Stories of Ourselves

Level N - Core
Student’s Guide
AY 2023-204

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SABIS® Proprietary Page 1 of 61
 TABLE OF CONTENTS

Pages

The Melancholy Hussar of the German Legion……………………………………………. 6–11

The Lady’s Maid’s Bell..……………………………………………….……………………12–15

Gabriel-Ernest……..……………………………………….……………………………….. 16–19

The Doll’s House…………………………………………………………….………………20–24

A Warning to the Curious…….……………………………………………………………...25–28

Death in the Woods…..………………………………………………………………………29–32

Stability…………………….………………………………………………………………...33–37

The Tower……………………………………………….…………………………………...38–41

The Axe……...……………………………………………………………………………….42–44

An Occurrence on Owl Creek Bridge..………………………………………………………45–49

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Glossary of Literary Terms:

Ambiguity: a word, phrase, or statement which contains more than one meaning
Allegory: a story that reveals a hidden meaning, a symbolic representation
Allusion: an indirect reference to something specially in literature
Alliteration: the repetition of initial stressed consonant sounds in a series of words within a phrase or
verse line
Anaphora: the repetition of certain words at the beginning of successive sentences
Anecdote: a short and interesting story
Assonance: the repetition of similar vowel sounds in two or more words within a line of poetry or prose
Antithesis: putting two opposite ideas together in a sentence to show a contrasting effect
Colloquial language: the use of informal or everyday language in literature
Conflict: a struggle between two opposing forces such as a struggle between a protagonist and an
antagonist
• Internal conflict: when a character struggles within a characters mind over what to do or
think in the story
• External conflict: a struggle between a character and some outside forces
Connotation: the use of a word to suggest a different association than its literal meaning
Consonance: a literary device that refers to the repetition of the same consonant sounds in a line
of a poem or text. The consonant sounds can appear at the beginning, middle, or end of words.
Contradiction: when two statements don’t seem to agree with each other
Dialect: a particular form of language that shows the accent and way people talk in a particular
area
Dialogue: a conversation between two or more people in a story
Diction: the word choice a writer uses to effectively convey an idea or a point of view
Dramatic Irony: irony that is inherent in a situation of a drama in which the audience knows more
about an event than the characters do
Dynamic character: a character that undergoes significant change throughout the story
Ellipsis: the omission of words that are obviously understood from contextual clues
Exaggeration: making something seem better, worse, larger or more important than what it
actually is
Flashback: moving the audience from the present moment in the narrative to a scene set in the past
Flat character: an uncomplicated character that does not change throughout the story
Foil character: a character that exhibits opposite traits to another character
Foreshadowing: giving the audience clues and hints of what is to come
Jargon: a specialized language used in a particular context or field
Homonym: two words that sound the same but differ in meaning
Humor: a literary tool that induces amusement or laughter
Hyperbole: an exaggerated statement
Idiom: a sentence that conveys a figurative meaning different from the words used

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Imagery: the use of figurative language to represent objects, actions, or abstract ideas in a way
that appeals to the reader’s senses. There are five types of imagery:
- visual: appeals to the sense of sight
- auditory: appeals to the sense of hearing
- gustatory: appeals to the sense of taste
- tactile: appeals to the sense of touch
- olfactory: appeals to the sense of smell
Indirect question/interrogation: a question embedded inside a statement
Informal language: a casual, personal, and spontaneous speech
In Medias res: a Latin phrase, meaning “in the midst of things,” that is used as a literary term to
describe when a story opens with the character already in the middle of things, when it creates
a sense of suspense, and when it invites the reader to further explore the plot
Inversion: a literary device that refers to the reverse of the correct order of subjects and verbs in
a sentence. It is often used to place emphasis on certain words, mainly the one that initiates the
sentence
Inquisitive question: marked by inquiry and questioning, hence, searching out
Irony: the use of words to express something that is different from or opposite of the literal meaning
Intrusive narrator: an omniscient narrator who interrupts the story to provide a commentary
to the reader on some aspect of the story
Situational Irony: something that is different or the opposite of what is expected
to happen
Mood: a literary device that elicits certain feelings or vibes in readers ; it is the atmosphere in a
piece of writing
Metaphor: the comparison of two unrelated things
Monologue: a speech or verbal presentation given by a single character in order to
express thoughts and feelings
Extended metaphor: a metaphor introduced and then further developed throughout all or part of a
literary work, especially a poem
Onomatopoeia: a word that imitates the natural sound of a thing and creates a sound effect that
mimics the thing described in order to make the description more expressive and interesting
Overstatement: using language to exaggerate the intended meaning
Oxymoron: a figure of speech that combines two contradictory elements
Paradox: a statement that contradicts itself
Personification: the attribution of a human characteristic to non-human things
Point of view: who is telling or narrating a story
• First person point of view: the main character is telling the story
• Second person point of view: the writer has the narrator speaking to the reader
• Third person point of view omniscient: the narrator is all-knowing and has
insights on the thoughts and feelings of multiple characters in a story

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 • Third person point of view limited: the narrator has insight into one character’s
thought process in the story
• Third person subjective: the narrator adopts the point of view of one of the
characters in the story
Pun: a joke based on the exploitation of different possible meanings of a word
Rhetorical question: a question used for dramatic effect; it is not intended to be answered directly
Round character: a character with a complex personality
Sarcasm: an ironic or satirical remark that mocks, ridicules, or expresses contempt
Simile: a figure of speech that uses ‘like’ or ‘as’ to compare two different things
Sensory details: appeal to the five senses:sight, sound, smell, touch, and taste
Static character: a character that does not undergo important changes throughout the story
Stock character: a type of character that is quickly recognized by the reader and requires
no development by the writer
Symbol: a literary device that contains several layers of meaning and is representative of several
other aspects or concepts
Sibilance: a specific type of alliteration that uses the soft consonants to produce a hissing sound
Syntax: the arrangement of words and phrases to create well-formed sentences in a language
Tone: the author’s/poet’s attitude toward the subject matter
Traditional character: a character that is attached to tradition/old customs
Understatement: representing something as less than what it is
Villain: the antagonist in a story whose motives and actions oppose that of the protagonist

*Students should use the P.E.E.E. chain for all short and longer written responses.
P=Point. What is the point you are trying to make?
E=Evidence. What evidence will you use to support the point you made?
E=Explanation. How does the evidence used support the point you made?
E=Effect. What is the effect on the audience?

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 The Melancholy Hussar of the German Legion
by Thomas Hardy (1889)

Thomas Hardy (1840–1928):

Thomas Hardy was born in Dorset, in rural south-west England. His father was a stonemason
and builder. The young Hardy excelled academically and would have qualified for a university
education at Oxford or Cambridge, but his parents could not afford the fees. Instead, he became
an architect, studying at King’s College in London.
Hardy was successful in his profession, winning several prestigious awards, but he felt restless
and unhappy in London. Hardy was acutely aware that his working-class background and rural
origins made him an outsider in London circles. After five years, he returned to Dorset and
decided to devote himself to his writing. He was to become a noted novelist and poet, admired
by many of his contemporaries.
Most of Hardy’s novels take place in Wessex, a semi-fictional region of England based on
Dorset and its neighbors. They are often critical of the hypocrisy and cruelty of English society,
while at the same time portraying an idyllic, wistfully beautiful picture of rural life. Tragic irony
is a common theme in Hardy’s stories. His protagonists are often ultimately destroyed by simple,
seemingly insignificant twists of fate, such as a letter going astray or a minor misunderstanding.

