Two and Three Evaluation

The Civil War Stories of Ambrose Bierce
                Ambrose Bierce
                'San Francisco Examiner' and 'Cosmopolitan (New York)'
                1888-1891

The Civil War stories of Ambrose Bierce include "What I Saw of Shiloh' and 'One of the Missing'. These stories are very reliable as they are primary sources. They are useful as they allowed me to have a greater understanding of Bierce and to give my own opinions on what his stories represent. The stories are valuable as they are primary sources and convey a part of Bierce that is not seen in any biographies about his life. They are, in essence, an autobiography.

Strengths in the stories include Bierce's own opinions of the American Civil War. They show the context in which he was writing and convey a part of his life. The conditions of the Civil War are also displayed. The weakness of the source is that they do not, in any clear terms, say what Bierce's representation of the war is. They do, however, allow interpretation. Most of the stories are from the point of view of a Union soldier, creating bias.

The central argument of the source is that war is an undesirable thing. It mainly focuses on the American Civil War. It also shows how people are likely to choose their country or beliefs over their family. The stories are often dark and are filled with death.

 

 

'Ambrose Bierce Project'
                http://www.ambrosebierce.org/main.html
                Craig A. Warren
                Erie, Pennsylvania
                Copyright 2005-2012

The Ambrose Bierce Project is a reliable site as it provides a short summary of the life of Ambrose Bierce, his stories, and the credentials of the site authors and editors. It is useful for the beginning of an investigation, but it is not as useful for an in-depth investigation. It is valuable as it contains the all of the stories of Bierce in a categorical order.

The strengths of the website is that it contains a short summary of Bierce's life, his stories and other texts such as essays and articles. There is also a list of possible sources, but  it does not claim to have used them. It appears to be largely unbiased. Weaknesses include a lack of detailed information and lacks citation and so can make unfounded claims. The source gives information about the life of Bierce and it provides its viewers with the stories of Bierce. This allows for an introduction into possible further research into the life of Bierce.