As part of my college English class we have to write several papers from 500 to 750 words long. My teacher assigned a new paper about a week ago, he gave us 8 stories to choose from, and if I get the gist of it, we are supposed to write about the story. Such as themes, or how the main character relates to the setting, or something along those lines.

Well I have chosen a short story called An Occurrence At Owl Creek Bridge by Ambrose Bierce, but I have no idea what to write about. I wanted to incorporate Bierce's usage and manipulation of time, but I'm not sure how I would relate that to anything, or how that may be a theme.

What I'm asking if for help to clarify the word theme, and how Bierces' use of time might be a theme, I guess.

If ya'll could give me any help, any at all, I would be forever thankful. Because right now I'm staring at an empty piece of paper, that should be my essay.

Well English is my worst subject, so I don't know how much help I'll be! The best I can do is look the word up for you! :P

This is how Dictionary.com defines "theme":

a subject of discourse, discussion, meditation, or composition; topic: The need for world peace was the theme of the meeting.

I vaguely remember reading that Prose before. The main goal in writing is to have a coherent thesis statement you start with in your introduction. Once you have a solid argument of particular thematic elements, you can move forward to bolster your argument through various forms of evidentiary support like direct quotes or connections to other literature/artistic compositions that share a similar theme or two.

You said you would like to focus on time? Well, maybe that could be the vehicle for your entire paper. Your introduction could deal with summarizing basically what the story is about while using metaphors or other literary prospects that relate to the importance of time to this story. Then once you reach your thesis to specifically state your main idea, that is where you can directly state that Pierce was very effective in employing a creative usage of time to allow the reader to gain a sense of who the main character is, why they are in the situation they are, and finally what you have learned as a result (theme).

Then the rest of your paper can be varying points on plot, thematic element, character development, and literary components (IE. Imagery, Methaphors, Paradox). This will allow you to complicate and change your thesis throughout the paper to show that you fully comprehend the Prose and provide good commentary/thoughts on what things mean and their relevance to your thesis. I hope that helped.