Historical Context:
“The Melancholy Hussar of the German Legion” takes place during the Napoleonic Wars (1803–
1815). Hardy represents it as having been told to him as a teenager by its protagonist, Phyllis, an
old woman when Hardy knew her. King George III (1738-1820), England’s longest-ruling
monarch before Queen Victoria, ascended the British throne in 1760. During his 59-year reign,
he pushed through a British victory in the Seven Years’ War, led England’s successful resistance
to Revolutionary and Napoleonic France, and presided over the loss of the American Revolution.

A Brief Outlook on the Content:

Phyllis is the daughter of a country doctor in a remote village just north of the coast. The king
(George III) uses a nearby seaside town as a summer resort, which has brought many more
people than usual to the area. One of them is Humphrey Gould, a member of the gentry (that is, a
minor local aristocrat). He and Phyllis become engaged. Although she doesn’t feel particularly
warmly towards him, she is aware that her father wants her to marry Gould because of his social
connections.
Also staying in the area are the York Hussars, a regiment of the King’s German soldiers. While
Gould is away in Bath, Phyllis encounters one of them, Matthäus, when he walks past the garden
of her father’s house; the two talk, become friendly, and soon fall in love. Phyllis at first feels
she cannot act on her feelings because she is engaged to Gould. However, a rumor reaches her
that Gould does not consider their engagement binding and may even be pursuing someone else.
At this point, Matthäus suggests to Phyllis that she run away with him; he plans to desert the

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army and make his way back home to Germany. No longer feeling she owes Gould anything,
Phyllis agrees. However, while waiting for Matthäus in the lane beside her house that evening,
Gould and a friend pass by. Gould is explaining that he does not believe the rumors about
Phyllis’ flirtation with a Hussar, and that he has brought her back a gift from Bath. Phyllis is
stricken with guilt. When Matthäus appears, she tells him she cannot come with him.
The next morning, Gould calls on Phyllis. He gives her the gift from Bath – a mirror – but also
reveals that the rumors about him were true. He has married someone else and the mirror is more
or less a bribe to get Phyllis to go along with this. It is also revealed that Matthäus and his fellow
deserters have been caught; they are executed in front of the regiment while Phyllis watches in
horror from the garden wall.

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Setting and Plot Structure
(The covered skills are labeled at the end of every question. The skills’ descriptions are
listed at the end of the study guide.)

Identify Setting

Place Time

Setting

Weather Mood/atmosphere

1. How does the season and weather affect the plot and mood of the story? [RL.11-12.1.3]

2. How does the story’s historical setting affect its mood and atmosphere? [RL.11-12.1.3]

Plot Structure

3. Enter the elements of the plot into the appropriate category and identify the narrative
structure. [RL.11-12.2.5]

Exposition:
Rising Action:
Conflict:
Climax:
Falling Action:

4. What event instigates the main conflict of the story? [RL.11-12.1.2]

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General Comprehension

1. Why do Phyllis and her father live in the village? [RL.11-12.1.2]

A. Her father is out of favor at Court.

B. Her father was born there.
C. Her father hates living in busy, bustling places.
D. Her father cannot afford to live in a bigger town.
E. Her father loves the scenery.

2. Why is the Hussar so melancholy when Phyllis first sees him? [RL.11-12.3.7]

A. His mother is dying.

B. He misses his homeland.
C. He is in love with Phyllis.
D. He has been demoted.
E. It is just his nature.

3. How do the rumors that Phyllis hears from Bath about Humphrey Gould foreshadow the
twist at the end of the story? [RL.11-12.2.6]

4. Why does Phyllis change her mind about eloping with Matthäus? [RL.11-12.3.7]

5. Why did Humphrey Gould buy Phyllis a looking-glass? [RL.11-12.1.4.1]

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Theme and Characterization

Theme

A theme is the unifying subject or idea of a work of literature which pervades the entire text and
helps to distinguish its voice and message.

1. What is the central theme of the story? [RL.11-12.1.2]

2. How is this theme developed throughout the story? [RL.11-12.1.2]

3. What other themes are present in the story? [RL.11-12.1.2]

Characterization

4. How are Matthäus Tina and Humphrey Gould characterized respectively? How does the
narrative highlight the contrasts in their characters? What point is it making? [RL.11-12.1.3.1]

5. How does Phyllis’ reaction to Gould’s gift and confession characterize her? [RL.11-12.1.3.1]

Irony and Foreshadowing

Irony
Irony refers to an incongruity or discrepancy between what is expected/said and what actually
happens/ is meant. In simple words, it is a difference between appearance and reality.
In verbal irony words are used in such a way that their intended meaning is different from, or
contrary to the actual meaning of the words. In situational irony, a situation ends up in quite a
different way than generally anticipated. Dramatic irony refers to information that a reader or
audience knows and that has an impact on the events, but which a character is unaware of.

1. Give an example of dramatic irony within the narrative. [RL.11-12.2.6]

Foreshadowing
Foreshadowing is a literary technique which involves hinting at future events in the narrative
before they occur, sometimes in a very indirect way and sometimes more clearly.

2. Give an example of foreshadowing in the narrative and explain its significance. [RL.11-12.2.5]

3. In a sense, the story’s ending is foreshadowed by its beginning: if the narrator heard this
story from Phyllis herself in Dorset some sixty years later, she presumably never did flee

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with Matthiäs. What impact does this have on the story’s effectiveness? [RL.11-12.2.5]

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 The Lady’s Maid’s Bell
by Edith Wharton (1902)

Edith Wharton (1862–1937):

Edith Wharton was born in New York to a wealthy, upper-class family. Her family travelled
extensively across Europe while she was a child. As a result, she became fluent in several
European languages and gained a lifelong love of travel and interest in architecture and design
influenced by French and Italian culture. An independent-minded and strong-willed young
woman, she defied convention by embarking on a career as a writer. This was not considered
appropriate for a woman of her class and so her first writings, before she gained her
independence, were written anonymously or under pseudonyms. Her best-known novels and
stories portray the ‘old New York’ of her youth, both celebrating and satirizing the genteel,
privileged world of the city’s aristocrats and intellectuals in the late nineteenth century. In 1921,
she won the Pulitzer Prize for her novel The Age of Innocence. She was the first female recipient
of the award.

Historical Background:
Edith Wharton narrates an enigmatic panic that beset her for seven years as a child, when she
was recuperating from an almost lethal case of typhoid, as she describes marking “the dividing
line between my little childhood and the next stage.” On her sickbed, Wharton is drawn to ghost
stories, then she becomes so afraid that she is unable to sleep alone due to formless terrors, “It
was like some dark undefinable menace, forever dogging my steps, lurking, and threatening; I
was conscious of it wherever I went by day, and at night it made sleep impossible, unless a light
and a nurse-maid were in the room. But whatever it was, it was most formidable and pressing
when I was returning from my daily walk (which I always took with a maid or governess, or with
my father).” In Wharton's anecdote, her mother (a comfort or an object of desire, fear, or
loathing) is replaced by servants. Her most primal psychic dramas, that is, were determined not
by fixed positions of “Mother,” “Father,” and “Daughter,” but by provisional practices of
domestic labor and sociality as would have been the case for most wealthy children in the latter
half of the nineteenth century. Attending to the historical reality of American domestic service in
the industrial era stimulates us to reevaluate how we interpret servants as both performers in
social history and characters in literature. Far from remaining merely subsidiary to the primitive
family drama, literary servants fracture myths of a hermetically-sealed nuclear family, becoming
involved in the original web of aspiration, distress, and empathy in the Female Gothic.

