee. The foe stopped advancing.?(Bearss, 109) That's the way it was on August 10, 1861, as seen through the eyes of a soldier from Kansas in Union service. The field of battle is silent now, broken only by the occasional tourist, school group, historian, or Civil War reenactment group camped on the site. Now administered by the National Park Service, the area known as Wilson's Creek National Battlefield was the site of some of the most savage fighting on American soil up to that time. The carnage of Shiloh, Antietam, Gettysburg, and Cold Harbor were still far in the future."
Tags: arkansas, bloody, civil, corn, field, hill, history, lyon, mcculloch, missouri, pea, pearce, price, ridge, rolla, sigel, war, wilson
This paper is a personal review of the popular television series ?Dawson Creek? and an essay that defines how the series has affected the author's life.
Abstract The author states that she is addicted to ?Dawson Creek?, but that her addiction has positive aspects because it has interested her in becoming a screen writer and into being serious about her studies. In addition to presenting an overview of the series, its characters and plots, the website is reviewed. The author warns not to dig too deeply into the story.
From the Paper "Perhaps, to me, the series is a little more than something to look forward to. I have begun to wonder if this source has subliminally crafted my personality and as well as my future. Earlier this month I had begun to show an interest in script writing. Dawson, like me, has left his home and friends, to become a filmmaker. He wants to be a film maker, and I am showing interest in script writing."
Abstract This paper presents a detailed discussion about the book "Sugar Creek: Life on the Illinois Prairie" and its main points. It also critiques a review of the book and presents several points that were lacking in the opinion of this paper's author.
This paper discusses Sandra Cisneros' collection of short stories "Woman Hollering Creek", which examines the lives of Mexican-American women on both sides of the border.
1,810 words (approx. 7.2 pages), 0 sources, $ 58.95
Abstract This paper explains that each story of Sandra Cisneros' "Woman Hollering Creek" is a lesson in introspection. By using an approach similar to Anton Chekhov, Cisneros uses reflection to create a better life for her double minority Hispanic women. The author points out that Cisneros blends realism and anti-realism throughout her writings, which is an affective approach to obtain an objective outlook. The paper relates that, by showing just what may be needed to endure and overcome thus creating a better life, Cisneros uses Hemingway's theme of endurance and, in a style similar to Franz Kafka's writings, uses negative aspects of her characters and their situations to remove this image from her readers.
From the Paper "Cisneros' story "Eleven" uses expression through anti-realism more than many of her other works. Using the idealism of an eleven year old child, she projects the childlike belief that life will flow smoothly and be nearly perfect when adulthood is obtained. The antithesis of this ideal belief is that circumstances and scenarios change but the same situations can and do arise in adulthood along with the same feelings of inadequacy experienced by a child. Cisneros uses age progression to relate the theme of her story in much the same way that Hemmingway used age digression in some of his writings. Telling the story of embarrassment from the point of view of a child is an effective way to gain sympathy for the character and identity for the reader. The setting of a classroom is an excellent symbol for American society. While school is supposed to be a great equalizer to children just as our contemporary society is viewed as a racial and gender equalizer, in actuality both fall far short."
Abstract Annie Dillard's Pulitzer Prize-winning book, A Pilgrim at Tinker's Creek, is set in Virginia's Blue Ridge Mountains. This paper examines chapter 3 which is entitled "Winter." Despite the chilling cold Annie Dillard must face in the mountains. It looks at how the chapter not only focuses on Dillard's struggle to survive the elements and the wilderness with few resources. It also discusses how chapter 3 also includes the author's perceptions of the local animal populations struggle to cope without the help of civilization's comforts and how she uses both literary metaphors and also facts about the animal world, gleaned from scientific as well as literary study.
From the Paper "Dillard notes that her attempts to survive alone, indoors, means she must "bloom" like a "forced forsythia," or like a delicate, fragrant, and hot house grown flower in all of its glory. Because she is exposed to warmth and sun artificially, against the nature of the climate, she is full of energy indoors, yet the outdoors strikes her carefully tended constitution as unduly harsh. This metaphor suggests that the winter is not keeping with the author's natural inkling for outdoors and warmth. (40) But still Dillard bears up. Thus, Dillard, by this metaphor, suggests she is a summer or spring person by nature who prefers to be free and unencumbered, but there is a incongruity between her inner nature, and the outer, winter nature of the harsh mountains."
