...Rip Van Winkle Summary: “Rip Van Winkle” is an American masterpiece of the short story. It is based on local history but is rooted in European myth and legend. Irving reportedly wrote it one night in England, in June, 1818, after having spent the whole day talking with relatives about the happy times spent in Sleepy Hollow. The author drew on his memories and experiences of the Hudson River Valley and blended them with Old World contributions. “Rip Van Winkle” is such a well-known tale that almost every child in the United States has read it or heard it narrated at one time or another. Rip is a simple-minded soul who lives in a village by the Catskill Mountains. Beloved by the village, Rip is an easygoing, henpecked husband whose one cross to bear is a shrewish wife who nags him day and night. One day he wanders into the mountains to go hunting, meets and drinks with English explorer Henry Hudson’s legendary crew, and falls into a deep sleep. He awakens twenty years later and returns to his village to discover that everything has changed. The disturbing news of the dislocation is offset by the discovery that his wife is dead. In time, Rip’s daughter, son, and several villagers identify him, and he is accepted by the others. One of Irving’s major points is the tumultuous change occurring over the twenty years that the story encompasses. Rip’s little Dutch village had remained the same for generations and symbolized rural peace and prosperity. On his return, everything has...
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...Washington Irving “Little minds are tamed and subdued by misfortune; but great minds rise above them.” Washington Irving, a well-known short story author in the nineteenth century, spoke these words of wisdom. Washington Irving became famous in America for his fine works from The Specter Bridegroom to Rip Van Winkle to The Legend of Sleepy Hollow. These satirical sketches are all based on the local areas in New York where Irving resided. His adventures through life spread the word of his writings and he became one of the first renowned short story writers in Europe. Washington Irving was born in New York, New York on April 3, 1783. His mother, Sarah, and father, William Irving, Sr., had eleven children including Washington. He was named after the United States first president, George Washington who was sought to be the greatest hero of all time to his parents. “… He attended the first presidential inauguration of his namesake in 1789” (Biography Channel). Irving was privately schooled and later went to study law in New York after his return from travelling Europe. In 1804 he travelled to France and Italy, while writing journals and letters. When he returned in 1805, Irving continued law school but did poorly for he barely passed the bar exam. (Biography Channel). After Irving finished his studies, he went on to write humorous essay with his older brother William Irving, Jr., and James Kirke Paulding. The Salamagundi papers published the essays in 1807 to 1808....
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...A Rose for Emily Summary How It All Goes Down You might want to look at our discussion of the novel's setting before you enter here, or at least know it's there to help if you get tangled up in this story's crazy chronology. Also keep in mind that the narrator of this story represents several generations of men and women from the town. The story begins at the huge funeral for Miss Emily Grierson. Nobody has been to her house in ten years, except for her servant. Her house is old, but was once the best house around. The town had a special relationship with Miss Emily ever since it decided to stop billing her for taxes in 1894. But, the "newer generation" wasn't happy with this arrangement, and so they paid a visit to Miss Emily and tried to get her to pay the debt. She refused to acknowledge that the old arrangement might not work any more, and flatly refused to pay. Thirty years before, the tax collecting townspeople had a strange encounter with Miss Emily about a bad smell at her place. This was about two years after her father died, and a short time after her lover disappeared from her life. Anyhow, the stink got stronger and complaints were made, but the authorities didn't want to confront Emily about the problem. So, they sprinkled lime around the house and the smell was eventually gone. Everybody felt sorry for Emily when her father died. He left her with the house, but no money. When he died, Emily refused to admit it for three whole days. The town didn't think...