A Brief Outlook on the Content:

“The Lady’s Maid’s Bell” is narrated by Alice Hartley, a lady’s maid (that is, the female servant
who directly serves the lady of the house). Out of work due to a recent struggle with TB, Alice
accepts a job serving Mrs. Brympton, a woman who lives in a remote and secluded part of New
York’s Hudson Valley. Alice finds her house gloomy and oppressive, but she takes an immediate

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liking to her new mistress. She learns that Mrs. Brympton’s previous lady’s maid, the deceased
Emma Saxon, was with her for twenty years and was devoted to her.
Over the next few weeks, Alice meets Mrs. Brympton’s husband, who is rarely home and who
proves to be an unpleasant, cheating bully, and also Mr. Ranford, a kind and friendly gentleman
of the neighborhood, who is very close to Mrs. Brympton.
One night, Alice has a strange and frightening experience. The bell in her room (which Mrs.
Brympton never uses) starts ringing furiously. When she hurries out of her room, she believes
that she sees a figure hurrying down the hallway in front of her. When she gets to Mrs.
Brympton’s room, Mr. Brympton is there; the implication is that she has interrupted him in the
act of assaulting his wife.
Alice realizes from an old photograph that the woman that she saw that night is Emma Saxon.
She then sees her again and follows her out of the house and through the woods to Mr. Ranford’s
house, but does not understand what she is supposed to do or say when she gets there.
The climax of the novel happens that night. The bell in Alice’s room rings again and once again
she makes her way to Mrs. Brympton’s room. The implication is that Mr. Ranford is also there,
hiding in her dressing room. At that moment, Mr. Brympton arrives home unexpectedly and
storms up the stairs and into her room, obviously hoping to catch Mr. Ranford. He throws open
the dressing room door but the ghost of Emma Saxon, clearly visible to both him and Alice
blocks the way. At this moment, Mrs. Brympton dies of shock.

Setting and Plot Structure

Identify Setting

Place Time

Setting
Weather Mood/atmosphere

1. What is the atmosphere of the story and how is it developed? [RL.11-12.2.4.1]

2. How does the weather throughout the story affect its atmosphere? [RL.11-12.1.3.1]

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3. Where is the story set, and how does this affect the plot? [RL.11-12.1.3.1]

Plot Structure

4. Enter the elements of the plot into the appropriate category and identify the narrative
structure. [RL.11-12.1.3.1]
Exposition:
Rising Action:
Conflict:
Climax:
Falling Action:

5. What event instigates the main conflict of the story? [RL.11-12.1.2.1]

General Comprehension

1. How does the narrator’s perspective affect our understanding of the story? [RL.11-12.2.4]

2. How does the narrator feel about her fellow servants at Mrs. Brympton’s house? [RL.11-12.2.6]

A. She likes them.

B. She fears them.
C. She is indifferent to them.
D. She hates them.
E. She finds them amusing.

3. What is the significance to the plot of the narrator’s brush with tuberculosis? [RL.11-12.1.3]

4. How does Mr. Brympton react to the narrator when they first meet? [RL.11-12.2.6]

A. He flirts with her aggressively.

B. He is hostile and suspicious.
C. He is rudely dismissive towards her.
D. He is outwardly friendly.
E. He is cold but polite.

5. Why does the narrator’s bell ring for the first time? [RL.11-12.2.6]

6. Why does Emma Saxon lead Alice through the woods to Mr. Ranford’s house? [RL.11-12.2.6]

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7. What does Mr. Brympton mean by telling Alice that he is “going to meet a friend” during
their confrontation in Mrs. Brympton’s room? [RL.11-12.2.4.1]

8. What is the significance of the fact that Mr. Ranford is walking with a stick at the end of the
story? [RL.11-12.1.3]

Theme and Characterization

Identify Theme

1. What is the central theme of the story? [RL.11-12.1.2.1]

A. loyal service transcending death

B. suspicion of the outsider
C. the city versus the countryside
D. the nature of love
E. betrayal and punishment

2. What symbolizes this theme throughout the story and why? [RL.11-12.1.2.1]

3. What other themes does the story explore? [RL.11-12.1.2.1]

Characterization

4. How is the narrator characterized throughout the narrative? What do we learn about her from
the way she tells the story? How does this affect the story itself? [RL.11-12.2.6.1]

5. What is the significance of the red spot which sometimes appears on Mr. Brympton’s
forehead? [RL.11-12.2.4]

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 Gabriel-Ernest
by Saki (1909)

Saki (1870–1916):
Hector Hugh Munro, better known by the pen name “Saki,” was born in Burma, which at the
time was part of the British Empire. His father was Inspector General of the British police there.
Saki’s mother died when he was just two and his father sent him and his siblings back to England
to be raised by his aunts. Their household was strict and joyless and Saki disliked living with
them intensely; many of his stories depict humorless, pompous, and severe aunts based on his
own.
As an adult, Saki followed his father into the imperial police in Burma, but the hot, humid
climate there affected his health too badly to remain. He returned to England and became a
writer instead, starting out as a political satirist and historian but soon finding his calling as the
author of plays and short stories. When war with Germany was declared in 1914, Saki insisted on
joining up as a common soldier, even though he was 45 at this point and had been offered a
commission as an officer. He was killed by a German sniper in France.
Saki’s stories are known for their mixture of sparkling wit and their dark, misanthropic
worldview. They typically expose and mock the hypocrisy of English society, often contrasting it
with the simplicity and honesty of the kill-or-be-killed life of the animal kingdom.

A Brief Outlook on the Content:

The story takes place in rural England, on the lands of Van Cheele, the local justice of the peace.
Out for a walk in his woods one morning, Van Cheele encounters a strange, wild boy of about
sixteen, who talks about hunting and eating children. Van Cheele is disturbed by him, all the
more so when he shows up in his house the next day. However, Van Cheele’s aunt, who lives
with him, becomes very taken by the boy and decides to take him in until his parents can be
found. She gives him clothes and names him “Gabriel-Ernest,” and has him help her at her
Sunday-school class.
Van Cheele now remembers something that Cunningham, an artist friend of his who had been
staying with him, said about there being a “wild beast” in the woods. He decides to go to
Cunningham and ask what he meant, sensing that it’s connected to Gabriel-Ernest. Cunningham
reluctantly reveals that he saw Gabriel-Ernest in the woods and saw him turn into a wolf; the boy
is a werewolf.
Van Cheele races back home, to discover that his aunt has sent Gabriel-Ernest to walk one of the
Sunday-school infants back home. Van Cheele tries to catch up with them, but he is too late:
night falls and Van Cheele hears the child scream in fear. The implication is that Gabriel-Ernest
has taken on his wolf form and taken the child away to devour it. However, his aunt believes that
the child must have slipped and fallen into the river, and that Gabriel-Ernest lost his life trying to
save it.

