The Legend Of Sleepy Hollow And Rip Van Winkkle And The Father Of American Literature

Washington Irving, is the author of the tale “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow,” that was written in the nineteenth century (Baym 25). Irving was born in New York City on April 3rd, 1783 and was the last of eleven children. At home, Irving read a wide range of English literature and delighted in many other writers, including Shakespeare, Oliver Goldsmith, and Laurence Sterne. In 1830 Irving bought and began refurbishing a house along the Hudson River near Tarrytown (Baym 25). The beginning of Irving’s tale opens up with the description of the charming Hudson Valley region of Sleepy Hollow near Tarrytown. “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow” represents a popular tale in Irving’s book, The Sketch Book (Baym 25). It’s ghostly tale that talks about a mysterious Headless Horseman that is said to be a Hessian trooper who lost his head by a cannon ball during battle. It is said that every night the Headless Horseman roams the countryside in search of his head. There is an unlikely hero in this tale named Ichabod Crane, but to the people of Sleepy Hollow the real hero is Brom Bones.

Through the course of “Rip Van Winkle” you stumble upon many remarkable and strange characters. Washington Irving reveals these complex characters through humor and exaggeration. Irving not only gives readers the characters

Irving uses personification in his description of setting to create an aura of mystery. In “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow,” Irving references a “moan from the hillside” (Irving, “Legend”

I strongly agree the statement “Washington Irving found in legend and folklore a view of the natural world colored by emotion, by superstition, and by the ancient belief that supernatural beings inhabit the wild places of the earth. He wrote stories that illustrated old truths about human nature and the dramatic possibilities of the American landscape.” Although Irving wrote over twenty volumes, including essays, poems, histories, biographies, and more, in class, we have focused on his fiction. Irving dispersed many beliefs and legends of his time, and the past, into his stories. He also made great use of American themes in these literary pursuits. Such details along with existent people and events interlaced in his fanciful tales are some of the reasons I find his work so distinctive and enjoyable.

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

Washington Irving’s Rip Van Winkle, at first glance, seems rather straightforward. A young man, in a rather small village, trying to get away from his duties of being a husband and his wife in general. However, while analyzing it further, it appears Irving is trying to give insight into his thoughts and feelings surrounding the American Revolution. As many thoughts and feelings are hidden in the writing of this text, the search for an identity during this time is the one that sticks out the most while reading Rip Van Winkle. There are many aspects of the short story that put emphasis on identity during this time in American history. There are many metaphors, comparisons and situations that point to identity being an important aspect of

The historical context urges the Irving’s great tale into the world of American mythology. Another example of the impact of mythological setting lies near the beginning of the plot arch. Rip goes up into the Kaatskill Mountains to hunt; a place that Irving depicts as remote in the following excerpt from the story: “Rip had unconsciously scrambled to one of the highest parts of the Kaatskill Mountains…and the still solitude had echoed.” The isolation that Rip had while in the mountains, where he would later sleep for twenty years, impacts the reader. It shows the reader the reason why nobody ever found him, as well as evoking a deeper emotion and concern for Rip as he slept out there all alone. Emotions find themselves imbedded in this mythology once again.

Washington Irving and Edgar Allan Poe were both writers who exemplified the writing style of the Romantic era. Both writers used their great talents to take the reader into the story. For example, Irving, in “Rip Van Winkle”, starts the story by saying, “Whoever has made a courage up the Hudson must remember the Kaatskill Mountains.” He also involves the reader in the story by taking us into the everyday lives of the Van Winkles and goes into some detail describing Rip’s “business”.

Washington Irving was one of the first American authors to be acclaimed in Europe. He used writing styles that mirrored the popular romantic novels of the time. Throughout the story many of these elements are apparent, all of which

Once I read the Norton Anthology section as well as the Washington Irving introduction. I learned a lot about Mr. Irving, In addition to the romantic literature. Such as the writers of this time being engaged with certain conflicts and the concerns of the time. Mr. Washington Irving being one of five most important namely writers. However out of the selection of writings, I am going to analyze the "Rip Van Winkle" tale.

In examining Washington Irving’s “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow” alongside Tim Burton’s film adaption of the story, titled “Sleepy Hollow,” a number of fascinating similarities and differences emerge. Though elements of the characters and settings of Burton’s film borrow heavily from Irving’s text, the overall structuring of the film is significantly different, and representations of various elements are crucially re-imagined. Tim Burton’s “Sleepy Hollow” was released on November 19, 1999, a few months before the new millennium. Set in 1799, Burton’s film modifies the 1790 date that Irving’s text is set in, showing an acute concern with

This comment is used to show the significance of Irving's fictional works to American literature. He used styles such as manipulation and imagery to captivate the reader. Imagery such as in Chapter 1 of "Rip Van Winkle" is enchanting and grabs the reader:

Irving addresses the so-called “credibility” of the story of “Rip Van Winkle” in the introduction. The story is based off of the knowledge of a man named Diedrich Knickerbocker, who was known to possess curious research about the history of the region.

Irving’s story also includes many extraordinary characters so as Rip Van Winkle who had a spouse and some children he likes going hunting up in the mountains with his dog-wolf. He fishes with hunting birds for his family to eat. While he still owns a farm but it's broken down since he never takes care of it as he spends his time doing chores for the wives of the village producing toys and jumping with the kids. His wife Dame Van Winkle is an artificial character the author makes her explanation to be a woman who shrieks and screams a lot.

First, Washington Irving’s story of Rip Van Winkle is a mastery of imagery, creating a panoramic view in the mind’s eye of the geographical setting during the 1700’s, right before the Revolutionary War. Irving captures the beauty of the region, the rugged wilderness, the colors of the sky against the Kaatskill Mountains and the river running through it. He describes the Kaatskills as a “dismembered part of the Appalachians”- an area that is remote and separated from the rest of the world. One