Mr Josh Cauhorn / English 11 Honors 1

Unit: Realism
Lesson: 4 – POV and Bierce’s “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge”
Length: ~44 mins

IDOE Standards Covered

Standard 3: READING: Comprehension and Analysis of Literary Text
Students read and respond to grade-level appropriate historically or culturally significant
works of literature that reflect and enhance their study of history and social science.

11.3.2 Analyze the way in which the theme or meaning of a selection represents a view
or comment on life, using textual evidence to support the claim.
11.3.5 Analyze or evaluate works of literary or cultural significance in history (American,
English, or world) that:
• reflect a variety of genres in each of the respective historical periods.
• were written by important authors in the respective major historical periods.
• reveal contrasts in major themes, styles, and trends.
• reflect or shed light on the seminal philosophical, religious, social, political, or
ethical ideas of their time.

Objectives
At the end of this lesson, the student will be able to:
1. Explain the main idea of the American Realism movement. (11.3.5, 11.3.2)
1.1 Connect “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge” to the Realism movement.
1.2 Explain how Bierce’s use of Point of View enhances the story by building
anticipation in the reader.
2. Explain the literary term point of view. (11.3.5)
2.1 Analyze different forms of point of view and their applicability to literature.

Procedure

Preparation

-Secure Season 1 of the ABC show Lost

-On the board, write the following: “Think of a movie that you have seen recently. Take a
second and think about: Who did the camera follow most of the time? Was there a
narrator? How did these things contribute to the story of the movie? Write down two or
three sentences of your thoughts.”
-Pass out notes sheets for this lesson

0-10 mins / Introduction and Anticipatory Set

Have students do the pre-class writing on the board as they shuffle in. Give about 5
minutes at the beginning of class for them to think hard on this and get it done. Discuss
the answers they wrote down, and allow multiple ideas to enter the discussion.
Key Points to hit in discussion:
• The camera can be thought of as the author. It is showing you the story.
 • Who is follows, and what it shows you, is the Point of View.
• This Point of View is very important. What it shows you, and what it hides from
you, can build anticipation or ruin the story and collapse the plot.

10-25 min / Connect to Lost

“I am going to show you a clip now from the most awesome TV show ever, Lost. In this
episode, we are going to watch Kate, who is the girl with brown hair, and follow her
character. As we watch, try to figure out what is going on. Analyze what the writers are
revealing and when they are revealing it. We’ll talk about the effectiveness of timing
after the clips.”

Show episode: “Whatever the Case May Be” from Disc 3, Season 1 of Lost
“Before we start, let me set up the background of what is going to happen. Kate and
Sawyer are survivors of a plane crash on a seemingly deserted island in the Pacific.
While Kate and Sawyer are exploring the jungle, they stumble upon a hard-sided metal
case. Sawyer is kind of a belligerent guy and takes the case from Kate. They have
fought over it for a while, and that’s where we start.”

Begin at 18:40, end at 20:52

“The viewer is now thinking, ‘Why does Kate want the case so badly? What is in it?’
After this scene, there is a flashback to a bank robbery, where Kate is a bank customer
caught in the middle. We’ll resume here.”

Begin at 20:12, end at 20:52

“The writers of the show have now revealed something else. Kate is actually part of the
group robbing the bank, and she kinda likes one of the robber guys. Keep in mind that
the writers revealed this halfway through the episode.”

Begin at 22:30, end at 24:14

“Now we find out just how much Kate wants into the briefcase…enough to dig up a
grave! Between these scenes, there is another scene back at the bank. In this scene,
which I’m not going to show you for time’s sake, Kate betrays the robbery team and
actually shoots the guy she kissed in the leg. She then gets in a safety deposit box and
takes out an envelope, the same envelope you’re about to see.”

Begin at 35:05, end at 37:39

“Now we know a lot more. First, she killed someone she really cared for; maybe the guy
from the robbery, maybe not. Second, she feels really bad about it.”

Ask questions and discuss

-What kind of point of view is this? (Third person limited)

-What are the advantages/disadvantages to this? (get to see things from different
perspectives, no thoughts thought)
-How is anticipation built throughout this episode?

25-40 min / Analyze “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge”

 Mr Josh Cauhorn / English 11 Honors 3

“The reading for today, “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge,” uses point of view very
well to create the story. Let’s go through the story together.”

Go through the text using the following notes, have students fill out accompanying
graphic organizer:

Bierce’s Background (On PowerPoint):

• Poor, intensely religious. Born and lived in Indiana. After the Civil War starts,
idealistically and enthusiastically joins.
• Nearly died from a head wound.
• Really wanted to be a writer, moved to San Francisco, which, at the time, was the
Western center of writing in the US.
• Wrote realistically, compared to Poe. Very morbid. Known for bringing out the
nasty part of San Francisco’s political word. Had a skull on his desk; told people
it was one of his critic’s.
• Went to Mexico to report on a rebellion. Was never seen again, no trace of him
ever found.

582 – What devices does Bierce use to introduce the story, to “paint the picture?”
As students work through introduction, have a student who enjoys drawing to actually
draw the beginning scene out on the board.

585 – POV change, helper B – What indicates this change? Why would the writer do
that?

586 – II…this is played out like a movie, there are flashbacks. Switch back to omniscient
at end of II. The reader knows things the main character does not—what are
benefits/results of this for the quality of the story?

588 – He has no power to think. Bracketed paragraph – great descriptive writing.

40-44 mins / Closure/Assign journal writing

“How is Bierce’s story similar to the Lost episode we just watched? In what ways were
the ways that the writers of Lost used POV similar or different to the ways that Bierce
used POV?

For your journal writing, answer the following question: ‘How is the plot of “An
Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge” a great example of the spirit of Realism? What makes
the story so lifelike?”

Materials Needed

-PowerPoint and projector: documents/english 11 h/realism/ambrose-bierce.pptx

-Graphic Oranizer: documents/english 11 h/realism/bierce notes sheet.docx
-Lost Season 1, Disc 3—episode ripped onto computer

Formative Assessment
The Graphic Organizers will provide proof that the kids were paying attention. The
discussion for this lesson should also be quite enlightening.

Learning Styles

• visual/spatial (Graphic Organizer)

• verbal/linguistic (discussion)
• interpersonal (discussion)
• intrapersonal (journal writing)

Accommodations

None, as these are advanced students.

Resources

ABC’s Lost