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Setting and Plot Structure

Identify Setting

Place Time

Setting

Social Setting Mood/atmosphere

1. Where is the story set? How does this affect the atmosphere of the story? [RL.11-12.1.3.1]

2. What is the social status of Van Cheele and his aunt? How does this affect the plot?
[RL.11-12.1.3]

Plot Structure

3. Enter the elements of the plot into the appropriate category and identify the narrative
structure. [RL.11-12.1.3]
Exposition:
Rising Action:
Conflict:
Climax:
Falling Action:

4. What event instigates the main conflict of the story? [RL.11-12.1.2]

General Comprehension

1. What profession is Cunningham? [RL.11-12.1.1]

A. He is a lawyer.
B. He is a landowner.
C. He is an artist.

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 D. He is a writer.
E. He is a politician.

2. How does Van Cheele react to Gabriel-Ernest? [RL.11-12.6.1]

A. He feels sorry for him.

B. He is intimidated by him.
C. He likes him.
D. He disregards him.
E. He is fascinated by him.

3. What does Gabriel-Ernest mean by saying that he hunts “on four feet”? [RL.11-12.4.1]

4. Why is there some doubt as to whether the miller’s child did indeed drown, as most people
assume? [RL.11-12.1.2]

5. Why does Gabriel-Ernest turn up in Van Cheele’s house? [RL.11-12.1.1]

6. Why is Cunningham initially reluctant to discuss what he saw in the woods? [RL.11-12.1.1]

7. What has happened to Gabriel-Ernest and the Toop child by the end of the story?
[RL.11-12.5.1]

Theme, Characterization, and Imagery

Theme
A theme is the unifying subject or idea of a work of literature which pervades the entire text and
helps to distinguish its voice and message.

1. What is the central theme of the story? [RL.11-12.2.1]

2. How is this theme developed throughout the story? [RL.11-12.2.1]

Characterization

3. How is Van Cheele’s character portrayed in the story? Does he change at all? [RL.11-12.3.1]

4. How is Gabriel-Ernest portrayed throughout the story? How does this relate to the story’s
themes? [RL.11-12.2.1] & [RL.11-12.3.1]

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Imagery

5. What kind of imagery is used to describe Gabriel-Ernest? What is its significance?

[RL.11-12.5.1]

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 The Doll’s House
by Katherine Mansfield (1923)

Katherine Mansfield (1888–1923):

Katherine Mansfield was born in New Zealand, to a well-known and wealthy family; her father
was the chairman of the Bank of New Zealand. Mansfield’s childhood in rural New Zealand was
happy, but as she got older, she became discontented with life in the colonies. In particular, she
was horrified by the racism and injustice of the British colonists’ treatment of the Maori. At the
age of nineteen, she left New Zealand forever.
Mansfield settled in London, where she became part of the bohemian literary circle around
Virginia Woolf and the Bloomsbury Group. She suffered greatly from tuberculosis and spent a
great deal of time experimenting with different cures and courses of treatment. The illness finally
claimed her life at a retreat in France.
Much of Manfield’s fiction is based on her early life and experiences in New Zealand. She
nostalgically describes the beauty of the New Zealand scenery, and the color and excitement of
social events such as balls and garden parties in a young girl’s life, but also of the injustice and
inequality which was all around her and which makes the characters’ comfortable lifestyles
possible, even though they may only be fleetingly aware of it.

Historical Context:
While no one in Europe was completely unhurt by the menace of the WWI, Katherine Mansfield
was affected when her dear younger brother, Leslie Heron Beauchamp, was killed in 1915 just
weeks after arriving at the front. Mansfield had seen her brother in London before he dispatched
out and they talked for hours of their cheeriest years together as children. Upon news of Leslie’s
death, Mansfield yearned to return to a childhood that was unconscious of the dreadful events
that shook Europe and the world. She felt she owed it to her brother to use her writing to
reconstruct the New Zealand of her childhood. She wrote, “I have a duty to perform to the lovely
time when we were both alive. I want to write about it and he [her brother] wanted me to.”
Mansfield’s “The Doll’s House” takes place in a village town just like the one the Beauchamp
family moved to when Katherine was just a girl.

A Brief Outlook on the Content:

In this story, the three Burnell girls (Isabel, Lottie, and Kezia) are given a large doll’s house as a
present by a guest of their parents. They are delighted with it and are particularly keen to show
off their new possession to the other girls at school. Isabel, the oldest sister, takes them to the
doll’s house two by two, and they are suitably awed by it.
However, two girls are never invited to see it. These are the Kelvey girls, Lil and Else. They are
the washerwoman’s daughters, and everybody in the school looks down on them, sometimes
viciously bullying them. It would be unthinkable for them to be allowed to visit the upper-class
Burnells’ home, or to see the doll’s house.

Level N - Core | 20
Kezia, however, feels sorry for the Kelveys and secretly takes them to see the doll’s house. They
get just a glimpse of it before Kezia’s Aunt Beryl sees them and chases them away.

Level N - Core | 21
Setting, Plot Structure, and Symbolism

Identify Setting

Place Time

Setting

Social Setting Mood/atmosphere

1. How does the time and place that this story take place in affect the plot? [RL.11-12.3.1]

2. From whose perspective is the story told? How does this affect the mood? [RL.11-12.4.1]

Level N - Core | 22
Plot Structure

3. Enter the elements of the plot into the appropriate category and identify the narrative
structure. [RL.11-12.3.1]
Exposition:
Rising Action:
Conflict:
Climax:
Falling Action:

4. What event instigates the main conflict of the story? [RL.11-12.2]

Identify and Explain Symbolism

5. What is the key symbol of the story? What does it represent and how is it used? [RL.11-12.5.1]

Level N - Core | 23
General Comprehension

1. Where does the story take place? [RL.11-12.3.1]

A. Dunedin, New Zealand

B. rural New Zealand
C. the Scottish countryside
D. the English countryside
E. London

2. Why is the doll’s house left in the courtyard? [RL.11-12.1.1]

3. Why are the Kelveys so looked down on at school? [RL.11-12.1.1]

A. because of their appearance

B. because of their eating habits
C. because of their social class
D. because of their personalities
E. because they are bad at schoolwork

4. How and why does Lena Logan start teasing Lil? [RL.11-12.1.2]

5. Why does Aunt Beryl react so angrily when she sees the Kelveys? [RL.11-12.1.2]

Level N - Core | 24
 A Warning to the Curious
by M. R. James (1925)

M.R. James (1862–1936):

Montague Rhodes James was born in Kent although he spent a great deal of time growing up in
Suffolk, on England’s eastern coast. As a schoolboy, he attended Eton College and studied at
King’s College, Cambridge, as an undergraduate. His abilities were exceptional, and he was to
remain in the academic world for the rest of his life, eventually becoming Provost of King’s
College and later of Eton. James also enjoyed travel, particularly walking and cycling tours
across France and Scandinavia.
In addition to his scholarly work, James was a noted and influential author of ghost stories.
These typically take place in some old medieval town or church in England or on the Continent,
and feature a hapless academic protagonist whose habit of sifting through the past ends up
unleashing some kind of ghost or terrible spirit. James’ vast historical knowledge meant that
these stories feel exceptionally authentic and are therefore all the more effective.

