Purple Crayon

Have you ever thought what it would be like to live in a fantasy world or to a part of your favorite fictional book? Many people think that these fake worlds would be better than reality. There are so many characteristics in these stories that make us find it more appealing. Whether it be the unique characters or magical events. A lot of these characteristics we like about stories appear in American myths. All of the main characteristics of an American myth can be found in Washington Irving’s…

These included Johnathan Oldstyle (1802-03), Diedrich Knickerbocker (1807-09), and Geoffrey Crayon (1819-20). Though short-lived, had distinct characteristics which differentiated them from one another, similar to multiple personalities with the common characteristics of a satirical sense of humor. Each alias came with its own type of historical…

Journalist Linda Ellerbee, once stated, "People are pretty much alike. It 's only that our differences are more susceptible to definition than our similarities." People do not realize how similar they are until they determine what they have in common. We can see that people accept our differences because our differences make us who we are. Linda Ellerbee 's statement reminded me of the main characters in the stories "The Devil and Tom Walker" and "Rip Van Winkle". Tom and Rip are two…

Washington Irving’s character Rip Van Winkle was a man looking to escape his troubles. When he escaped he slept for twenty years. During his sleep wars were won and lost, a new country was formed and people moved on from their memory of him. Rip Van Winkle’s town, townspeople, and house changed physically and politically while he stayed in the past during his sleep. His sleep demonstrates Irving’s idea of escapism. Irving writes how Rip Van Winkle wanted to escape due to his troubles. Before…

Figurative language can be used to paint a theme for a specific piece of literature. When the figurative language is utilized it can establish a tone and mood for the reader. In doing so, it also allows for the piece of literature to be defined into different forms like romantic and Gothic literature. “Rip Van Winkle” by Washington and “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow” by Washington Irving have different examples of figurative language that allows for them to be classified as romantic and gothic.…

“Rip Van Winkle”, written by Washington Irving, is about a man in colonial America named Rip Van Winkle, who falls asleep in the Catskill Mountains and wakes up twenty years later, having missed the American Revolution. The setting of “Rip Van Winkle” is in New York before and after the American Revolution. Irving uses historical allegory to create an American Romantic folktale that strengthens the national identity of the newly formed country. The main character and protagonist of the story is…

The year was 1997. Rip Van Winkle is lying in bed and dreading going to work. Rip was pay phone technician with Bellsouth. He was rather lazy so this job suited him perfectly. All he had to do was drive around and repair pay phones and collect the money. Rip had been married for fifteen years. During these fifteen years, he had been bossed around daily by his wife. Today wasn’t any different. His wife, Dame Van Winkle, stormed into the bedroom and demanded that he get up. Rip replied to her in…

Washington Irving was one of the best fiction writers of the early nineteenth century. He was the first American fiction writer to obtain an international reputation. He was also named for George Washington, the first president. Irving wrote “The Devil and Tom Walker” in the early nineteenth century, and the story took place in 1727. The story’s point of view was in the third person. The story’s setting took place at Charles Bay, near Boston Massachusetts. In “The Devil and Tom Walker” it is…

I believe Washington Irving’s purpose for writing “Rip Van Winkle” was to express the simple concept of uncontrollable change. To express change Irving used a clever fairy tale, drenched in historical truths. Reading Rip was entertaining, but unlocking the depth was not simple. My conclusion is this: on the individual level change is inevitable, the world is a moving place, but we have a choice, we can either change with it or stay the same, and even with that it is still up to the community to…

Washington Irving is a writer who authored many short stories and essays in the early nineteenth century. He is the writer of many classical short stories, such as “Rip Van Winkle,” “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow,” and “The Devil and Tom Walker,” which are many people’s favorite short stories. However, in many of these stories the portrayal of certain male characters--and their relationships with female characters--have raised the question of whether or not Washington Irving had some questionable…