Research Paper on:
Literary Themes and the Life of Ambrose Bierce

Unformatted Sample Text from the Research Paper:
these philosophies are evident in many of his works. Ambrose Bierce was commonly referred to as "Bitter Bierce" (Ambrose Bierce, 2002).  He was born on June 24, 1842 and during his life was a well-known "American newspaper columnist, satirist, essayist, short-story writer, and novelist, an enigmatic figure, who disappeared in  the Mexican Revolution" (Ambrose Bierce, 2002). He was considered to be a "naughty" child who often pulled devilish pranks (Master of the Macabre). No one knows for  sure how he died but it is presumed that he died in "the siege of Ojinega on 11 January 1914" (Ambrose Bierce, 2002). Bierce is best known for  his short stories and these stories reveal the influence of Edgar Allen Poe in his life (Ambrose Bierce, 2002). It is ironic to note though that Bierce did not  like the comparisons made to this great writer and Bierce claimed he was completely opposed to realism (Ambrose Bierce, 2002). Bierce was born in Meigs County, Ohio, as  the tenth of thirteen children of Marcus and Laura Bierce (Ambrose Bierce, 2002; See also The Life of Bierce, 2002). He came from a family who was dedicated to  literature and his father had an impressive library (Ambrose Bierce, 2002). Bierces family was considered to be "sternly religious" (Bierce, 2002). Later, the family moved to Indiana  and that is where Bierce spent the majority of his childhood growing up. When reflecting upon his early years there in Indiana, he is noted as having written, "With  what anguish of mind I remember my childhood, / Recalled in the light of a knowledge since gained; / The malarious farm, the wet, fungus grown wildwood, / The chills