A Brief Outlook on the Content:

The story takes place in Seaburgh, a coastal town in Suffolk, and is told to the narrator by
another, unnamed man. It appears that he and a friend, Henry Long, used to go to Seaburgh to
play golf every spring. On one occasion, they encounter a nervous, scholarly young man named
Paxton, who is staying at the same inn and who seems troubled and distressed.
Paxton explains that he recently heard a folktale of the “three holy crowns of East Anglia,” said
to have been buried along the coast long ago to keep England’s enemies at bay. One has been
dug up and melted down, one has been lost to the sea, but the third still remains buried. Until
recently, a local family, the Agers, had the sacred duty of guarding it, but the last of that line,
William Ager has died without leaving an heir. Paxton managed to find the last crown’s location
and dug it up, but ever since then he has had the obsessive idea that he has been followed. He is
convinced that he must return the crown but doesn’t dare to do it alone.
Long and the protagonist agree to accompany Paxton while he reburies the crown. However,
even after doing so, Paxton still feels that William Ager’s ghost is stalking him. While the other
two are elsewhere, Paxton is lured out by the ghost and brought down to the beach, where he is
thrown from the wall of the ruined fortification there and is killed by the fall.

Level N - Core | 25
Setting and Plot Structure

Identify Setting

Place Time

Setting

Weather Mood/atmosphere

1. How does the detailed description of Seaburgh at the start of the story affect the story’s mood
and plot? Why is it included? [RL.11-12.2.4]

2. The author links the story of the three crowns, as told to Paxton by the rector, with past wars
both relatively recent (the Great War, the Boer War, the Franco-Prussian War), and long ago
(references to invasions by the French and the Danes). What is the purpose of doing this?
[RL.11-12.5.1]

3. How does the weather throughout the story affect both the plot and the mood? [RL.11-12.3.1]

Plot Structure

4. Enter the elements of the plot into the appropriate category and identify the narrative
structure. [RL.11-12.3.1]
Exposition:
Rising Action:
Conflict:
Climax:
Falling Action:

5. What event puts the conflict of the story in motion? [RL.11-12.1.2]

General Comprehension

1. What is Paxton’s motivation in digging up the crown? [RL.11-12.2.3]

Level N - Core | 26
 A. greed
B. desire for fame
C. desire to preserve the past
D. desire to learn
E. curiosity

2. Why is Paxton so determined to talk to the protagonist and Long? [RL.11-12.1.1]

3. Who are the Agers and what is their role in the folktale of the three crowns? [RL.11-12.3.1]

4. What do the protagonist and Long originally think Paxton should do with the crown?
[RL.11-12.2.4]
A. sell it
B. melt it down
C. bury it again
D. give it to the nation
E. throw it into the sea

5. Why does Paxton go out by himself on to the beach at the end of the story? [RL.11-12.5.1]

6. How does Paxton die? [RL.11-12.5.1]

A. He drowns.
B. The ghost strangles him.
C. He falls from a high wall.
D. His heart stops.
E. He is buried alive.

Theme and Characterization

Theme
A theme is the unifying subject or idea of a work of literature which pervades the entire text and
helps to distinguish its voice and message.

1. What is the central theme of the story? [RL.11-12.2.1]

2. How is this theme developed throughout the story? [RL.11-12.2.2]

Characterization

Level N - Core | 27
3. How is the character of Paxton developed throughout the narrative? [RL.11-12.3.1]

4. How does Paxton’s characterization affect the plot and mood of the story? [RL.11-12.4]

Level N - Core | 28
 Death in the Woods
by Sherwood Anderson (1926)

Sherwood Anderson (1876–1941):

Sherwood Anderson was born in rural Ohio. Due to his father’s financial problems, the family
moved around a great deal and Anderson was working in his spare time from an early age in
order to bring in extra cash. Throughout his childhood, adolescence, and early manhood, he
worked a great variety of jobs, from farm-work, horse-tending, and newspaper vending to a spell
in the United States army during the Spanish-American War. He ultimately found success in
advertising and started his own business, but the stress proved too much from him and in 1912 he
suffered an extended nervous breakdown, disappearing without a word to his family or
employees for four days.
After emerging from this fugue state, Anderson decided to dedicate himself full-time to his
writing. Although little-remembered now, he was influential in his time, and acted as something
of a mentor to literary giants such as Ernest Hemingway in their youth.
Anderson’s stories and novels frequently draw on his Midwest upbringing, telling stories of
hardship and struggle in a simple and unaffected style.

A Brief Outlook on the Content:

The story takes place in the rural Midwest, most likely Ohio. It features a woman, Mrs. Grimes,
although the story only ever refers to her as “the old woman” (she is, in fact, in her late 30s, but
looks much older). Her abusive husband, Grimes, is a horse thief and their son is likewise a
criminal. The narrator is recalling the story of Mrs. Grimes’ death, an episode from his
childhood.
Mrs. Grimes, who does all the work around the house, comes into town with the dogs on a
snowy winter’s evening to buy supplies. Her husband and son have taken the household buggy,
so she needs to walk, carrying everything she’s bought. The strain is too much for her and she
collapses halfway back, to die of exposure. The hungry dogs end up tearing open the pack on her
back to get at the dog meat she bought for them.
The narrator then recalls being among the party who went out to examine her body after a hunter
found her. He admits that many of the story’s details are actually based on his own experiences
or conjectures and discusses why he found the experience so moving.

Level N - Core | 29
Setting and Plot Structure

Identify Setting

Place Time

Setting

Weather Mood/atmosphere

1. What is the significance of the time and setting to the story’s atmosphere? [RL.11-12.3.1]

2. How does the weather affect the plot and mood of the story? [RL.11-12.3.1]

3. How does the style of narration affect the mood of the story? [RL.11-12.5.1]

Plot Structure

4. Enter the elements of the plot into the appropriate category and identify the narrative
structure. [RL.11-12.3.1]
Exposition:
Rising Action:
Conflict:
Climax:
Falling Action:

5. What event puts the conflict of the story in motion? [RL.11-12.1.1] & [RL.11-12.2.1]

General Comprehension

1. Grimes, the old woman’s husband, is [RL.11-12.1.1]

A. a horse-dealer
B. a farmer

Level N - Core | 30
 C. a sign-painter
D. a hunter
E. a blacksmith

2. How did the old woman meet Grimes? [RL.11-12.2.3]

3. How does the old woman make enough money to buy supplies? [RL.11-12.2.3]

4. Why does the butcher become angry when the old woman comes in? [RL.11-12.1.1]

A. He dislikes her.
B. He thinks the dogs are going to steal meat.
C. He is indignant at the way her husband and son treat her.
D. He knows her husband and son are criminals.
E. He feels angry with himself for feeling sorry for her.

5. Why doesn’t the old woman follow the road home? [RL.11-12.1.1]

6. Why does the narrator say nothing when his brother tells the story of the old woman’s death?
[RL.11-12.1.2]
A. He is angry that his brother is being so disrespectful.
B. He does not understand what they saw.
C. He is too frightened by what they saw.
D. He thinks his brother has missed the spiritual significance of what they saw.
E. He is happy to let his brother take all the attention.

Theme and Symbolism

Theme
A theme is the unifying subject or idea of a work of literature which pervades the entire text and
helps to distinguish its voice and message.

