Read the excerpt from part 1 of "An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge."
He unclosed his eyes and saw again the water below him. “If I could free my hands,” he thought, “I might throw off the noose and spring into the stream. By diving I could evade the bullets and, swimming vigorously, reach the bank, take to the woods and get away home. My home, thank God, is as yet outside their lines; my wife and little ones are still beyond the invader’s farthest advance.”
As these thoughts, which have here to be set down in words, were flashed into the doomed man’s brain rather than evolved from it the captain nodded to the sergeant. The sergeant stepped aside.
Based on the excerpt, which is the most reasonable plot prediction?
A.) The prisoner will escape.
B.) The prisoner will beg for mercy.
C.) The execution will commence.
D.) The sergeant will stop the hanging.
Answer:
From the excerpt, the most reasonable plot prediction would be that C.) The execution will commence.
Explanation:
From the excerpt, there are some pieces of evidence which support the idea that the execution will commence.
First, the man is tied up and is thinking of escape from the place by believing that if he could free his hands and dive in to the water, he could "evade the bullets and, swimming vigorously, reach the bank, take to the woods and get away home".
Secondly, the second paragraph calls him a "doomed man" and then the captain nodded to the sergeant who stepped aside apparently in signal for the preparation of the execution to begin.
