One single event, item, or person can be written about in many different ways and the way they are written often reflects on how and what the reader learns, and someone can see this when comparing learning history through literature and through informational text. When reading literature the reader is most likely to learn less than informational text. Literature focuses on a story and entertainment rather than learning and fact and because of this the information the reader learns could be false, biased or just vaque. When reading informational text the reader has a better chance of actually learning something. Informational text focuses on real facts and teaching and focuses very little to not at all to try and entertain the reader. One way …show more content…
As literatures main point is to tell a story when telling about history the author may make up characters, events, places, etc to help convey the information, while also changing or removing some information to make the story more interesting. In the story it states, “In that same village, and in one of these very houses (which, to tell the precise truth, was sadly time-worn and weather-beaten), there lived many years since, while the country was yet a province of Great Britain, a simple good-natured fellow, of the name of Rip Van Winkle” (Irving 8). In many pieces of literature a decent amount of the information the story contains is made up or false and this is seen in the short story “Rip Van Winkle.” The story itself focuses on the man Rip Van Winkle who is in fact not real, the character was made up by the author for this story. This story also contains many others things that were just fragments of the author’s imagination the biggest and most obvious one being that Rip Van Winkle is and never was real.Informational text is meant to inform the reader of everything that happened at an event, so when describing it it will include the truth and nothing but the truth as the author’s goal is to help the reader actually learn something. The test states, “In 1774 and the Spring of …show more content…
In the poem it states, “Listen, my children, and you shall hear Of the midnight ride of Paul Revere,” (Longfellow Lines 1-2).Most litterature stories main focus is to entertain the reader rather than inform them, and though some may contain actually information the main point is to tell a story. This is the case with the poem “Paul Revere’s Ride”. The poem itself tells of the true event of Paul Revere spreading the world of the British army approaching but even with this the poem is written in a way to make the reader entertained. The poem includes rhymes and extra useless information that is used to make the story more interesting and engaging rather than more informational. The author also excludes some information of the actual event they do not feel necessary to the story they are trying to tell.WIth informational text the author does not care about entertaining the reader but rather actually teaching them something. They tell the historical event exactly how it went down without adding a new story on top of it. The texts states, “Deciding on their own to continue on to
The education of an author on their topic is the biggest contributor to their reliability; having enough prior knowledge and background information on a subject is crucial when providing a historical analysis. An author’s personal background is of great importance as well, because their personal heritage and beliefs may lead to bias and misrepresentation of information, which removes all credibility of them and/or their work as source. Partiality, favoritism, and/or prejudice towards a specific demographic can create a blurred line between what is fact and what is opinion, which in turn can allow for personal assessments to be presented as arguments and facts even though they have been influenced to a great extent by prior thoughts and opinions.
“Rip Van Winkle” is set during the reign of King George the Third in a small village near the Catskill Mountains. Rip, the protagonist, states his residence is “a little village of great antiquity,” (page 62). In the opening of the story, the village where Rip held residence was remote and of great age. Villagers did not expand and can be described as complacent. Upon Rip’s return to the village after a mystical event, Rip is perplexed to see that the only thing recognizable is the natural surrounding features of the Catskill Mountains. The small village was now “larger and more populous. There were rows of houses which he had never seen before, and those which had been his familiar haunts had disappeared,” (page
Second, the historian must place himself within the existing historical debate on the topic at hand, and state (if not so formulaically as is presented here) what he intends to add to or correct about the existing discussion, how he intends to do that (through examining new sources, asking new questions, or shifting the emphasis of pre-existing explanations), and whether he’s going to leave out some parts of the story. This fulfills the qualities of good history by alerting readers to the author’s bias in comparison with the biases of other schools of scholarship on the topic, and shows that the author is confident enough in his arguments to hold them up to other interpreta...
In conclusion, Ferguson’s article is explaining how Washington Irving’s story “Rip Van Winkle” has multiple meanings that many readers can draw conclusions from. His article also demonstrates the generational aspect to the story and how everyone that reads it can enjoy and find their imaginations in it. The mentions of the general population and their thought process of the time can also be interpreted in many ways from their addictions to dismay and ignorance of their
Clearly then, one can see the necessity to read/see more then one perspective on historical events is crucial. One cannot rely on one description alone because the information may or may not be the complete truth. The author may leave out, embellish, or be uninformed of certain details, which leaves the reader at a disadvantage is he/ reads only one passage.
Historical information in the form of a textbook still proves to be valuable because there is no inferring that one must have to do. There is no perspective from one's point of view, no imagery. It is probably the most concrete source of information compared to films, novels, and documentaries. Often times, films and documentaries give the reader's digest version of their subject, and pertinent information is mentioned briefly or just omitted. Information in the form of a textbook is rich and extremely factual. It is in a textbook, that one would be most likely to find information regarding gender, class, ethnicity, and identity. The other sources are, more or less, concentrated on one or the other. Essays are same, in the sense that they can be factual as well. However, like a novel, it may be characterized as having a general theme, or view that is prominent throughout the context of the essay. This may cause for a different portrayal of the Vietnamese gender, class, ethnicity, and identity, based on the writer's perspective, much like that of Duong Thu Huong and her perspective of the North Vietnamese during the Vietnam War.