1. What is the central theme of the story? [RL.11-12.2.1]

2. How is this theme developed throughout the story? [RL.11-12.2.2]

Imagery

3. What is the central image of the story? [RL.11-12.2]

Level N - Core | 31
4. How does this image relate to the story’s theme? [RL.11-12.2.2]

Level N - Core | 32
 Stability
by Philip K. Dick (1947)

Philip K. Dick (1928–1982):

Philip Kindred Dick was born in Chicago but lived most of his life in California, where his
parents moved while he was still a child. He attended the University of Berkeley there but
dropped out without graduating due to an ongoing problem with anxiety.
Mental health issues plagued Dick; he experienced several nervous breakdowns throughout his
life (most dramatically in 1974) and was married five times, each marriage ending
catastrophically. His long-held ambition was to write realistic literary fiction, but none of his
work in this genre was published during his lifetime. His science fiction (which he wrote
somewhat grudgingly and often at high speed in order to pay bills) was much better received;
even at the time, many of his peers in the genre considered Dick a visionary and he is today
considered one of the most important science fiction authors of the twentieth century. His stories
are frequently adapted by Hollywood, the most notable example being Ridley Scott’s seminal
Blade Runner.
Dick’s science fiction is notable for its wide range of ideas and its pervasive and inescapable
sense of paranoia.

A Brief Outlook on the Content:

“Stability” takes place in the future, at some point past the twenty-fifth century. The protagonist
is a man named Robert Benton, who lives in the City of Lightness. Human society has reached a
level of permanent, changeless “Stability”: it neither progresses nor declines, thanks to constant
monitoring and enforcement of the rules. One of these rules is that all new inventions must be
examined by the Control Office to make sure that they would not upset Stability.
Benton is summoned to the Control Office, where he is told that the invention he has submitted
cannot be put into use: it represents a danger to Stability. Benton is confused by this, because he
has not submitted (or even invented) anything. He is given the device that he submits and takes it
home to examine it.
The device turns out to be a time machine and it transports him to a place in the distant past,
where he stumbles across a glass globe. Although a voice warns him not to, he picks up the glass
globe, which also seems to be speaking to him, and returns back with it to his own time, a few
days before the start of the story, so he can submit the time machine to the Control Office for
review and so close the time loop.
The authorities have figured out what had happened and come to confiscate the time machine,
but Benton no longer possesses it. The Controller takes an interest in the globe, which Benton
tries to pass off as a paperweight, and recounts a legend of a city so wicked that God imprisoned
it inside a glass globe forever. The Controller and his peers realize that this globe is the one from
the legend – the city within contrived for Benton to rescue it. The Controller attempts to take the
globe, but Benton smashes it instead.

Level N - Core | 33
Smashing the globe releases the city, which grows and swells and replaces the City of Lightness.
Benton and everyone else are now slaves to the machines that rule the evil city, laboring
endlessly in their furnaces and factories.

Level N - Core | 34
Setting and Plot Structure

Identify Setting

Place Time

Setting

Weather Mood/atmosphere

1. What is the priority of the political system depicted in this story? How does this drive the
plot of the story? [RL.11-12.3.1]

2. What is the atmosphere of the story? How is this atmosphere achieved? [RL.11-12.6.1]

3. How is the setting of the story, the City of Lightness, described? What is the relevance of this
to the story’s plot? [RL.11-12.3.1]

Plot Structure

4. Enter the elements of the plot into the appropriate category and identify the narrative
structure. [RL.11-12.3.1]
Exposition:
Rising Action:
Conflict:
Climax:
Falling Action:

5. What event puts the conflict of the story in motion? [RL.11-12.2.1]

General Comprehension

1. How does the Controller treat Benton when Benton goes to see him at the start of the story?
[RL.11-12.1.1]

Level N - Core | 35
 A. He is suspicious.
B. He is contemptuous.
C. He is admiring.
D. He is polite.
E. He is indifferent.

2. How is Stability enforced? [RL.11-12.1.1]

3. What is the invention that Benton has apparently submitted to the Control Office?
[RL.11-12.1.2]
A. a teleporter
B. a city in a glass globe
C. a time machine
D. wings
E. The story never makes this clear.

4. Why does Benton decide to pick up the glass globe? [RL.11-12.1.2]

5. Why do the Control Council decide to visit Benton? [RL.11-12.1.1]

6. How does the story end? [RL.11-12.5.1]

A. Benton is going to be executed.

B. Benton is going to lead a revolution.
C. Benton is just another slave in the evil city.
D. Benton is going to be the new ruler of the evil city.
E. Benton has been dreaming this entire time.

Genre and Symbolism

Genre
The genre of a text is the kind of story that it is, the kinds of plot elements and characters that it
possesses, the themes that it explores, and the expectations that we have of it.

1. What is the genre of this story? What features of this genre does it possess? [RL.11-12.5.1]

2. Are there any elements of the story that conflict with the expectations of this genre? What are
they, and what is their effect on the mood of the story? [RL.11-12.3.1], [RL.11-12.1.2]& [RL.11-
12.5.1]

Level N - Core | 36
Symbolism

3. What do the “huge, white wings” that Benton wears at the start of the story and the City of
Lightness that he flies through symbolize? What are these symbols’ significance?
[RL.11-12.4.1]

4. What kind of symbolism is evoked by the imagery at the end of the story? How is this related
to the themes of the story? [RL.11-12.4.1]

Level N - Core | 37
 The Tower
by Marghanita Laski (1955)

Marghanita Laski (1915–1988):

Marghanita Laski was born in Manchester to a family of noted intellectuals and writers. A
voracious reader, she studied English at Oxford and worked in journalism after graduating. In
addition to her fiction, she was also a major contributor to the Oxford English Dictionary,
submitting around 250,000 literary quotations to illustrate its definitions. Her best-known novel
today is Little Boy Lost, written in 1949 and featuring an Englishman searching through post-war
France for his son.

A Brief Outlook on the Content:

The story’s protagonist is Caroline, a young woman who has recently moved to Tuscany with her
husband Neville, a British Council representative. Her husband’s job is to promote cultural
exchange between Britain and Italy. Caroline feels embarrassed by her lack of knowledge of
Italian art and culture and is out sightseeing for the day.
The last place she visits is the so-called Tower of Sacrifice, built by Niccolo di Ferramano in
1535. Thinking back, she recalls seeing portraits of this man and his young bride in a castle that
she and Neville visited – Neville speculated that Niccolo was a practitioner of black magic,
based on his sinister reputation and the books he is painted with.
Without quite understanding why, Caroline feels compelled to climb up the tower, counting the
steps on the way (her guidebook says that there are 470 of them). When she reaches the exterior
ledge at the top, she feels a strong compulsion to throw herself off it, inexplicably believing that
this is the only way down. She resists the impulse and begins descending the stairs instead, now
hysterically frightened. Once again, she keeps count of the steps – the story ends as her count
reaches 504.

Level N - Core | 38
Setting and Plot Structure

Identify Setting

Place Time

Setting

Social Setting Mood/atmosphere

1. What is the atmosphere of the story? How does the setting develop it? [RL.11-12.3.1]

2. Is there any suggestion that there is a difference in social status between Caroline and her
husband? What is the significance of this for the story’s plot? [RL.11-12.3.1]

3. The story only hints at why Niccolo di Ferramano was so feared and what the significance of
the Tower of Sacrifice was. Why isn’t it made more explicit? What impact does this have on
the story’s atmosphere? [RL.11-12.3.1] & [RL.11-12.1.2]

Plot Structure

4. Enter the elements of the plot into the appropriate category and identify the narrative
structure. [RL.11-12.3.1]
Exposition:
Rising Action:
Conflict:
Climax:
Falling Action:

5. What event puts the conflict of the story in motion? [RL.11-12.2.1]

Level N - Core | 39
General Comprehension

1. What mood is Caroline in at the start of the story? [RL.11-12.4.1]

A. angry
B. fearful
C. proud
D. contented
E. confused

2. Why is Caroline in this mood? [RL.11-12.6.1]

3. What kind of work does Caroline’s husband, Neville, do? [RL.11-12.1.1]

4. How does Caroline react to the portrait of Niccolo di Ferramano? [RL.11-12.1.1]

A. She is indifferent.
B. She is frightened.
C. She is fascinated.
D. She is puzzled.
E. She is amused.

5. What does Caroline find at the top of the tower? [RL.11-12.1.2]

6. What does Caroline encounter on her way back down the tower? [RL.11-12.1.2]

A. a ghost
B. a strange man
C. a spider
D. rats
E. a flock of bats

Theme and Characterization

Theme
A theme is the unifying subject or idea of a work of literature which pervades the entire text and
helps to distinguish its voice and message.

