The Things They Carried is about Lieutenant Jimmy Cross, the leading officer of a band of soldiers in the Vietnam War. It is written by Tim O’Brien. Jimmy falls in love withe girl named Martha who is back home attending college. He carries a couple of pictures and letters that she has sent. The group comes across a runner and they draw numbers to see who has to go in to check it out.
“Rip Van Winkle” and the Emergence of an American Mythology. By Danise Bachman Rip van winkle in indeed a classic piece of American mythology. Washington Irving set this story in the past and filled it with exaggerated and sometimes, strange characters. It also features a mysterious and magical occurrence that put the main character to sleep for twenty years!
Irving’s Character Alikeness Biographical and short story writer, Washington Irving is known for his works “Rip Van Winkle” and “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow.” However, he does have additional short stories. Between 1819 and 1820, Washington Irving published The Sketch Book, which was made up of approximately 30 short stories. Within those works were characters such as John Bull, Rip Van Winkle, Ichabod Crane, the Headless Horseman of Sleepy Hollow, and several other unnamed characters. Now, the nameless characters in Washington Irving’s tales had just as deep impacts in their stories as named characters; from those deep impacts came about noticeable character resemblances between those characters.
Washington Irving’s, The Sketchbook of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent. is a collection of thirty-four of his essays and short stories. Attributed to the fictional Dutch historian character, Diedrich Knickerbocker, are two of Irving’s most popular stories, The Legend of Sleepy Hollow and Rip Van Winkle. Rip Van Winkle is the story of a Dutch villager, living at the foot of the Catskill mountains before and after the American Revolutionary War. Van Winkle is genuinely loved by the people of his village, especially by the children whom he tells ghost stories to, plays with, and gives toys. However, this simple, easy-going man has one great error in his character: he is incredibly lazy, despising work in all forms.
Imagery is defined as the use of “figurative language to represent objects, actions, and ideas” in a way to “appeal to our physical senses” (LiteraryDevices Editors). Washington Irving is an American author during the early ages of an independent America. Taking place before and after the American Revolution, Irving offers offers a unique perspective on small American towns. Throughout his short story Rip Van Winkle, Irving incorporates the element of imagery to connect the audience to the setting, relate the character to the audience, and enhance the reader's experience. Irving writes as the main character, Rip Van Winkle.
Impact of Edgar Allan Poe on American Culture “Words have no power to impress the mind without the exquisite horror of their reality” (Edgar Allan Poe). For many readers, when they hear the name “Edgar Allan Poe” they think of horror and suspense. Additionally, the pictures and themes made by Edgar Allan Poe had a huge impact on the accompanying ages and works of different writers, with the goal that they even moved toward becoming submerged into the pop culture. During this time Edgar Allan Poe was becoming a prosperous writer, two of his most famous works are, “The Raven.” and “The Fall of the House of Usher.”
Tyler Mcilwain Reading response 2/15 "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" In this piece, Irving's sarcasm is quite present throughout the story. He uses Ichabod's character to signify greed. Even though he seems to be lacking aesthetically, he wants it all and is willing to do anything to get it. Katrina is also quite greedy when it comes to winning over her male counterparts.
This quarter I read the realistic fiction book, The Batboy by Mike Lupica. This book is a story about a 14 year old boy named Brian Dudley. Son of a former pitcher and an avid baseball fan, Brian gets his dream summer job: the bat boy for his favorite team the Detroit Tigers. When it seems like his summer cannot get any better, his all-time favorite player Hank Bishop is signed to the team. At the beginning, Hank is cold and yells at Brian a lot, but in the end they become friends.
While Washington Irving was writing “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow” (1820), it was the time when Great Britain reached independence and all over the world were going many changes. In this story, he described the small village with its rural life where everything remained the same far from the immigration and improvement of the
As one of the most controversial American literary figures, Edgar Allan Poe has always attracted considerable attention from both critics and readers alike. Due to his allegedly eccentric personality and the dubious circumstances surrounding his death, the public perception of the writer has often been somewhat mythologized. When it comes to his works, Poe has been both critically acclaimed and disparaged, both acknowledged and disputed, but rarely ignored. As he left behind a significantly influential literary legacy, his place among the most important writers in American literature is today undeniable. Being both a journalist and a fiction writer, Poe produced numerous texts ranging from tales and poems to critical essays, reviews and newspaper
The Great American Dream is an ideal that states through hard work and dedication, every American citizen has the opportunity to accomplish personal goals and achieve success. The amount of effort put forth to obtain these goals, and achieve individualized success is decided upon by that citizen. Some of the more common goals and successes are ownership of property, obtaining wealth, enjoying liberties, experiencing patriotism, and raising a family. In “Rip Van Winkle” by Washington Irving, the main character Rip is able to obtain the Great American Dream through laziness. Washington Irving satirizes the Great American Dream in his short story, and in this paper I will analyze how “Rip Van Winkle” can be read as a parody.
The Romantic period was a time period in which people changed their views of the fine arts, which in turn affected their work. Some people Including Washington Irving did not agree with the view of the Romantic period and made fun of it in their work with some humorous stories. Irving was a well know writer in the late 18th century and early 19th century who grew up in New York. From the beginning of his life till the end, he was a funny man who loved the fine arts. Irving was originally a lawyer, but later he left his judicial career and followed his childhood dream of being a full-time writer, writing some poems which upon closer observation, it can be seen that he makes fun of the Romantic period.
In the novel of the Call of the Wild, Buck tried to adapt to his new and difficult life. He was forced to help the men find gold; he experienced a big transformation in him. At the end, he transformed into a new and different dog. Buck went through physical, mental and environmental changes. In my essay, I talked about how Buck was like at the beginning, what he changed into, and how he was forced to adapt his new environment, and underwent these changes.
The Americanness of Washington Irving ---through the Analysis of “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow” Washington Irving, who is regarded as “father of American short story”, has a profound influence on American Literature. Professor Wu Dingbo stated “all writers in America read Washington Irving” (26). “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow” is one of his most outstanding stories and it is greatly admired even at the present time. There are five basic qualities of American writers: independent, individualistic, critical, innovative and humorous (Wu Dingbo 3). As a typical American writer, therefore, Washington Irving’s
In novels focusing on parody of European attributes of romanticism Washington Irving created the unexampled masterpieces. “Rip Van Winkle” being one of the unexampled works of Washington Irving combines gentle and perfect humor. This story is Irving’s imaginative reworking of an old German tale in which his valuable parody professionally covered. In the story Washington Irving gave the national shade to the description of events and outlandish beings for America.