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...The True Meaning of Rip Van Winkle In order for a prosperous future to occur, the present must be secure and the past must not be forgotten. Much can be said though, about the advance of mankind throughout the ages, with complete disregard to the woes and struggles of the past. Furthermore, while it would appear that the brawls of the present are almost always shaped to lend perception of a greater future, history dictates that this is not always true. In this vein, the story of America is not that much different than other epics from our past. From great reason, our ancestors sought significant change. Change brought about revolution both in the literal and intrinsic sense, and soon broader horizons quickly unfolded into an unprecedented amalgamation of opinion, social action and success. Throughout this time however, America has not been absent its critics, nor has it been isolated from internal critique either. One such example of this internal American critique can be found in Washington Irving’s, “Rip Van Winkle.” Therefore, the purpose of this brief work is to discuss the theme of Irving’s timeless masterpiece and offer critical insight as to its deeper meanings. The tale of Rip Van Winkle is set in the whimsical wilderness of the Catskill Mountains in pre-revolutionary America. As the story portrays, Rip is a simple man caught between his own ferocious hedonistic motivations, and the insurmountable demands of his condescending and oppressive wife (Perkins). ...
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...In Washington Irving’s Rip Van Winkle, one may think the story is for entertainment, but there is also the key point of Politics which is of more importance and can be reflected on with a better perspective. Rip Van Winkle was a gracious and charitable man whom many people from his village admire with sincere respect. He had a caring heart for both people his age, and for children, but did not have a good home life. He was constantly nagged by his wife and was lazy. Unlike working, Rip spent his days away from home fishing and hunting. According to Wyman, Rip ventures out to the mountain to hunt, encounters the ghosts of Henry Hudson’s Half Moon crew, joins in their revealing, and falls unconscious. After his twenty-year sleep, Rip experiences...
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...Declaration of Independence was signed, George Washington was made President, and instead of being 13 British colonies, America was now 13 states. So much change had happened in such a short time. America signed the declaration, elected a president, and became 13 states with the benefit of freedom. What more could a country want? Well I am here to prove that at this time, change didn’t happen for the colonists like it is portrayed. “Rip Van Winkle” suggests that the people of this time didn’t appreciate the Revolutionary War. Their adaptation to new features for living life may have changed, but the Revolutionary War had little impact on how the people thought about government and the idea of freedom. Using the story of “Rip Van Winkle”, I will compare characters and ideas in the book to broader ideas of the American nature at this time. The war may have changed the general guidelines for living, but did it really have a big impact on the people? Let me start with explaining the characters and how they were essentially ideas of Britain and America. Rip Van Winkle is the definition of early America. He was slow, sluggish, and content. We can see by the text that the colonists didn’t take life all that serious and...
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...Jose Cando ENGL-2327 April 26, 2014 Balcones Fiction and Poetry Winners Reading Event: Natalie Diaz’s Reading of When My Brother Was an Aztec Outside the ACC Theater on April 9th, the public was greeted by tables of refreshment including fruits cheeses and crackers which was a nice surprise. Although, I had expected a packed theater, only about forty people were waiting inside. The event started at 6:30 pm when Charlotte Gullick, the chair of the creative a writing department took the stage. After promoting some of creative writing classes at ACC, she described the significance of the Balcones prizes. A teacher from the English department took the stage next to talk a little more about the Balcones prize. He pointed out that Natalie Diaz was the sixteenth winner of this prize. He described Ms. Diaz as a woman with her foot “in three different worlds.” Her childhood was spent on the Mojave reservation in the California Desert. She attended college in Virginia on a basketball scholarship, and from there she played professional basketball in Europe and Asia. After injuring her knee, she left basketball to study poetry in graduate school. Therefore, he claimed, she has a foot in the worlds of the reservation, basketball and poetry. With that, he welcomed Nathalie to the stage. Nathalie jumped into reading her poem, “When My Brother Was an Aztec.” I was shocked to hear the bitterness and resentment in her voice as she describe her brother as a nasty and careless force which...