1. What is the central theme of the story? [RL.11-12.2.1]

Level N - Core | 40
2. How is this theme developed throughout the story? [RL.11-12.2.2]

Characterization

3. How is Caroline characterized in this story? [RL.11-12.3.1]

4. What is the deeper significance of Caroline’s characterization? How does it affect the
reader’s reaction to the story? [RL.11-12.3.1]

Level N - Core | 41
 The Axe
by Penelope Fitzgerald (1975)

Penelope Fitzgerald (1916–2000):

Penelope Fitzgerald was born Penelope Knox in Lincoln, England. Many members of her family
were prominent intellectuals and scholars. She studied at Oxford and worked for the BBC during
World War II.
In the 1950s, she and her husband edited a literary magazine which was the first in Britain to
publish certain major American authors, such as J.D. Salinger and Norman Mailer. However, her
husband’s personal and professional struggles led to the family becoming impoverished and even
homeless for a time. In order to make ends meet, Fitzgerald worked as a teacher and in a
bookshop for a time. She only began writing at the age of 58, producing a series of biographies
followed by some autobiographical and historical novels.

A Brief Outlook on the Content:

The story is framed as a report that the manager of an office is sending to the owner of the
company, although the narrator mentions early on that he does not expect his boss to read more
than the first couple of sentences.
The owner has recently instructed the narrator to fire four of the office’s employees for economic
reasons. In fact, he is told to inform them of this and then persuade them to resign instead to
avoid humiliation, so that the company need not pay them any compensation. One of the people
selected by the owner is W.S. Singlebury, an elderly, mild, and conscientious man.
The narrator is well aware that Singlebury has no real-life outside work and will be neither
personally nor financially able to cope without it, but he complies with his boss’ instructions.
Singlebury doesn’t protest, and even invites the narrator over for dinner. They have an awkward
meal together, and Singlebury’s desperation is clear to the narrator.
After Singlebury leaves, the office’s existing problem of damp smells becomes markedly worse.
It seems not just to be present in the office but to cling to the narrator’s clothes, as he discovers
during a visit to a party at his boss’ house.
Partly in order to take his mind off his growing fear, the narrator stays working late at the office
the following Monday. Returning back from dinner at a café, he hears footsteps behind him and
sees Singlebury behind him. His head sways from side to side, and the narrator realizes that his
throat has been slit so forcefully that the head is partly detached.
The narrator flees into his own office and locks the door, but he hears Singlebury sit down at his
old desk outside it, the only way in and out. He can hear him looking through the drawers of the
desk. At this point, the narrator reveals that he is currently writing the report, trapped in his
office by terror.

Level N - Core | 42
Setting, Plot Structure, and Character

Identify Setting

Place Time

Setting

Economic Context Mood/atmosphere

1. How does the economic context of the story affect its plot and mood? [RL.11-12.3.1] &
[RL.11-12.4.1]

2. How does the damp in the office, to which the narrator refers repeatedly, affect the mood of
the story? [RL.11-12.4.1]

3. In the story, the narrator visits both Singlebury’s home and the home of the owner of the
company. How are the two contrasted? What is the significance of this contrast?
[RL.11-12.5.1]

Plot Structure

4. Enter the elements of the plot into the appropriate category and identify the narrative
structure. [RL.11-12.3.1]
Exposition:
Rising Action:
Conflict:
Climax:
Falling Action:

5. What event puts the conflict of the story in motion? [RL.11-12.2]

Level N - Core | 43
Character

6. How is the character of Singlebury developed throughout the story? [RL.11-12.3.1]

General Comprehension

1. Who is the narrator of the story? [RL.11-12.6.1]

A. the owner of the Company

B. one of Singlebury’s colleagues
C. Singlebury’s manager
D. Singlebury’s replacement
E. a “fixer” for the company

2. How does the narrator feel towards his boss? [RL.11-12.36.1]

3. How do the employees who are made redundant react? [RL.11-12.1.1]

4. What does Singlebury mean by saying “the mind and the body are the same”? [RL.11-12.4.1]

5. Which of the following best describes the conversation between the narrator and the man to
whom the report is addressed, when they talk in the latter’s house in Suffolk Park Gardens?
[RL.11-12.4.1]
A. tense and hostile
B. friendly and convivial
C. matter-of-fact and neutral
D. secretive and conspiratorial
E. aggressively competitive

6. What happens at the end of the story? [RL.11-12.5.1]

A. The narrator sees Singlebury’s ghost.

B. The narrator sees Singlebury just after he has killed himself.
C. The narrator murders Singlebury.
D. The narrator goes mad and begins hallucinating.
E. It is not clear whether the narrator has seen a dying Singlebury or Singlebury’s ghost.

Level N - Core | 44
 An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge
by Ambrose Bierce (1888)

Ambrose Bierce (1842–1914):

Ambrose Bierce was born in rural Ohio. His parents fostered a lifelong love of books and writing
in him, and he first began working as a journalist as a teenager. When the American Civil War
broke out, Bierce, who was an abolitionist, signed up with the Union army. Over the course of
the war, he saw some of the bloodiest battles of the war, and received commendations for
bravery, a promotion to staff officer, and a serious head injury. He remained in the army after the
war, joining General William Hazen on an expedition across the Great Plains to San Francisco.
He resigned from the army and settled down there to rejoin the field of journalism, where he
became noted for his acerbic wit and passionate political activism. Bierce was ferocious in print,
mercilessly satirizing political corruption and mendacity. In 1913, 71 years old and in poor
health, he decided to travel to Mexico to report on the Mexican Revolution. He disappeared
there, his last known location was the city of Chihuaha. Bierce’s stories are usually as cutting
and merciless as his journalism. Drawing on his experience of the unimaginable violence of the
Civil War and his own jaundiced and misanthropic view of humanity, his stories are often cruel
but sometimes also darkly humorous.

Historical Context:
“An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge” is set during the Civil War, which was fought from 1861
to 1865, and claimed 525,000 American lives. The Civil War was a bloody battle that began
when the states of the American South withdrew from the Union, arguing that the U.S.
Constitution gave them the right to do so if they chose. When President Abraham Lincoln
disagreed with their decision, war broke out between the Northern States. Because the South had
a much smaller populace and soldiers, a decision was made in 1861 to establish guerrilla combat
against Union troops. These guerrillas would insinuate camps behind the battle lines to interrupt
the enemy’s infrastructures and supplies by burning bridges, arresting emissaries, and blowing
up stored ammunition and food. Civilians were organized into troops of wardens to wage
guerrilla warfare against Union troops, while special units of the Confederate Army were created
to act as hit-and-run attackers behind Union lines.

