Rip Van Winkle Time Travel Analysis

American Romanticism illustrates the first truly American literary movement that began alongside the beginning of a new nation. American Romanticism appeared in response to the rationalists, such as Ben Franklin, which the American Romantics believed to be too single-minded and expressive. American Romanticism focused on the beauty of nature, imagination, feelings and expressions, higher truths in life that had to be discovered, and individualism. Consequently, this literary movement turned away from the corruption of cities and the rationalist mindset of the world and focused on nature and imagination. Washington Irving, in his stories “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow” and “Rip Van Winkle”, displays characteristics of American Romanticism and

Billy Pilgrim travels through time. It is debatable if Billy Pilgrim can actually time travel or not. I think he can’t time travel, simply because time travel is not possible. Billy can see what no other human can see with their eyes.

In Rip Van Winkle, Irving shows his doubts in the American Identity and the American dream. After the Revolutionary war, America was trying to develop its own course. They were free to govern their own course of development; however, some of them had an air of uncertainties on their own identity in this new country. Irving was born among this generation in the newly created United States of America, and also felt uncertainty about the American identity. Irving might be the writer that is the least positive about being an American. The main reason for this uncertainty is the new born American has no history and tradition while the Europe has a great one accumulated for thousands of years. Therefore, in order to solve this problem, Irving

Our Town takes place in Grover’s Corner, New Hampshire around the turn of the century. (1900’s). This play uses a lot of flashbacks. There’s one with George and Emily when they first fall in love at Mr. Morgan’s shop. It also uses foreshadowing. When they told of how everyone died. Another flashback is when Joe comes back after about ten years and they talk about the dead and everyone’s lives.

It was the story of heroic perseverance. The people somehow managed to endure one unimaginable hardship after another, to hold on to their lives, their land, and the ones they loved. The air itself could have killed them. The sky showered down this suffocating, blackness that could’ve erased the sun at mid-day. It was a result of a whole bunch of things that are just in aid to human beings. The great plain stretched from Canada to southern Texas, from the Missouri river to the Rocky Mountains. It was a land of few trees, frequent rains, and constant winds. On January 21st, 1932 a dust cloud appeared outside of Amarillo, Texas. This one rose 10,000 feet into the air. It carried winds of 60 miles per hour. The people have never seen nothing like it in their lives. It scared them to death. They didn’t know what to think. You could have been just standing there still and then wham the dust hits you. The storm passed quickly but that winter of 1932 was uncommonly dry and so was the spring that followed. The fierce winds began picked up the sand and soil from the bear fields again and moved it across the landscape. It reduced visibility to less than a quarter mile. The sand storms did so much damage to the peoples lands and the cattle. Even if they walked across the street their legs would be blistered because the dirt hit them so

The story is set in a remote community named Wirrawee in a 21 century context. This is stated through out the book. “Lee lived in town, like Fi. "Lee and Fi, from Wirrawee" we used to sing.”(Ch 1. P15) This Town is rural and right next to a formidable mountain range. The author describes the town and its surroundings with in the book with: “Way in the distance you got glimpses of the rich farmland of the Wirrawee district, dotted with houses and clumps of trees, the lazy Wirrawee river curving slowly through it. And on the other side was Hell” (Ch 2. P19) Wirrawee is a country town with many farms surrounding it. It is a small tight night community who live directly next to a large mountain range which is quite mysterious and majestic. The

Being born and raised in an area that was homesteaded by my ancestors has always piqued my curiosity about local legends. This can often leave one biased because we tend to accept things our parents and grandparents tell us as whole truths. Often this is not the case. Sometimes being passed down by word of mouth a few facts get misconstrued. I find this book very interesting because some of my family lived near these places during the time these events happened. I travel the same streets and visit the towns where this took place.

The Great Smoky Mountains are one of a kind mountains. I was on the top of one of mountains; the view was breathtaking and was an amazing to see. I relate to Dellarobia’s awe from the mountains and countryside. Appalachia is a mainly rural area, with distinct people and landforms. There is diversity in this area. In some places, technology thrives. In others however, are lacking up to date technology. From one perspective, this is understandable. Every town is different and may not have every object the next town has. These places are isolated from industrial cities; many jobs in this area include farming, coal mining, and lumbering. However, looking at this from another angle, this is unfair to the areas without up to date technology. These areas could be in poverty and may not be able to afford everything new. This novel gives us an example of this with the Turnbow family and their

As the family is driving along, the grandmother awakens from a nap and recalls “an old plantation that she had visited in this neighborhood once when she was a young lady” (189). This recollection happens while the family is driving through the town of Toomsboro, GA. The grandmother is extremely manipulative and selfish and coaxes the family into visiting the old plantation by lying to them with the possibility of finding hidden treasure. The name of the town is only a slight indication of the terrible tragedy that is yet to come. It is no

The setting of this story is in a swamp where it is dark and mysterious. It makes you feel like you are going to read about a dangerous tale. I think this setting helps set the tone for the story. The author uses parts of the setting to tell the story, like the great tree in the swamp that is rotten on the inside, representing

Stories come and go, but Washington Irving integrates “Rip Van Winkle” into American Mythology by describing mysterious events and their consequences. Rip Van Winkle, the main character, unknowingly walks into a mystical trap that costs him dearly. The man agrees to help a seemingly helpless fellow carrying a keg of liquor, and he enters an amphitheatre that held “a company of odd-looking personages playing at nine-pins” (Irving, 68-69). After settling down, Rip Van Winkle tries the mysterious liquid and slowly falls into a deep sleep, and twenty years later, he finds himself in different society and is confused to the point he “can’t tell what’s [his] name, or who [he is]” (Irving, 69-75). As Irving crafts his story, the main character comes

The story takes place in a rural American community, Dickson County, at the turn of the twentieth

In “Rongier Hill,” William Least Heat-moon introduces readers to a “giant map of the United States”. (10) He imagines the drawing of lines through the middle of the United States and how these two lines would cross together. His story is a place of comfort and peace, where he found himself. Yet we see how the story gets to making sense and bringing all the parts together; from the sighting seeing on the prairie to the town people and the lady driving on the road. By telling the story from his point of view, it allows us to somehow share his feelings and ways of thinking on his journey.

At its most basic level Rip Van Winkle is a humorous story of a man who sets off into the mountains to find so much needed peace and quiet, then sleeps for twenty years. Washington Irving uses a combination of satire, imagery, and irony, intertwined with symbolism, to paint an allegorical image of the American Revolution. Irving particularly focuses the tale of Rip on America’s political struggle during the latter half of the eighteenth century while highlighting the role of England as a colonializing society. The use of symbolism helps in creating a vivid mental picture and a physical sensation of the subject without directly referring to the details of the revolution itself. Understanding the symbolism helps in deriving the full meaning of Irving’s writing and the themes it addresses. Ultimately, an analysis of the symbolism will help in understanding the American struggle against England, and how the American Revolution shaped the future of America.

“Rip was ready to attend to anybody’s business but his own: but as to doing family duty, and keeping his farm in order, he found it impossible,” (Irving 10). Washington Irving is a romantic American writer in the 1800s with works including Rip Van Winkle as a part of the collection of essays and short stories called The Sketchbook. Rip Van Winkle is set in a village near the Kaatskill Mountains during the American Revolution and tells the story of a man who is loved by many in the town but spends his days in idleness. His wife often nags him because Van Winkle does not work for anything in his family. One day, to escape his wife’s nagging, Van Winkle walks off into the mountains with his dog, Wolfe. He stumbles upon a group of strange