The Elements of Literature in Ambrose Bierces An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge

We will be analyzing each of these in the short story, An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge. Click here to read the story before learning about the different elements!

CharacterPoint of ViewSettingPlotThemeTone

What are the elements of literature?Feeling confident? Test your knowledge here!

Character is somebody or something that takes part in the action of the literary work.

Name some characters from the short story. How would you describe some of them?Character

Point of View is the perspective, or vantage point, from which a story is told. It is the relationship of the narrator to the story.First-person is told by a character who uses the first-person pronoun I.Third-person limited point of view is the point of view where the narrator uses third-person pronouns such as he and she to refer to the characters.

What point of view is the story told from?Point of View

The setting of a literary work is the time and place of the action. The setting includes all the details of a place and time the year, the time of day, even the weather. The place may be a specific country, state, region, community, neighborhood, building, institution, or home. Details such as dialect, clothing, customs, and modes of transportation are often used to establish setting. In most stories, the setting serves as a backdrop a context in which the characters interact. The setting of a story often helps to create a particular mood, or feeling.

Is there more than one setting in the short story? What are they?Setting

Plot is the sequence of events. The first event causes the second, the second causes the third, and so forth. In most novels, dramas, short stories, and narrative poems, the plot involves both characters and a central conflict. The plot usually begins with an exposition that introduces the setting, the characters, and the basic situation. This is introduced and developed. The conflict then increases until it reaches a high point of interest or suspense, the climax. The climax is followed by the falling action, or end, of the central conflict.

What is the central conflict of the short story? How is it resolved?Plot

The theme of a literary work is its central message, concern, or purpose. A theme can usually be expressed as a generalization, or general statement, about people or life. The theme may be stated directly by the writer although it is more often presented indirectly. When the theme is stated indirectly, the reader must figure out the theme by looking carefully at what the work reveals about the people or about life.

What do you think the central theme of the story is?Theme

Tone is a reflection of a writers or speakers attitude toward a subject of a poem, story, or other literary work. Tone may be communicated through words and details that express particular emotions and that evoke and emotional response from the reader. For example, word choice or phrasing may seem to convey respect, anger, lightheartedness, or sarcasm.

How would you describe the overall tone of the short story? Does it shift at some points?Tone

Peyton Farquhar was a well-to-do planter, of an old and highly respected Alabama family. Being a slave owner and like other slave owners a politician he was naturally an original secessionist and ardently devoted to the Southern cause...

Tone

Setting

Theme

CharacterWhat element is being discussed in that selection?

The selection outlines Peytons character as a white, Southern slave owner in the Civil War, which may or may not have significance in the later parts of the story.Correct!

The selection also somewhat outlines the setting of the story, but there is something that is more relevant here.Could be! Good guess!

Tone is described as being the attitude of the speaker.Can you point out a selection in the story that could contain hints of its tone?Try again!

While the Civil War as a theme is very interesting, there are other elements at play here.In fact, the Civil War isnt really the most important theme in this story. Can you figure out what is more important than the historical context?Try again!

Definitions: http://www.clintweb.net/ctw/littermsppt.ppt

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