“An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge”

1. what is the situation in the story? What did Farquhar do to deserve his execution?

2. Describe the various shifts in the story's point of view, particularly as indicated in paragraphs 5 and 37. How does Bierce make you aware of Farquhar's heightened consciousness?

3. According to Farquhar's perception of time, how long does it take him to get home after his escape (paragraph 33 and 36)?

4. What evidence can you find to indicate that Farquhar is experiencing great pain, despite his feelings that he is escaping?

5. What is the effect of the shift into the present tense in paragraph 36?

“The House on Mango Street”

1. Why is the speaker concerned with the nature of the house she has lived in? What feelings does she show about these houses?

2. Describe the house on Mango Street. How does the condition of this house and the other houses explain the economic circumstances of the speaker's family?

3. What is the speaker like as a character? how do you learn about her? How much do you learn?

“Luck”

1. Describe Twain's style a writer of narrative prose. What kinds of detail does he present? Does he give you enough detail about the battle during the Crimean War, for example, to justify an assertion that he describes action vividly? Or does he confine his detail to illuminate the life of Scoresby?

2. What elements in the story are amusing? How does the development of humor depend on Twain's arrangement of words?

3. Study the first paragraph. What does Twain intend after the " look, and look, and look" phrase? Why do you think he begins the story with such description, which might even be called heroic? Contrast this paragraph with paragraph 12, where the word blunder is repeated.

4. Who begins the story? Who finally tells it? How does the second narrator learn about Scoresby? How does he summarize Scoresby's career?

“The Story of an Hour”

1. What do you learn about Louise's husband? How has he justified her responses? How are your judgments about him controlled by the context of the story?

2. Analyze the tone of paragraph 5. How is the imagery here (and in the following paragraphs) appropriate for her developing mood?

3. What is the apparent attitude of the narrator toward he institutions marriage, and what elements of tone make this apparent?

4. What do Louise's sister and Richards have in common? How do their attitudes contribute to the irony of the story of the story?

5. Consider the tone of the last paragraph. What judgment is being made about how men view their importance to women?