Twenty year naps, headless horsemen, and arranged marriages, what could be better? Washington Irving was an author of many short stories. His travels, westward expansion,and his short stories, made him a person many can not forget.
Irving was very adventurous and traveled a lot. He was born April 3, 1783 (“Washington” Web), into a prosperous merchant family (Byers 141) to William Irving Sr. and Sarah Irving (“Washington” Web). He was born and raised in New York City, New York (Byers 141) and was the youngest of 11 children (Merriman Web). He was named after George Washington and attended his inauguration in 1789 (“Washington” Web). George Washington gave his blessing on his namesake in 1789 according to a story (Liukkonen Web). He was very troublesome and adventurous as a child and would sneak out at night to see plays (Merriman Web). Irving received a private education (“Washington” Web) and instead of attending Columbia College like his older brothers (Byers 141) he became a clerk in Josiah Ogden Hoffman’s law office.
Irving suffered from bad health for many years, and in 1804 went to a spa in Bordeaux, France to treat a lung problem (Merriman Web). He traveled in France and Italy for two years (“Washington” Web) and returned to America in 1806 with better health (Merriman Web). When he returned he decided to practice law in New York City, but barely passed the bar exam in 1806 (“Washington” Web). He was not interested in it (Merriman Web) and only practiced for a short time (Liukkonen Web). Later, during the War of 1812, Irving was unsatisfied with having nothing to do (Merriman Web), so he became a military aid to Governor Tompkins in the U.S. army (Liukkonen Web).
In 1815 he left for England (Merriman Web)...
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...leepy Hollow and The Spectre Bridegroom were based off of German folktale as was Rip Van Winkle (Byers 142), his most well-known story (“Washington” Web). In 1822 he published a sequel to The Sketch Book called Bracebridge Hall (Liukkonen Web). Also in 1999 the film Sleepy Hollow was released based on his story The Legend of Sleepy Hollow (“Washington” Web).
I do not think that westward expansion or anything else that was going on in the U.S. affected Washington Irving’s writings. He spent a lot of his time out of the country so I do not believe that it could have had a real effect on it.
German folktales can be very interesting and Washington Irving showed that. Washington Irving was an author that had a different way of writing short stories than most people. His adventuresome nature,the early 1800s and his folktale like stories have left an amazing legacy.
Throughout Irving’s story, he used characterization, irony, the dreams, and other literacy devices to bring The Legend of Sleepy Hollow to life for Irving’s audience.
In Washington Irving’s work “Rip Van Winkle,” Irving demonstrates all characteristics of an American Mythology rather humorously. These characteristics affect the story attracting the attention of readers and impacting the reader’s experience of the story by relishing America’s unique attributes and values. In “Rip Van Winkle,” Irving incorporates attributes of American Mythology by setting the story in exciting pastimes, filling the story with strange and exaggerated characters, and featuring magical mysterious events.
So, they eventually moved West towards the canal to grow other crops. Due to its convenience and significant importance, new towns and cities formed along the edges of the canal which transformed the “Trans-Allegheny” west into a highly populated area. This migration to the west brought new forms of culture, increasing America’s cultural nationalism. The increase in cultural nationalism brought new forms of literature and new people to teach it. In 1820, Noah Webster, an American writer, wrote the Webster's New American Dictionary. This dictionary consisted of every word known at that time and ultimately increased the knowledge of other writers such as Washington Irving. Washington Irving wrote the famous stories Rip Van Winkle; The Legend of Sleepy Hollow and The Sketch Book. Also, the cultural nationalism brought upon the idea of poetry in America. The first American poet to gain recognition was William Cullen Bryant, who wrote Thanatopsis in 1817. To conclude, the American nationalism brought upon new forms of cultural and economic success and ultimately strengthened the American
George Washington was born on February 22, 1732. Despite losing his father at a juvenile age, 11, Lawrence his half-brother, 14 years older, quickly took over as a surrogate father figure to all of his younger siblings. Washington’s mother, Mary, became very protecting after the death of her husband (Georges father), Augustine. She kept George from enlisting in the British Navy contrary to the wishes of older brother, Lawrence. George lived with his older brother from the time he was about 15 and attended school in Virginia and never went to college. He was very good at mathematics which was quite suitable to his later occupation as a surveyor. In 1752, Lawrence also passed away his c...
?The Legend of Sleepy Hollow? is a short story by Washington Irving. Based on a well-known legend, this story tells the tale of the disappearance of the main character, Ichabod Crane. An effective ghost story, Irving leaves you guessing what the truth is behind the ending. The movie Sleepy Hollow is Hollywood?s portrayal of Irving?s original story. Although the movie is similar to the story in the beginning, the movie takes a twist that leads in another direction that strays far from the original plot.
