Washington Irving Essays (Examples)

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The only difference is how the legend is carried and manipulated through subsequent generations. Unfortunately, such a sanguine point-of-view does not hold up either. Because the legend itself is regional in nature, the tale of the headless horseman conveys the sinister application of rhetorical devices used to exile the spirit of Americanism. If it were a legend, then the legend would have carried out beyond its geographical area.
Moreover, the legend itself read like propaganda more so than an actual tale, considering how the story applied scare tactics against ambitious fellows, such as Crane, who intended to infiltrate the secret society of the Van Tassel's. For example, towards the ending of the story, you get the impression that the narrator knows more then he lets on. He goes on to report the suppositions of the old country wives, segues into Brom Bones's suspicion grin, and then wraps up with a….

Washington Irving uses borrowed material from the Dutch and German's to create stories of his own.
Washington Irving was born in the year that America became officially recognized by England as an independent country. He spent much of his life in Europe so it is not surprising that some of his greatest literary work should imitate the people and countries of the continent. Even so, much of his work also reflected his love for New York as well as the changing political and social era that he was born into. Irving's greatest and most memorable works include, "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow," "Rip Van Winkle" and "The Sketch ook of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent" and though they are revered as American classics, they owe much of their storylines to European folklore and personas.

'The Sketch ook of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent" established Irving as a respectable author both in the U.S. And in….

In this way, the young people used the superstitious beliefs dictated by the status quo to introduce a new way of life: love before marriage and marriage by choice.
The idea of dichotomy between the old and the new is substantiated via various other aspects within the story as well. One of these is the traditions that the Baron enjoys: he has inherited that traditions and habits attached to his title. Although the vastness of his wealth is somewhat diminished, he nonetheless has enough left to entertain the poorest of his relations on a regular basis. While many of his contemporaries have abandoned the inconvenience of their remote castles, the Baron however continues his adherence to tradition by maintaining his castle in the mountain. He also tends towards maintaining family feuds for the sake of tradition rather than any personal grudge. This is the case with the new, non-ghostly bridegroom,….

Melville and Irving
PAGES 7 WORDS 2232

Melville and rving
The dawn of the American nation brought with it a need for a decidedly American culture, one depicted with careful precision by many of the authors that came to paint the literary landscape of the new magnate across the Atlantic. Washington rving, the first American great, told the story of the nascent, colonial United States through youthful folklore limned with great detail and attention to the inner workings of the human spirit in its new land. Half a century later, Herman Melville entranced the same people with his swashbuckling narration of pirates, whales, and sailors; America's best, who, against all odds, battled sea, spray, and monster to find their way back home. While Melville declared his preference for creative genius over adept imitators like rving, he could not escape rving's influence, from which he learned that realistic details of rural life in American can be worked memorably into….


As the two protagonists battle wits, a subplot becomes evident: choices must be made between the old order and the new order. The sturdy Brom Bones, with his practical, quaint Dutch upbringing, is a cog in a hole (or the whole, that is the village). Brom fits Tarry Town, and his rowdy mischievous nature functions as a pleasant diversion in the quiet little village. Brom represents the virtues of the old, tried-and-true order of the original settlers of the Sleepy Hollow area. Should Katrina choose Brom, she knows exactly what she will be getting. Not much will change in Katrina's life, one assumes, should she decide to marry the local fellow. Brom would be likely to assume some lesser role in the operations of his father-in-law's farm, which means that the happy couple will remain under the watchful eye of Katrina's doting father. Perhaps, over time, Brom will win over….

Ichabod Crane
PAGES 5 WORDS 1822

Ichabod Crane
Tim urton's 1999 film adaptation of Washington Irving's 1819 short story "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" is hardly a faithful or literal adaptation. R.. Palmer, in his introduction to Nineteenth-Century American Literature on Screen, is rather chilly in his dismissal of urton's adaptation; he claims that a simple survey of Hollywood adaptations overall reveals that a number of major figures, most prominently Washington Irving…had never or rarely (and then generally unsatisfactorily) been adapted for the screen. ecause it has been so dedicated to marketing modernity, broadly conceived, Hollywood production offers only a narrow view of nineteenth-century literature. Hollywood's most extensive engagement with nineteenth-century politics and culture is in fact through an essentially twentieth-century form: the western…(Palmer 6).

