Comments on: Part 1: “A man stood upon a railroad bridge in northern Alabama…”

By: 21st Century Collaborative Literacies | Connor's Teaching Certification Blog

Fri, 21 Jan 2011 05:06:00 +0000

[...] literacy of our students but can be adapted to literary analysis through CommentPress (see this example). I have participated in a CommentPress collaboration and I feel that this “noun” meets the [...]

By: Rebecca Holmes

Rebecca Holmes — Sun, 09 Dec 2007 15:52:44 +0000

Why does Farquhar have that silly music-playing watch in the film? It must have been trendy at the time, or a gift, or something. It just seems like a strange thing for a southern gentleman to have.

By: Kelly Askew

Kelly Askew — Wed, 05 Dec 2007 18:44:42 +0000

I agree completely. I really like how the director seemed to show every inch of Peyton’s surroundings and almost slow down his last couple of minutes. I think it is probably realistic of a person’s last few minutes,and i also think such a vivid description of his surroundings shows how Peyton was probably searching for a way to escape.

By: Kelly Askew

Kelly Askew — Wed, 05 Dec 2007 18:39:12 +0000

i thought this clip was a really interesting one, and the ticking clock really stood out to me. The ticking, compacted with the silence of most of the clip and also the vision of his wife sort of expressed distress. I think the clock really put some stress and urgency into the mood of this clip, which varies a lot from what i understood from the actual text.

By: Kelly Askew

Kelly Askew — Wed, 05 Dec 2007 18:17:47 +0000

I agree–I think that the movie takes away from some of the ambiguity that was created in the context of the original story. It would be impossible to not spell things out for viewers.

I also agree with Alex and Daniel. I think that the mood of the stories are exemplified in the video.

By: Alex Lowe

Alex Lowe — Wed, 28 Nov 2007 18:40:11 +0000

i like how this scene is dragged out.. it seems that the director could have made it very quick and to-the-point, but the detail placed on each step in preparing the noose/putting it on definitely emphasizes the fear building up both in peyton & the audience… much more effective than just showing a quick shot of the noose being put around his neck.

By: Rebecca Holmes

Rebecca Holmes — Tue, 27 Nov 2007 00:36:45 +0000

In the text of the story, Bierce just describes the situation and lets the reader deduce that Farquhar is about to be hanged. (Starting with “A man stood upon a railroad bridge in northern Alabama …” and “The man’s hands were behind his back …”)

The film can’t really achieve the same effect, because I think its clear that Farquhar is going to be hanged as soon as the shot shows him to us.

By: Rebecca Holmes

Rebecca Holmes — Tue, 27 Nov 2007 00:35:01 +0000

The bird calls in the beginning of the film are interesting–what kind of bird is it? An owl, maybe?

By: Alex Lowe

Alex Lowe — Sat, 24 Nov 2007 16:50:35 +0000

i agree with daniel — i think the video is very accurate in portraying the story the way it is written, which is sort of a tough thing to do. it seems as though everything — the black and white/graininess, the point of view of the camera, etc — is working to stay true to the text.

By: Craig Golden

Craig Golden — Wed, 31 Oct 2007 18:50:04 +0000

The ticking during the slow motion scene with his wife adds an air of suspense that is lacking from simply the text. Obviously, the text cannot allow you to hear the ticking. Also, I like how the sergeant snaps Farquhar back into reality as the ticking seems to “go off.”