George Washington was born on February 22th, 1732 in Virginia. He grew up as a country boy and loved his family. At the age of 17 he became a surveyor and had made a good reputation for himself as a responsible man. At the age of 20 he was assigned by the governor to send be a messenger
Irving does this to help readers realize how caught up the society of Sleepy Hollow is with their past. Irving frequently brings up the Revolutionary war and how the headless horseman was a Hessian soldier from the war. When he writes, “The dominant spirit that haunts this enchanted region is the apparition of a figure on horseback without a head. It is said to be the ghost of a Hessian trooper, whose head had been carried away by a cannonball in some nameless battle during the Revolutionary War… The specter is known, at all the country firesides, by the name of the Headless Horseman of Sleepy Hollow” (Irving 2).
Hoffman, Daniel G. "Irving's Use of American Folklore in "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow"" PMLA 68.3 (1953): 425-35. JSTOR. Web. 7 Oct. 2015.
The Romantic era writers, Washington Irving and Edgar Allan Poe, had many similarities but even more differences, in both writing theme and style. This is very evident in their works, “Rip Van Winkle”, by Irving, and “The Fall of the House of Usher”, by Poe.
George Washington was born February 22, 1732 into a Virginia farming family that is considered middle class now a days. George Washington’s father, Augustine, who was a leading planter in the area, died when george was eleven. George's mother, Mary, had a hard time holding their home together after the death of her husband. Her two sons from a previous marriage were there to help. Even when he was young, George displayed a gift for mathematics. Even though the highest level of education he received was elementary. His skill with numbers as well as his ambition and social skills, caught the attention of Lord Fairfax, head of one of the most powerful families in Virginia. At the age of sixteen, Lord Fairfax employed George as one of his surveyors. The young George would travel deep into the wilderness for weeks at a time which is one of the reasons why he wasn’t able to finish his education.
With the end of the American Revolution, came an explosion of politicians hoping to influence the young democracy. At the time various political groups were attempting to fashion America politics into their vision of democracy. It was only natural that literature in the country at the time began showing the influence of this newly created democracy. Born in New York in 1783 and named for the American Revolution hero and first president, Washington Irving grew up a nation engulfed in the democratic passions. An atmosphere of this kind of politics could lend the idea that Irving would satire politics of this time. This satirical writing can be seen in the nature of the historical references and symbolic characters Irving uses in “Rip Van Winkle” where he mockingly compares colonial life under British rule to the young democracy that is the United States of his time.
At first, it seems as though Irving doesn’t indicate who the narrator is in the story but it’s clear that it is a third person narration. The answer to who is narrating the story can be found in the opening of the story where there is a subheadline that reads “A Traveller’s Tale” with an asterisk at the end indicating to the reader that there is more information to be known. The asterisk is to let the reader know that the narrator is a Swiss traveler, “The erudite reader, well versed in good-for-nothing lore, will perceive that the above Tale must have been suggested to the old Swiss by a little French anecdote, a circumstance said to have taken place in Paris” (106-107). In her essay titled, “Transatlantic Contrasts in Irving’s Sketch Book” Jane D. Eberwein writes on the importance of narration in a story, “”The writer’s personality,” or in this case the narrator’s, suffuses this form; so those who wish to analyze The Sketch Book must come to terms with Geoffrey Crayon as Irving’s representative. Not that Crayon narrates all these sketches… “The Spectre Bridegroom,” to a Swiss traveler in the kitchen of a Flemish inn” (154). Eberwein continues on and writes, “Even in those relatively few cases where he yields the narrator’s role to another of Irving’s personae, Crayon is the one who selects the story, frames it, and vouches to the reader for its interest” (154). Although the writer of the short stories
Irving uses many other images and scenes within this story that could be delved into further. However, I believe these three main points, along with the knowledge of the political climate of the times, shows Irving’s genius in representing both sides of the political gamut. Irving was able to cater to both the British and the Colonist without offending either side. Irving’s genius was that even though this was an allegory of its time, its elements could represent either or both sides of the conflict during the Revolution. This dual representation in an allegorical story ensured his success, in both countries as a writer. It allowed Irving to make a political statement without taking sides.
Washington Irving was a writer during the romantic period and he is best known for his short stories, The Legend of Sleepy Hollow and Rip Van Wrinkle. He was very insightful in the short story The Devil and Tom Walker,
John Irving was born March 2, 1942, in Exeter, New Hampshire, he was raised by his biological mother, and stepfather. Many events from Irving’s personal life have inspired books that he has written, such as, parent separations, feminism, sexual abuse, and sexual fantasies. Not only have plots been inspired by Irving’s personal life, but also the characters; which often follow Irving’s past experiences. Much like Charles Dickens, Irving’s themes focus on the darkness of the world and what the characters must face in order to overcome the complex plots. At the age of 15, John Irving’s life was greatly affected by reading, Great Expectations. The personal growth and character development found in Great Expectations have impacted Irving’s novels.