Abstract This paper reviews and discusses Ambrose Bierce's " An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge". According to the paper, in the work Bierce takes his readers on an ironic journey through a brutal death and the possibilities of heaven and hell. The paper further reports that this horror story takes a poignant, ironic look of the process of death and possesses an eerie tone.
From the Paper "This story, a poignant, ironic look of the process of death, possesses an eerie tone, as well, as evidenced by its appearance as a Twilight Zone episode. I believe that Bierce created a horror story to impress his readers with the finality and futility of war and the gruesome misery it entails. Rather than simply write another war story, Bierce captivates his readers with a supernatural cliffhanger that shifts in and out of the realm of possibility and leaves us affected and caring about Peyton Farquhar."
Abstract The paper discusses the plot and the main character of Sandra Cisneros' book, "Woman Hollering Creek". The paper describes the life changes and revelations that the protagonist Cleofilas undergoes after she marries and moves far away from her home town only to find that she is all alone and her husband is abusive. The paper further explains how the story is partly akin to the life of the author herself and that because of this, Cisneros is able to provide a very clear view into the thoughts and motive of Cleofilas as well as provide a clear view into the disappointment of Cleofilas once she has become inundated with the reality of marriage versus the television novel fantasy that she has grown up believing in.
Outline:
Introduction
The Characters, The Plot, and The Theme
Changes and Realizations
Cisneros: Providing a Voice to the Dispossessed
Summary and Conclusion
From the Paper "Juan Pedro and Cleofilas live in Texas after their marriage and running behind their house is a creek, which has been named 'Hollering Woman Creek' although no one can quite recall why this name was given the creek. Juan Pedro beats on Cleofilas and suffers the beatings silently. After the beatings, Juan Pedro cries and Cleofilas comforts him. The town that the two live in is desolate and Cleofilas is sure that another woman had been in her home while she was gone to the hospital giving birth to their first child and yet, she still does not verbalize this belief and stays silent."
Tags: cultures, religion, gender, humiliation, experiential, frustration, rage, fantasy
Abstract The paper examines Sandra Cisneros' collection entitled "Woman Hollering Creek and Other Stories" that focuses on Cleofilas' story as a poor, young mother with an abusive husband and no family support. The paper describes how Cisneros uses the rosy expectations of a young girl married for life positioned against the also false expectations that life will be better in the promised land of the north. According to the paper, Cisneros tries to be true to her Mexican-American culture in her writing without excluding people who don't know the culture.
From the Paper "Woman Hollering Creek and other short stories is a collection of stories whose characters give a feminine voice to the vibrant and varied life on both side of the Mexican-American border. The women in these stories offer tales of childhood, family and change, filled with moments of startling insight and perception. The stories look into the cultural clash between man and woman, between the perceived hoped for life and the stark reality. "Woman Hollering Creek" is a coming of age story set in a sharp contrast between well loved daughter and beaten desolate wife, from friend and respected community member to alone and outcast. From expecting a knight in shining armor type of husband to finding strength in other women and one's self."
Abstract This paper discusses how Sandra Cisneros' stories look into the cultural clash between man and woman, between the perceived hoped for life and the stark reality. In particular, the paper looks at how "Woman Hollering Creek" is a coming of age story set in a sharp contrast between well loved daughter and beaten desolate wife, from friend and respected community member to alone and outcast. The paper also examines how the character Cleofilas comes to understand the disparity between what the telenovelas in Mexico had promised in her married life and the reality of poor immigrant life in the U.S.