James Loewen’s, Lies My Teacher Told Me, criticizes the shortcomings of American education that is associated with inaccurate histories in textbooks. First, the fact that students do not have high regards when it comes to American history textbooks, proves how unreliable the education system is. In addition, textbooks are often to blame, because they are too dull, and are rather—boring (Loewen 384), which is why it has become a requirement for students to read books, because no one wants to read those uninteresting books. Even history textbooks, they cover redundant materials which make the subject more and more uninteresting to the students. It makes the students less motivated to learn. Moreover, he also argues that the problematic issues lie within the bureaucracy. They make the decisions on what the students will learn or which textbooks they will be reading. So far, they have not done a good job. At times, history textbooks were often censored and handpicked. It may even be completely different from the rest of the [history] textbooks. These censored textbooks, often keep the students in the dark when the controversial issues are removed (Loewen 389). It really undermines the freedom of speech and emphasizes that, often, key pieces are left out that is critical to the historical event, such as exemplifying that many of his college students have never even
Herodotus and Livy are arguably the earliest true historians in that they recorded occurrences with the goal accurately remembering them for educational purposes, rather than of entertaining the people. Although they do appear to attempt to provide an accurate account of the events of the time, there are some sections of the book where a clear bias is portrayed. Even though both Herodotus and Livy impart some of their personal opinion into their histories, they do so in different ways which ultimately leads to a divergence in their styles of writing.
Irving composed the story in light of the American individuals at time when society has changed drastically due to American Revolution. The analogies of Irving's Rip Van Winkle cover an array of Revolutionary encounters: America before English enforcement, early American provinces under English principle, and after the American Revolution. He suggests that there is an immense contrast which leads Rip astonished, to know he is in some other time. This could symbolize the American's perspective on their new home.
In the short story "Rip Van Winkle" , Washington Irving tells a story of a man who sleeps through the revolution. This story demonstrates two ways of looking at Revlutionary history, one of myth and one of fact. The mythical representation wins out, through popularity, over the factual representation.
Washington Irving wrote Rip Van Winkle with the American people in mind. At this time society was changing drastically. America was attempting to go through a struggle with forming their own identity. America was wanting to have an identity that would set them free from English culture and rule. Irving uses his main character, Rip Van Winkle, to symbolize America. Rip goes through the same struggles that America was going through at this time before and after the Revolution. Irving uses such great symbolism in this story to describe the changes that American society went through. This story covers a wide variety of time periods including: America before English rule, early American colonies under English rule, and America after the Revolutionary War.
“Rip Van Winkle”, a short story written by Washington Irving, is known for being a tale that illustrates multiple aspects of life before and after the American Revolution. After spending twenty years in the forest asleep, Rip Van Wrinkle returns to his quaint village to find his home transformed into a bustling town. By the end of the story, he has become a local historian; telling the townspeople what the village was like in days before the revolution. The events of “Rip Van Winkle” occurred due to the actions of Rip Van Winkle’s wife: Dame Van Winkle. Dame Van Winkle can be viewed as the main antagonist in “Rip Van Winkle”, as well as a symbol of Great Britain before and after the American Revolution.
That Van Winkle is confused seems obvious and is quite understandable, but this confusion extends beyond the bizarre sequence of events encountered. When Rip notices the person that the township refers to as Rip Van Winkle, it is as though he is looking into a mirror, for this person portrays a "precise counterpoint of himself." Although Rip visually sees this other person, his examination becomes a personal reflect...
Washington Irving’s Rip Van Winkle, is the story of Rip Van Winkle, a seemingly lazy man, prone to habitual drunkenness who wanders into the mountains to escape the tyranny of his nagging wife Dame Van Winkle. During his alleged hunting trip, he meets with a mystical band of creatures “dressed in a quaint, outlandish fashion” ( (Irving p 476). Upon the encounter, he is offered a flagon of beverage of mysterious nature, which he consumes most eagerly and then falls into an alcoholic induced slumber. Rip awakens to find himself in a strange and confusing new world, which is both familiar and unfamiliar to him. He returns to his tiny village to find that new faces have replaced the old familiar ones. The house he once lived in has fallen into disrepair and his loved ones are nowhere to be found. Even the inn where he spent many an evening is no longer the same. Where there was once a portrait of King George, a new portrait of another George, this one named Washington, hangs in its place. The old familiar British flag has been replaced by a strange new flag with an “assemblage of stars and stripes” (Irving p 478). In what seems like at first like a fable, Rip Van Winkle, is actually an allegory of the American Revolution. Irving uses creative symbolism throughout the story to portray America before and after the Revolutionary War. Rip is representative of the American people, Dame Van Winkle shows qualities of King George and British rule and the townspeople represent the change in the American people.
Critique Camouflaged by Fiction Without a doubt, the façade of the folktale “Rip Van Winkle” by Washington Irving presents an amusing story jam-packed with outlandish and comical occurrences; however, this seemingly innocent story conceals a double-edged sword of critique aimed directly at the heart of the new American nation. First, the story launches into a description of Rip Van Winkle, a man “hen-pecked” by his wife yet content with his idleness. The relationship of Rip and his wife is analogous to the colonies being dragooned by the British parliament to pay taxes and submit to intolerable acts prior to the Revolutionary War. Immediately, the story establishes an obscure but aggressive political theme that is continued throughout the