Ambrose Bierce did a great job by giving the reader enough information at the beginning so that the book wasn't dry. He also kept enough information unknown to urge the reader to continue reading. Bierce perfected this very attention-grabbing opening by stating "The liberal military code makes provision for hanging many kinds of persons, and gentlemen are not excluded". (1)
Saturday, March 11, 2017
What an Attention Grabbing Opening:
Ambrose Bierce did a great job by giving the reader enough information at the beginning so that the book wasn't dry. He also kept enough information unknown to urge the reader to continue reading. Bierce perfected this very attention-grabbing opening by stating "The liberal military code makes provision for hanging many kinds of persons, and gentlemen are not excluded". (1)
Ambrose Bierce did a great job by giving the reader enough information at the beginning so that the book wasn't dry. He also kept enough information unknown to urge the reader to continue reading. Bierce perfected this very attention-grabbing opening by stating "The liberal military code makes provision for hanging many kinds of persons, and gentlemen are not excluded". (1)
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I really liked the way Ambrose Bierce wrote the short story! The beginning is great, like you said, but I also think that the end is very good; it makes the reader stop and think back over the whole book when you realize what really happened.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you, I thought this story was very interesting, and I didn't stop reading once throughout it. This is probably one of my favorite stories that we've read so far. I really like the twist ending.
ReplyDeleteAgreed! I saw the ending coming, but i had unintentional hints from my mom. Did you predict the end?
DeleteAgreed! I saw the ending coming, but i had unintentional hints from my mom. Did you predict the end?
DeleteI did not see the ending coming. It was very surprising and abrupt, even though there were hints dropped near the end when things started to seem strange. I listened to the audiobook, so I couldn't accidentally look ahead and spoil it for myself.
DeleteJosh - I am curious if you like that quote only because it is a good attention grabber or is there another reason? And I'm curious if you were surprised by the ending?
ReplyDeleteI loved the quote because it made you think about whether Peyton was truly guilty or not. I was surprised by the ending but the mystery of it all at the beginning was something new and unique to me.
DeleteIs there really a reason for why Peyton got hung? Did he try to sabotage the bridge? Or was he tricked by the soldier to come to the bridge so they could kill him? I know that Peyton was on the South's side and maybe that was enough to make the Union want to kill him. That quote does make you wonder if Peyton was guilty and if so what he was guilty of.
DeleteSarah - I think that he was sabotaging the bridge (which gives them a valid reason to hang him.) Below is a quote from the book when Peyton was talking to the soldier
Delete"Suppose a man -- a civilian and student of hanging -- should elude the picket post and perhaps get the better of the sentinel," said Fahrquhar, smiling, "what could he accomplish?"
The soldier reflected. "I was there a month ago," he replied. "I observed that the flood of last winter had lodged a great quantity of driftwood against the wooden pier at this end of the bridge. It is now dry and would burn like tinder."
The end gives us the biggest hint saying that the bridge would burn like tinder. Why would you say that if you weren't meaning to burn the bridge down.
I think this book was very well written and I enjoyed it thoroughly. Ambrose Bierce did a good job keeping his readers engaged throughout the entire story.
ReplyDeleteI really loved the opener too! Throughout the whole book, Bierce presents tough subjects in dry, lazy manner. I think this is an excellent way of getting points across.
ReplyDelete