Week3

An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge

           "An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge" or "A Dead Man's Dream" is a short story by American author Ambrose Bierce. Originally published by The San Francisco Examiner on July 13, 1890, it was first collected in Bierce's 1891 book Tales of Soldiers and Civilians. The story, which is set during the Civil War, is famous for its irregular time sequence and twist ending. Bierce's abandonment of strict linear narration in favor of the internal mind of the protagonist is considered an early example of experimentation with stream of consciousness. It is Bierce's most anthologized story.

Plot summary

             Peyton Farquhar, a plantation owner in his mid-thirties, is being prepared for execution by hanging from an Alabama railroad bridge during the American Civil War. Six military men and a company of infantrymen are present, guarding the bridge and carrying out the sentence. Farquhar thinks of his wife and children and is then distracted by a noise that, to him, sounds like an unbearably loud clanging; it is actually the ticking of his watch. He considers the possibility of jumping off the bridge and swimming to safety if he can free his tied hands, but the soldiers drop him from the bridge before he can act on the idea.

              In a flashback, Farquhar and his wife are relaxing at home one evening when a soldier rides up to the gate. Farquhar, a supporter of the Confederacy, learns from him that Union troops have seized the Owl Creek railroad bridge and repaired it. The soldier suggests that Farquhar might be able to burn the bridge down if he can slip past its guards. He then leaves, but doubles back after nightfall to return north the way he came. The soldier is actually a disguised Union scout who has lured Farquhar into a trap, as any civilian caught interfering with the railroads will be hanged.

              The story returns to the present, and the rope around Farquhar's neck breaks when he falls from the bridge into the creek. He frees his hands, pulls the noose away, and surfaces to begin his escape. His senses now greatly sharpened, he dives and swims downstream to avoid rifle and cannon fire. Once he is out of range, he leaves the creek to begin the journey to his home, 30 miles away. Farquhar walks all day long through a seemingly endless forest, and that night he begins to hallucinate, seeing strange constellations and hearing whispered voices in an unknown language. He travels on, urged by the thought of his wife and children despite the pains caused by his ordeal. The next morning, after having apparently fallen asleep while walking, he finds himself at the gate to his plantation. He rushes to embrace his wife, but before he can do so, he feels a heavy blow upon the back of his neck; there is a loud noise and a flash of white, and everything goes black.

               It is revealed that Farquhar never escaped at all; he imagined the entire third part of the story during the time between falling through the bridge and the noose breaking his neck.

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Week2

The Boarded Window

                  "The Boarded Window: An Incident in the Life of an Ohio Pioneer" is a short story by Ambrose Bierce. It was first published in The San Francisco Examiner on April 12, 1891 and was reprinted the same year in Bierce's collection Tales of Soldiers and Civilians. The setting for the story is that part of Ohio where Bierce's family lived until 1846.

Plot summary

          The story tells of a man named Murlock who lived alone in his cabin and was found dead one day. He was buried near the cabin next to his wife. The narrator tells the reader that this is all the known facts of the story, but there are some whispers about what had happened.

In 1820, Murlock had returned from hunting to find his wife in dire fits that eventually caused her to die. There was no means of saving her and thus, he found himself alone with her dead body. Later on, with her dead in the room, he fell asleep. At that moment came in through the open window a long, wailing sound like the cry of a lost child in the far deeps of the darkening wood! But the man did not move. Again, and nearer than before, sounded that unearthly cry upon his failing sense. Perhaps it was a wild beast; perhaps it was a dream. For Murlock was asleep.

When he awoke there was some other presence in the room and he could feel it. The table shakes and there is movement but in the dark it is hard to discern. He fires his rifle to see what is going on and witnesses a panther dragging his wife by the neck. Upon examining the wife's corpse, Murlock sees that there is part of the panther's ear in between her teeth.   The clothing was ruined. The long hair was in disorder. The arms and legs lay in a careless way. And a pool of blood flowed from the horribly torn throat. The ribbon he had used to tie the wrists was broken. The hands were tightly closed.

And between the teeth was a piece of the animal's ear.

        "The Boarded Window" was written by Ambrose Bierce. It was adapted for Special English by Lawan Davis who was also the producer. The storyteller was Shep O'Neal.

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The Gift Of Magi

This store is about a young couple, Della and Jim.
Della the wife were looking for a Christmas' gift for her husband, Jim, but she didn't have enough money to buy the gift that she wanted to give her husband, something fine and rare. Then she found a way to earn money, That was sold her beautiful long brown hair. her hair was so beautiful so she could afford something nice for her husband after she sold it. With out hesitated, she sold her hair and held the money looked around all stores to fine the gift and finally, she found a silver chain for her husband, which is perfectly suitable for his gold watch.
Then Della went back to home, Waited for her husband. After Jim went into the house, he was shocked about what he saw, his wife's beautiful hair was gone! And he had bought beautiful combs for his wife. Della also been frightened by those gifts, but soon she calmed down and comforted her husband. She took out her gift for Jim but he dramatic thing is, her husband sold his gold watch for bought her the gifts!
The reason why "The Gift Of Magi" is the title of this story is, the author want to use the name of Magi ---- a wise man---- to tell people be wise when they are doing something. But I think this story is actually a warm story. Even though our young couple lost their important things, they still found out the people who can give up something important for them. I can imagine how happy they would be after the Christmas. Therefor, I'm quiet like this story after all.