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...Anthony Gentile October 5, 2014 Wallis and Steptoe Summary In the essay, “How to Bring Our Schools Out of the 20th Century,” Claudia Wallis and Sonja Steptoe argues that while everything else in the world is becoming more modern and up to date with time, public schools are still stuck back in time and that the key elements of kindergarten through 12th grade curriculum should be upgraded. Rip Van Winkle says, “We used to have these back in 1906” (378). In developing their argument, Wallis and Steptoe first criticized schools by saying, “American schools aren’t exactly frozen in time, but considering the pace of change in other areas of life, our public schools tend to feel like throwbacks” (378). They pointed out that kids now in the days are doing exactly what their elders did 40 or 50 years ago; sitting in rows of desks starring at a blackboard for 7 hours 5 days a week. For example, they pointed out that “Kids are global citizens now, even in small-town America, and they must learn to act that way” (379). According to Wallis and Steptoe, it is becoming more and more important to develop social skill and stated that the CEO of UPS mentioned, “Needing workers who are “global trade literate, sensitive to foreign culture, conversant in different languages” (379). Wallis and Steptoe draw’s a point that teachers need to not be scared to take charge of a lesson and not fear being obsolete. “They will, however, feel increasing pressure to bring their methods-along with the curriculum-...
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...story, “Rip Van Winkle”, after the American revolution, in 1818. During this time, Americans were struggling to form a new identity that was different from the English rule and culture. In the story, many of the struggle of Rip Van Winkle are similar to the struggle of America. Irving used metaphors directed at the founding of a new society in America, free from Royal England. The story is about a man named Rip Van Winkle, he lived in a small town along the Hudson Valley. Everyone liked Rip because he was always willing to help someone in need. Even the animals and his dog followed this good natured soul around, but unfortunately he was henpecked by his wife, Dame Van Winkle. His wife would nag, “morning, noon and night, she constantly nagged him about anything and everything he said or did” (Enderle, Irving, and McWilliam p.82) She would be angry with him for everything and he would hide and run away. The character, Dam Van Winkle, is a metaphor for the Royal England and its treatment of the Colonies. Rip Van Winkle’s character represents the American society. However, Dame Van Winkle had some right to nag, because her husband ignored the farm. This makes it possibly right that she nags him about his duties, for he spends his time helping the townsmen while his own farm is deteriorating. This scenario is a metaphor that resembles the Royal England’s taxation of the American colonies to pay for the Seven Year War and for future protection. Dame Van Winkle, may have...
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...in his story “Rip Van Winkle”. The first characteristic is that the story is set in the past and in a remote location. Secondly, it has a variety of strange and exaggerated characters. Next, the story has a magical quality included that has an effect on Rip. In the conclusion of Rip Van Winkle Irving shows how the community accepts Rip Van Winkle with his flaws. This lets Rip enjoy the last few years with his family and community. The setting of “Rip Van Winkle” takes place up the Hudson River and near the Catskill Mountains before the Revolution. The American Revolution dated 1775-1783. The story was published in 1819. This meets the...
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...Rip Van Winkle summary: Rip Van Winkle is a story about Rip falling asleep for 20 years in the Catskill Mountains and wakes up to discover the world around him has changed. He finds that the American Revolutionary war has taken place and instead of being a subject of His Majesty George the Third, he is now a free citizen of the United States. Characters Rip Van Winkle Rip Van Winkle is a “simple good-natured fellow” living in a small village in upper New York during the time that New York is a colony of Great Britain. To the neighbors he is known as a kind and helpful man, always eager to play with children or help with a chore. To his wife, however, he is known as a lazy and useless man, who neglects his own children and leaves his own fields untended and his fences broken. Dame Van Winkle Dame Van Winkle is Rip’s wife. “Dame” is not her first name, but her title, the word used by the Dutch inhabitants in place of “Mrs.” In the eyes of Rip and his sympathetic neighbors; Dame Van Winkle is stern and unreasonable. The narrator calls Rip “an obedient hen-pecked husband,” and places his wife in the category of “shrews,” (a woman of violent temper and speech) calling her a “termagant,” or overbearing, wife. Apparently, she finds fault with Rip because he does no profitable work, does not help around the house, and shows no interest in the well being of his children or his wife. How readers are to see Dame Van Winkle’s character is a central question in the story: Is she a...
