Etch A Sketch

In, Legend of Sleepy Hollow, Washington Irving highlights a viable arrangement of starvation pictures that starts with his long portrayal of the emaciated, haggard Ichabod and reaches out to the practically physical yearning that his hero feels when he sees the rich produce of Van Tassel 's territory. Irving utilizes imagery, tone, and symbol to suit the equally mixed story line and underlying concept in this story. The author of this short story creates a mysterious and suspenseful tone which…

Irving helped gain international respect for American literature through his short stories, biographies, and histories. During the 19th century, he undertook the persona of Geoffrey Crayon and published a collection of 34 pieces of writing titled The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon. One of the most popular short stories amongst this collection, The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, is noted for its action, adventure, romance, horror, and even comedy. Ichabod Crane, the protagonist of the story, is an…

According to Haviland, “Verbal arts generally transmit and preserve a culture’s customs and values” (341). Throughout the United States, the story of the Headless Horseman, a verbal story described in “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow,” is well-known in American folklore. It is a scary story that many children tell around the campfire in an attempt to scare one another, saying that if someone is not careful, the Headless Horseman will come for them. However, many Americans do not realize that this…

“Rip Van Winkle” was an iconic short story that was written by Washington Irving, in June, 1818. It was so well-known that almost every child in the United States has read it or heard about it once in their lifetime. Irving creates a simple-minded and easygoing character named Rip Van Winkle. He was cherished by the community, but his wife henpecks him day and night because of his carefree attitude. However, Irving’s illustration of Rip does not encompass the true reality of the “American Dream”…

While verse was economically marginal in the early nineteenth century, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807-1882) became the first American poet who could live off his royalties (Gioia 74). He was also the first poet of the New World to achieve an international fame; his reputation reached Europe and even Latin America (64). Devoted to the creation of a native literature, Longfellow committed himself to developing an American poetic diction. In “Our Native Writers” (1825), his graduation address,…

There are plenty of ways to pass time. If you’re taking the bus home after a long night at work and waiting for your stop to come, play a quick game on your phone or listen to music, maybe chat with someone sitting next to you. If you’re waiting in the long lines at Disneyland, take a minute to pay attention to accents and other languages that you might hear, or watch the faces of the people just getting off the ride. If you’re waiting for your nagging shrewish wife to finally stop pestering and…

Every one of us as kids loved reading myths such as Hercules or Perseus. However, did you know that there are some myths that originated right at home? Washington Irving’s story of Rip Van Winkle manages to merge several traits of a mythological story. The traits we will focus on include, setting the story in the past, filled with exaggerated characters, and features magical events with their consequences. How do these traits affect the story? And how do readers feel because of these traits?…

Bud, Not Buddy Modern Era Bud, Not Buddy, is read all over the country because of the Great Depression, but if it was written in today's times, that would not be the case. If this story was written in the modern era a lot of things would be different. Bud's mother wouldn't have died, Bud would've had more knowledge about Hooverville, and Bud would have been able to find Herman E. Calloway's exact location. I think the changes in this story would make it a lot more eventful. If this story was…

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…