A Horseman in the Sky

            "A Horseman in the Sky" is a heavily anthologized short story by Ambrose Bierce. It was published on April 14, 1889 under the title The Horseman in the Sky in the Sunday edition of The Examiner, a San Francisco periodical owned by William Randolph Hearst.^[1] It is set during the American Civil War and is one of Bierce's best known war stories. Bierce had the story revised for an 1892 edition of his works.

Plot summary

             A soldier lies on the ground on the lookout for the terrain and any potential enemy soldiers that might arrive. He falls asleep but luckily is not discovered by his sergeant as it would mean his death. When he awakes, he sees a man standing on a ledge on a horse who is of the Confederacy. He contemplates to shoot the man but finds himself morally challenged. In the end, he shoots the horse. Both the man and his horse leap off the ledge.

             An officer who happens to be in the forest under the ledge looks up and sees a man on a horse, seemingly running through the sky. It shocks him and he all but passes out. When he recovers he goes searching for the man but does not find man or horse. When he returns to camp, he says nothing. Meanwhile, a superior comes up to the soldier to ask what he's seen and the soldier tells him that he shot at a horse in order to kill the man. When asked to identify the man, he explains the man was his father and a Confederate soldier.

             Perhaps he was only admiring the view. Perhaps he would now turn and ride carelessly away.

Then Carter looked down into the valley so far below. He saw a line of men in blue uniforms and their horses, slowly leaving the protection of the forest. A foolish Union officer had permitted his soldiers to bring their horses to drink at a small stream near the forest. And there they were -- in plain sight!

Carter Druse looked back to the man and horse standing there against the sky. Again he took aim. But this time he pointed his gun at the horse. Words rang in his head -- the last words his father ever spoke to him: "No matter what happens, be sure you always do what you think is your duty."

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Summary of The Devil and Tom Walker by Washington Irving.

A long time ago the most famous men in the world was Captain William Kidd. He was a pirate and he sailed the seas, capturing any ships he found. He stole a lot of money from these ships and became a very rich man. Before being executed in 1701, Captain Kidd hid his treasure in several places and people all over the world searched in many places for his stolen money. Some people believe that a part of his treasure is near Boston and is protected by the devil himself, who was a good friend of Captain Kidd. In 1727, a man named Tom Walker lived near this place.Tom and his wife were very bad people. The only thing they loved in this word was money. Someday, Tom was returning home through a dark forest when he sat down on a tree that had fallen when he found a human skull and someone shouted: "Don't touch that skull!". So, Tom saw a giant sitting on a broken tree. He wore the clothes of an Indian. His skin was almost black and covered with ashes. His eyes were big and red. His black hair stood up from his head. He carried a large ax. After a short conversation, Tom realized that the great giant was the Devil himself. The giant said Captain Kidd had buried great treasures under the trees, but nobody could have them unless the giant permitted it, but Tom could have these treasures if he agreed to give the giant what he demanded. What Happens from there? You have to figure out for yourself. Would you do anything for money? Would you be able to sell your soul to the Devil?. Find out what Tom did and how this exciting story ends!  

summarizing of "The Story of an Eyewitness"

It is real story in April 18th, 1906. Alll of the disappeared by thirty seconds of movement by the earth. San Francisco suffered a huge earthquake. Everything is gone: San Francisco, industrial area, business area, social and living areas, factories, etc. The earthquake began a huge fire. And the fire had broken everything once again. The heated air made a huge wind that pulled air into the fire, rising into the atmosphere and the wind was often as strong as a storm. Few day later, yet there was a change. A rain of ashes was falling. The human nothing could be done. Nothing could be saved. The surrender was complete. This part of the city was already a waste of smoking ruins. In the end, the fire went out by itself because there was nothing left to burn.

After everything was done, everyone started moving for people in San Francisco and again build a beautiful city.

A Princess of Mars , Part 1

                   The character name is John Carter . He is from the state of Virginia . He is an old man and he is always thinking a man about thirty . he is wondering about his age and ask himself about who have died two times and he still alive . He found himself  homeless , without money and without work . He decided a plan to search for gold in the deserts of the American Southwest . He spent a whole year searching for gold with another former soldier, Captain James Powell, and he is also of Virginia . They were lucky because they found rocks that held gold .  James Powell said they had uncovered more then million dollars worth of gold in few months.  But the work was so difficult  with two men and some tools . Then they decided Powell must go to the nearest settlement to meet equipment and men to help them with the work . Then, Powell rode his horse down the mountain and John followed his progress for several hours. He was surprised to see three riders in the same place where he had last seen his friend . in a moment , he heard shots far ahead of him . He came to a small camp. A hundred Apache Indians were the camp and began shooting . He forced his horse into the camp and he reached down and pulled him up on the horse by his belt until he came to the mouth of a large cave and  Powell was dead . He found a safe place in the cave to sleep, But one of the Indians came and looked to him and John couldn't move because he was afraid and do nothing, Then he felt sleep . Next day he found himself  lying on a bed of yellow colored grass in Mars . He found that he must learn to walk again . Near him was a small wall and he made his way to the wall and looked over the wall . It was eggs, some green creatures were in them . They looked at me with red eyes, And they had come without warning . He saw them and One was coming to him with a huge spear, with a knife  pointed at his heart!