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...author Washington Irving wrote Rip Van Winkle in order to inspire Americans to form an identity. This identity was to set them free from the English ruled cultures. The character Rip Van Winkle symbolizes the struggles of the early America. The struggles Rip goes through can be compared to the same struggles that America was going through at this time before and after the Revolution. Rip had a wife that got on his nerves Dame Van Winkle. At times he needed to escape from her and his surroundings. Rip would sometimes head into the woods with his dog Wolf and his gun. One day he did just that. He got his cut and Wolf and they headed into the Catskill Mountains, he hunted squirrels, firing off his gun round after round. Several hours had passed Rip was getting tired so he lied down for a rest looking at the Hudson River. Night fall was fast approaching so he got up to go home, he was not looking forward to seeing his wife for fear of her mouth. While he was walking a short man with a beard wearing Dutch clothing called his name. The man was needing some help so Rip agreed to help him. Rip followed the man to an area where several people were playing a game called ninepins. As the people were playing ninepins the man asked Rip to help him pass out what appeared to be beer of some kind. After everyone received the beverage Rip decided to drink some. The next morning Rip woke up in the same location looking at the Hudson River. Rip starting thinking about what happened...
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...Washington Irving is often named "the Father of American Literature." He is best known for his work of “Rip Van Winkle”, a historical fiction story, written around the time of the American Revolution. The character of Rip Van Winkle that Irving creates certainly has a unique personality and character that stands out from everyone in the story. In the story of Rip Van Winkle, Rip could be described as a thoughtful, easy-going person but also irresponsible. Irving creates the character of Rip Van Winkle as a thoughtful man. He was adored by just about everyone who knew his name. Rip “would never refuse to assist a neighbor even in the roughest toil” (151). He never made an excuse to not help someone else, even if it meant to put off his own work. This characteristic creates positive effect of his personality and heart to others around him and the reader. The author continues to mention his thoughtfulness saying that even “the women of the...
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...Throughout the short story “Rip Van Winkle” Washington Irving explains the story of a man who is so bossed, bothered and controlled by his wife that when he falls asleep and awakens 20 years later, he is thrilled when he realizes he no longer has to deal with her. Rip Van Winkle wakes up and the people who were the colonists of Great Britain were now citizens of the United States of America. Irving’s compulsive use of historical references makes the reader question if he is symbolizing something else through this relationship of husband and wife. We can gather this easily but what we cannot understand is why Rip is so surprised that Independence from Great Britain is declared. Irving just might be suggesting that much of society did not feel...
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...Rip Van Winkle I believe Washington Irving’s purpose for writing ‘Rip Van Winkle’ was to teach a lesson and to comment on the American Revolution at the same time. I think that the lesson Irving is trying to teach is that if you live an idle life, life will pass you by. Rip was not concerned with working to support his family or to achieve any sort of goals. He was only interested in doing things that he enjoyed and that did not help to support his family. He slept for twenty years, and when he awoke the world around him was completely different. When Rip was out in the woods hunting, he got sidetracked and went off with a strange man. This lead to him drinking too much and falling asleep for twenty years. While Rip slept, the world went on and changed very drastically. His wife died, his children grew up, and America won its independence from the British. These things did not seem to bother Rip, but many people would regret missing out on so much. Irving uses symbolism throughout this story. He uses Rip to represent America and Madame Van Winkle to represent England. Rip’s disdain for his wife represents the way the colonists felt about England. When Rip wakes up from his twenty year nap he sees an eagle, which is supposed to represent the new American freedom. Rip goes back to his village and sees that it has changed quite a bit, many of the men he once knew died fighting in the war. He finds that his wife is also dead, which grants him the freedom to do as he pleases for...
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