JOB # 2 THINKING QUESTION

Bierce is definitely sending a message to the reader about his feelings concerning the war & his feelings about the military. He does this through his descriptions, certain plot elements, & statements in the story.


Can you tell what Bierce's attitudes are by reading this short story? How do you think Bierce feels about the military & the war?

JOB # 1 LINE ILLUMINATOR

"Farquhar dived—dived as deeply as he could. The water roared in his ears like the voice of Niagara, yet he heard the dull thunder of the volley and, rising again toward the surface, met shining bits of metal, singularly flattened, oscillating slowly downward. Some of them touched him on the face and hands, then fell away, continuing their descent. One lodged between his collar and neck; it was uncomfortably warm and he snatched it out.

As he rose to the surface, gasping for breath, he saw that he had been a long time under water; he was perceptibly farther downstream—nearer to safety. The soldiers had almost finished reloading; the metal ramrods flashed all at once in the sunshine as they were drawn from the barrels, turned in the air, and thrust into their sockets. The two sentinels fired again, independently and ineffectually."

Chapter 3

I want everyone to think about possible hints Bierce gives us in this passage that COULD prepare us for the ending IF we are paying attention!

In this passage, we are plunged into Bierce's description of Farquhar's initial escape - was he saved by the breaking of the noose & the plunge underneath the water? - And now we see a plunge beneath the water saving him once again. Farquhar seems to miraculously evade death over & over again. He escapes harm from bullets in this passage & later manages to escape cannon fire, which seems rather unrealistic to me. WHAT DO YOU THINK?

Did anyone notice that the speed of the bullets slows and that the shape of the metal changes? The bullets are now flattened. Instead of hitting Farquhar with force, the bullets seem to be almost a soft caress. Are these clues for the discerning reader? Are these things describing more distortions of Farquhar's reality?

It IS true that the speed of a bullet slows when hitting water because water is more dense than air. Did you know that a replica Civil War rifle fired into water is fatal at a depth of 2 feet but not at 5 feet? How deep did Farquhar supposedly dive? We don't know, but it seems to me the description of the bullets could be one more hint that Farquhar is living a fantasy rather than experiencing reality at this point.

LITERATURE CIRCLES

GROUP #1

Madi***

Ben

Jade***

Cody

Emily

GROUP #2

Carli***

Jonathan

Ryan***

Hannah H.

Terren

GROUP #3

Isaac***

Kayla

Sarah 

Forrest

Josh

GROUP #4

Hannah R.***

Callie

John***

Tate

Misha

GROUP #5

Ian***

Anne

Selah

Nolan

Bethany

THE QUOTABLE AMBROSE BIERCE!

Ambrose Gwinnett Bierce

June 24, 1842 - ??? 1914