Have you ever been so terrified that you imagine things? Have you ever gone to bed right after you watched a scary movie and start to imagine to hear every little noise in your house? Your heart is racing and every creak you hear is a f

ootstep, every groan is someone (or something) breathing. Fear can distort a persons senses and heighten the imagination. In the short story "An Occurrence At Owl Creek Bridge", by Ambrose Bierce, this experience happens to the main character. A good example from literature is the main character in Edgar Allen Poe's "The Tell Tale Heart."

There are situation's in literature where fear can distort a person's senses and imagination. In Bierce's story, the character Payton Farquhar is about to be hanged for attempting to blow up a Union bridge. He is standing on a plank sticking out over the edge of a bridge. Farquhar has a rope around his neck, and as soon as the officer standing on the opposite end steps off, he will be hanged. In the split-second after the officer steps off (before Farquhar is hanged) he imagines the rope breaking off and himself plunging into the river below. He imagines getting the rope off and surfacing for breath. He imagines escaping the line of fire of the marksmen. His fear is so great he imagines this in less than a seco

Some common words found in the essay are:
Payton Farquhar, , Telltale Heart, Tale Heart, Ambrose Bierce, person's senses, Allen Poe's, dead man's, allen poe's, farquhar approached, fear distort, farquhar hanged, main character, rope neck, heart beat,
Approximate Word count = 716
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)