Washington Irving

the main character. Individualism means “the individual separate from the masses’’(Craig White). The main character, Rip, show’s individualism by trying to independently adjust to changes that occur after he wakes up from his twenty year sleep. Washington Irving’s depiction of individualism provides a basic understanding to show how he adjusted to the ‘’new world.” Noted in the text, “The very character of the people seemed changed. There was a busy, bustling, disputatious tone about it,…

When thinking about the United States as an upstart country, as it was in Washington Irving’s time, certain basic terms and images come to mind, as they were taught in primary school: puritans and pilgrims, Indians, untouched landscapes, new settlers (in this case Dutch), and so on with things of that nature. Accompanying these terms are some more abstract ideas. The notion of freedom, the American dream, hard work, self-interest, and the concept of rebelling against an unmatched power also…

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…

As the 18th century came to its last years, it granted hope and cheer for futures of men, disregarding class and education. Following that into the 19th century rose a period known as the American Romanticism. The search for individuality became a growing goal for the citizens of America as it removed itself from the British Empire. With independence came the rise of national pride and the popularity of an anti-British doctrine. Especially for American literature, as it progressed and matured…

Literary devices can change major elements in stories if they are altered, resulting in massive changes leading to a different literary device as a product. Some literary devices have little effect on the plot and story if altered accordingly, such as universal broad themes. In the stories of “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow”, “Rappaccini’s Daughter”, and “The Jilting of Granny Weatherall” there are many differences in literary devices in the adaptations into movies; such as the character portrayal,…

In Washington Irving 's "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" and Edgar Allan Poe 's "The Cask of Amontillado," Brom Bones and Montresor take self-preservation to a far extreme. This idea of protecting one 's self and preserving one 's ability to achieve a certain status at any cost becomes a dark, greedy American ideal. At the beginning of both stories, Brom 's desire to destroy any suitor 's hopes of winning Katrina and Montresor 's joking tone leaving Fortunato unknowing of his fate reduce any chance…

Can books remove readers from their natural environments? In books, people can encounter a world of adventure much alien to the current realities of today. Washington Irving’s short story “Rip Van Winkle” contains multiple elements of Romantic literature: primitivism, imagination, and escape from civilization. While the present world features many complex technologies and customs, Rip Van Winkle’s world appreciates the primitivism of mankind with feelings of uneasiness with women, childlike…

The Legend of Sleepy Hollow by Washington Irving portrays many voices. This writing shows the romanticism, complex voice, and the idea of transcendentalism. When one thinks of romanticism, they may think of someone who is romantic. In reality, romanticism is something very different. Romanticism involves nature, emotions are essential to life, and that dreams mean something. The description of nature in this writing is very romantic. The writing states “Not far from this village, perhaps…

The heart of a story lies in the moral. Once a story has been read, the reader must understand the moral, in order to appreciate the story. Sometimes a story 's moral can be explained with a cliché. Washington Irving 's Rip Van Winkle, can be captured by the cliché, you reap what you sow. Rip 's life was not fruitful, as many years were wasted, causing him to not reap any rewards. The Birthmark, by Nathaniel Hawthorne, follows a man plagued by the obsession to remove his wife 's birthmark, in…

Irving’s use of Masculinity and Femininity Washington Irving 's famous short story The Legend of Sleepy Hollow has many aspects masculinity and femininity. Femininity tends to dominate the short story a lot more than masculinity does, with the protagonist being very feminine. The two main male characters in the story are Ichabod Crane and Brom Bones. These two characters couldn’t be more opposite of each other than they are throughout the story, especially in aspects of masculinity. While Brom…