Do you think "An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge" is an example of realism, even though Bierce employs romantic techniques in the story? Support your answer with evidence from the text.

Yes, "An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge" is an example of realism, even though Bierce employs romantic techniques in the story.

Explanation:

Romanticism had among its characteristics the glorification of war and heroism. At first, that seems to be what Ambrose Bierce will do in his short story "An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge". The main character, Peyton Farquhar, is tricked into trying to burn a bridge that would allow Union soldiers to cross. Farquhar is a Confederacy supporter. He ends up being caught as a traitor and, when he is about to be hanged, he escapes. So far, Romanticism has prevailed.

However, Bierce is only deceiving readers. We are led to believe Farquhar has escaped, that the noose broke, and he found himself swimming in the creek, dodging bullets, free to return home. We are soon disappointed, however, as it is revealed that it was all his imagination - or even a hallucination - in the brief moments it took Farquhar to die. The ending of the story is based on Realism. Far from being romanticized, it describes how horrid and gruesome death and war are, and how heroism is not always rewarded:

Peyton Farquhar was dead; his body, with a broken neck, swung gently from side to side beneath the timbers of the Owl Creek bridge.

1. read the following excerpt from franklin d. roosevelt's "fireside chat 19":

on the other side of the picture, we must learn also to know that guerilla warfare against the germans in, let us say serbia or norway, us; that a successful russian offensive against the germans us; and that british successes on land or sea in any part of the world strengthen our hands.

remember always that germany and italy, regardless of any formal declaration of war, consider themselves at war with the united states at this moment just as much as they consider themselves at war with britain or russia. and germany puts all the other republics of the americas into the same category of enemies. the people of our sister republics of this hemisphere can be honored by that fact.  

the true goal we seek is far above and beyond the ugly field of battle. when we resort to force, as now we must, we are determined that this force shall be directed toward ultimate good as well as against immediate evil. we americans are not destroyers — we are builders.

analyze the effectiveness of this excerpt. how does it function within the speech as a whole? how does the structure of the excerpt to convey the speech's purpose and key points? support your argument with evidence from the speech. (10 points)