A Brief Outlook on the Content:

The story takes place during the American Civil War. The Union (or Federal, as the story refers
to it) Army is advancing across northern Alabama and has just taken the titular bridge. A local
southern landowner, Peyton Farquhar, has been caught trying to sabotage the bridge; as the story
opens, he is about to be hanged from it.
However, as he is being let drop from the bridge, the rope breaks. Farquhar falls into the water
and manages to free his hands, then pulls the noose off. The Union soldiers fire on him but he
manages to escape by diving beneath the water and letting the current pull him downstream.

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He pulls himself out in a part of the forest that he does not recognize and spends the rest of the
day wandering through untamed and completely unfamiliar woodland. By nightfall, he reaches a
mysterious broad avenue, with the stars arranged in alien constellations overhead. He blacks out,
then seems to find himself standing outside the gate of his own home, with his wife just inside
waiting for him. But when he tries to enter, he feels a massive blow to the back of his neck and
experiences a blaze of white light, followed by “darkness and silence.” The last line reveals that
Farquhar never escaped at all and has been hanged – everything he experienced after dropping
from the bridge was a hallucination playing out in the single moment before the noose snapped
his neck.

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Setting and Plot Structure

Identify Setting

Place Time

Setting

Military Context Mood/atmosphere

1. How does the military context affect the plot of the story? [RL.11-12.3.1]

2. What kind of landscape does the story take place in? How does this affect the atmosphere of
the story? [RL.11-12.3.1]

3. How and why does the mood change as the story goes on? [RL.11-12.4.1]

Plot Structure

4. Enter the elements of the plot into the appropriate category and identify the narrative
structure. [RL.11-12.3.1]
Exposition:
Rising Action:
Conflict:
Climax:
Falling Action:

5. What event puts the conflict of the story in motion? [RL.11-12.2.1]

General Comprehension

1. How is Farquhar going to be hanged? [RL.11-12.1.1]

2. Why does Farquhar want to sabotage Owl Creek Bridge? [RL.11-12.1.1]

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3. What is the significance of the fact that the soldier who talks to Farquhar rides north
afterwards? [RL.11-12.1.2]

4. Why does the soldier who talks to Farquhar encourage him to sabotage Owl Creek Bridge?
[RL.11-12.1.1]

5. To what does Farquhar attribute his ability to dodge the first volley of fire from the Union
soldiers after his escape? [RL.11-12.1.1]

6. Why does the cannon switch from single shot to grape after firing once upon Farquhar?
[RL.11-12.1.1]

7. Why are Farquhar’s tongue and eyes so swollen by the end of his time in the woods?
[RL.11-12.1.1]

8. What happens to Farquhar as he approaches his wife and why? [RL.11-12.3.1]

Theme and Character

Theme
A theme is the unifying subject or idea of a work of literature which pervades the entire text and
helps to distinguish its voice and message.

1. What is the central theme of the story? [RL.11-12.2.1]

2. How is this theme developed throughout the story? [RL.11-12.2.2]

Character

3. How does the story get the reader to sympathize with the character of Farquhar? Why is it
important the reader be able to empathize with him in this way? [RL.11-12.5.1]

4. Are there any aspects of Farquhar’s character that make him less sympathetic? How do these
affect our understanding of the story? [RL.11-12.3.1] & [RL.11-12.5.1]

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Writing Style and Twist Endings

Writing Style

1. What is the writing style of the first section of the story? [RL.11-12.5.1]

2. How does the writing style change after Farquhar’s escape? [RL.11-12.5.1]

3. What narrative purpose does this shift in writing serve? [RL.11-12.5.1]

Twist Endings

4. How is the story’s twist ending foreshadowed from the beginning? [RL.11-12.5.1]

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 RL 01

11-12.1 Cite strong and thorough textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says
explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text, including determining where the text leaves
matters uncertain.
11-12.1.1 Provides strong and thorough textual evidence to support analysis of what the text
says explicitly and/or inferences drawn from the text.
11-12.1.2 Provides a determination of where the text leaves matters uncertain.
11-12.2 Determine two or more themes or central ideas of a text and analyze their development
over the course of the text, including how they interact and build on one another to produce a
complex account; provide an objective summary of the text.
11-12.2.1 Provides a statement of two or more themes or central ideas of a text.
11-12.2.2 Provides an analysis of how two or more themes or central ideas interact and build on
one another to produce a complex account over the course of the text.
11-12.2.3 Provides an objective summary of a text.
11-12.3 Analyze the impact of the author’s choices regarding how to develop and relate elements
of a story or drama (e.g., where a story is set, how the action is ordered, how the characters are
introduced and developed).
11-12.3.1 Provides an analysis of the impact of the author’s choices regarding how to develop
and relate elements of a story or drama (e.g., where a story is set, how the action is ordered, how
the characters are introduced and developed).

RL 02

11-12.4 Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in the text, including
figurative and connotative meanings; analyze the impact of specific word choices on meaning
and tone, including words with multiple meanings or language that is particularly fresh,
engaging, or beautiful. (Include Shakespeare as well as other authors.)
11-12.4.1 Demonstrates the ability to determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are
used in a text (e.g., figurative, connotative) and/or provides an analysis of the impact of specific
word choice on meaning and/or tone, including words with multiple meanings or language that is
particularly fresh, engaging, or beautiful.
11-12.5 Analyze how an author’s choices concerning how to structure specific parts of a text
(e.g., the choice of where to begin or end a story, the choice to provide a comedic or tragic
resolution) contribute to its overall structure and meaning as well as its aesthetic impact.
11-12.5.1 Provides an analysis of how an author’s choices concerning how to structure specific
parts of a text (e.g., the choice of where to begin or end a story, the choice to provide a comedic
or tragic resolution) contribute to its overall structure and meaning.
11-12.6 Analyze a case in which grasping a point of view requires distinguishing what is directly
stated in a text from what is really meant (e.g., satire, sarcasm, irony, or understatement).

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11-12.6.1 Provides an analysis of a case in which grasping a point of view requires
distinguishing what is directly stated in a text from what is really meant (e.g., satire, sarcasm,
irony, or understatement).

RL 03

11-12.7 Analyze multiple interpretations of a story, drama, or poem (e.g., recorded or live
production of a play or recorded novel or poetry), evaluating how each version interprets the
source text. (Include at least one play by Shakespeare and one play by an American dramatist.)
11-12.9 Demonstrate knowledge of eighteenth-, nineteenth- and early-twentieth-century
foundational works of American literature, including how two or more texts from the same
period treat similar themes or topics.
11-12.9.1 Demonstrates knowledge of how two eighteenth-century foundational works of
American literature, two nineteenth-century foundational works of American literature, or
two early-twentieth-century foundational works of American literature treat similar themes
or topics.

RL 04

11-12.10 By the end of grade 11, read and comprehend literature, including stories, dramas, and
poems, in the grades 11-CCR text complexity band proficiently, with scaffolding as needed at
the high end of the range.
By the end of grade 12, read and comprehend literature, including stories, dramas, and poems, at
the high end of the grades 11-CCR text complexity band independently and proficiently.
By the end of grade 12, read and comprehend literature, including stories, dramas, and poems, at
the high end of the grades 11–CCR text complexity band independently and proficiently.

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