From the Paper "Cisneros attempts not to portray characters as victims but to find a balance between the exposure of that victimization and the emphasis on the need for inner strength, and the capacity of women to attain that strength (Rimer, 1998). Cleofilas has come from a loving, sheltered environment in Mexico and has not been exposed to abuse. Like many domestic assault victims she initially justifies her husband's violent behavior, makes excuses and denies the reality. Finally she is forced to the realization, and motivated to seek safety for her children, by outside women. She begins to see a different way of acting and living in the world, a way in which women are empowered, have choices and make their own reality."
This paper discusses the use of irony to tell horrific stories in compelling ways in three stories: "A Good Man is Hard to Find" by Flannery O?Connor, "The Curse" by Andre Dubus and "An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge" by Ambrose Bierce.
1,045 words (approx. 4.2 pages), 3 sources, 2002, $ 36.95
Abstract This paper explains that in all three stories---?A Good Man is Hard to Find,? by Flannery O?Connor, ?The Curse,? by Andre Dubus and ?An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge,? by Ambrose Bierce---the authors' use of dramatic irony to force the reader's perspective into the minds of the protagonists, making the pain of what they experience surreally intense. The author believes that in these stories the irony can make us laugh, reveal truths that would otherwise be hard to express, or sharpen our focus on the absurdity of a situation. For example the paper explains that in "A Good Man is Hard to Find", the use of irony force's the reader's perspective to take in what the grandmother cannot ? the horror that is going to unfold, committed by men who gave no more thought to murdering children and old women than they would to catching a fish for dinner.
From the Paper "?An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge,? by Ambrose Bierce, tells the story of a man being hanged from an intensely personal viewpoint. Peyton Fahrquahar, southern gentleman and planter, is about to be hung by Union soldiers after he attempted to burn a bridge and so prevent their advance. As the author dryly notes, ?The liberal military code makes provision for hanging many kinds of persons, and gentlemen are not excluded..? As with the protagonists in the other two stories, Fahrquahar has played a part in his situation by not being alert enough, soon enough: when a man in a confederate suit comes to his gate to get a drink of water, he doesn?t realize he is a Union spy setting a trap for confederate collaborators."
Abstract This seven-page undergraduate paper presents the opposing arguments regarding the Red Hill Creek Expressway, and an analysis of those arguments. Hodge's three concepts are applied, and a recommendation is made to resolve the issue.
Abstract The stories, ?An Occurrence at Owl Creek? by Ambrose Bierce and "Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" by Mark Twain, are significant because they emphasize qualities of human nature. This paper discusses how, through his unique style and setting, each author reflects on social customs dealing with the issue of slavery. Through colorful characters and intense detail, Bierce and Twain display some of the most common characteristics of humanity. This paper examines the style, setting, and social and literary contest of each story.
From the Paper "The style of "An Occurrence at Owl Creek" is dramatic and very gripping. Bierce successfully engages us from the very beginning of the story with drama when we are told that a man is standing on a bridge "looking into the swift waters twenty feet below" (Bierce 92). Elaborate detail is Bierce's style and he successfully keeps us engaged until the end of the story. For example, when Farquhar is falling, he "awakens" to extreme pain in his neck. We are also told how "these feelings were unaccompanied by thought" (96) and the loud "plash" of hitting the water causes him to realize the rope has broken and he has fallen into the water. Farquhar's instinct to free himself and his ultimate success place us on the edge of our seats, hoping for his escape. Even as Farquhar raises to the surface of the water, his senses become "preternaturally keen and alert" (97). In Farquhar's dream, we too can see the individual trees and the ?veining of each leaf,? as well as the "insects upon them, the locusts, the brilliant-bodied flies" (97). With such attention to detail, Bierce is slowly pulling us into Farquhar's dream. The narrator's convincing interpretation of every moment convinces us that Farquhar has indeed fallen into the water. We are even convinced of Farquhar's escape by his mental faculties. For example, when Farquhar realizes that the scouts would not shoot at him again, they "will use the charge of a grape" instead. (98) Additionally, Bierce convinces us that Farquhar has reached land as he digs his fingers into the sand and blesses it. Bierce continues this dream by having Farquhar wonder through the woods with the thought of his wife and children urging him on. This is an excellent technique because we have no reason to suspect that what he is imagining is not happening."
