Homework #3 The Final Blow

Washington Irving (April 3, 1783 – November 28, 1859) wrote the story "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" and Ambrose Bierce (June 24, 1842– circa 1914) wrote the story "An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge". Both of these authors wrote literature classics in the form of short stories. These men were alive at the same time, though there isn't any positive proof (to my knowledge) that they met. Both men, in their literature works mentioned above, had an aspect of their story that was related to war. Irving's headless horseman was an unburied soldier from the revolutionary war, where in Bierce's Owl Creek Bridge story, the "occurrence" is based around a hanging that was conducted because of a war-time crime; the attempted sabotage of a bridge.
Irving and Bierce had very different view points on war. Bierce had a military career as part of the Union Army during the Civil War. Irving never went to war. The two authors wrote very different genre's of literature. Though both wrote short stories, Irving wrote gothic satire, where Bierce wrote fictional reality. The two men wrote at different times in history making me assume that Irving's writings were what the culture wanted during his golden time, and that Bierce's writings were what the culture wanted during the time of his writings.
What are your thoughts?

Homework #2

"To die of hanging at the bottom of a river!--the idea seemed to him ludicrous. He opened his eyes in the darkness and saw above him a gleam of light, but how distant, how inaccessible! He was still sinking, for the light became fainter and fainter until it was a mere glimmer. Then it began to grow and brighten, and he knew that he was rising toward the surface--knew it with reluctance, for he was now very comfortable. "To be hanged and drowned," he thought? "that is not so bad; but I do not wish to be shot. No; I will not be shot; that is not fair."" (Chapter 3)

Why does Peyton Farquhar feel it is fine to be hung and drowned, but feels it is unfair to be shot? Does he think he doesn't deserve to be shot? Or, does Peyton feel it is harder to escape from being shot, and so thinks its unfair?
My personal opinion is that he thinks he is exhausted, (because he is in a dream) and doesn't feel like trying to escape from gun shots too. The 'Yanks' have already tried to kill Peyton by hanging him, but they failed, dropping him from a bridge into a large body of water, probably drowning him. But they failed again! Shooting him is much more uncivil, in the victims mind, so he classifies it as unfair.
What do you think?

Homework

The "Occurrence" I found to be interesting was the part where the lead balls of the rifles fired flattened.
""Attention, company! . . Shoulder arms! . . . Ready! . . . Aim! . . . Fire!"
Farquhar dived--dived as deeply as he could. The water roared in his ears like the voice of Niagara, yet he heard the dulled thunder of the volley and, rising again toward the surface, met shining bits of metal, singularly flattened, oscillating slowly downward. Some of them touched him on the face and hands, then fell away, continuing their descent. One lodged between his collar and neck; it was uncomfortably warm and he snatched it out." (Chapter 3)

This is an interesting passage. I personally, have shot many different kinds of black-powder rifles and pistols through Boy Scouts. This practice has shown me that when lead balls are shot into a body of water, especially at the distance suggested by the book, lead balls don't flatten. This brings up an interesting issue in my opinion, "Why did the lead balls in his dream (during the Civil War) flatten when they were shot into the water, and why do lead balls shot now, NOT flatten when they are shot into body's of water? This intrigued me, I have started thinking about all the different reasons the lead shot would have flattened then but not now. One possible conclusion I came to was maybe the lead was different? Is it possible that the lead they shot during the Civil War was softer because of their need for more bullets? Or, could the guns have had different firing power? But these were my thoughts as I was reading the story the first time through. After I finished the story, I realized that since the story was all imagined, the lead was maybe just something for me to think about as the reader, something to give me insight as to how it was all in the (soon to be) dead man's head, or imagination.

What do you think? Was it a stretch in the victim's imagination, or was it an experience that he had in a controlled area that's coming back to him in his death moments? Or, what? 

My 'rookie' opinion is that Mr. Farquhar's imagination it a little out of whack, and the flattened bullets are just caused by his hysterical imagination and fear, mixed with other emotions; which are probably on a rollercoaster.

Dear friends,
My name is Ben Rixstine. If you didn't know that, I am sorry because I want to get to know every one of you who read this... however few of you that may be.
Well thanks for listening to my ramblings(was it long enough Mrs. Jones?).
Ben

Hey everyone,
Ben here, and I hope this goes through this time I am still trying if it didn't.