Of course, Irving's original tale makes a very poor western, despite Irving's own note that the town of Sleepy Hollow was once "infested with…cow-boys" (Irving 288). ut in order to refashion "The Legend….


First, evil in Sleepy Hollow is more equating with a satirical view that, in this case, evil is a more benign humor, bumbling, caustic in disrupting the town, and, as it was in Ancient Greek and oman drama, simply more of an irritant than planned destruction. Focusing again on the time period, our first introduction to this theme is one of Dutch New York against Urban New England. The Dutch community is sylvan, nostalgically conceived, changeless, and an Eden for its inhabitants. Ichabod arrives as a Yankee whose spoiling of this Eden simply cannot be tolerated -- and even more, by marrying the daughter of a wealthy and high-ranking community member, becoming part of Eden himself. This simply could not happen to a community that is so "European in nature."

Sleepy Hollow, as a town is clearly Dutch, with Dutch values, culture, and mores, or for riving, "population, manners, and customs,….

Irving's book "A History of the Life and Voyages of Christopher Columbus" cannot be considered as an adequate authentic source because he put the book together speedily and impulsively, in the process sacrificing the deliberation needed for creating an accurate, reliable, and original work, as preferred by historians. Irving was even persuaded from time to time, perhaps to recompense for the impracticality of undertaking comprehensive and far-reaching research, to fully let his thoughts wander. As a consequence, perhaps, he reenacts imaginative scenes, not just from what the prevailing account and records evidently indicated had happened, but from what an acquaintance and understanding of the period of discovery directed Irving to believe might have happened (Hedges, 1956). On the other hand, the sources used by Irving for his book project can be deemed adequate. Alexander Everett, the Minister Plenipotentiary of the United States to Spain at the time summoned Irving to….

Sleepy Hollow: American Anxiety Via American Gothic
The early Americans lived in an America that many are unfamiliar with in this day. Early America was a fierce wilderness rife with uncharted territories and much uncertainty. Thus, there was no doubt that early Americans felt a great deal of anxiety: anxiety about their futures and anxiety about their decision to leave England. Published in 1820, the story, "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" by ashington Irving is a classic example of American gothic fiction and is a strong representation of the anxiety of the early colonists. Many of the supernatural elements of the short story "Sleepy Hollow" demonstrate a sense of fear about what is, and a fear about the environment, along with an aggravated apprehension about what was to come.

The sense of grimness and gloom is present throughout Irving's story and are tools which he uses to set the tone for the….

Assigned Readings
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American Literature
Listen to Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God preached. Discuss in the discussion group.

Jonathan Edwards gives us a perfect example of the Calvinist beliefs of the Puritan settlers in early New England. Edwards studied theology at Yale University -- where today there is still a dormitory named after him -- but then became a noteworthy preacher in the Great Awakening, which exhorted an entire generation to renew their Christian faith. Edwards' skill in preaching lies in using literary imagery to get across abstract theological concepts. Calvinist theology believes in "total depravity" -- in other words, because of Adam and Eve eating the apple, human beings are fallen, and stained with "original sin." The most memorable image in Edwards' sermon -- the image of the spider being held over a fiery pit -- is meant to be a metaphor to enable the listener to imagine how God feels….


Analysis of passage from The Ballad of the Sad Cafe and Other Stories by Carson McCullers (New York: Houghton Mifflin, 1951; rpt. 1971), pp.3-5

Carson McCullers' short story "The Ballad of the Sad Cafe" is set in a town that is immediately established as remote, rural, and Southern: it is located near a cotton mill, there are peach trees all over the area, and there is only a single church. Even the buses are three miles away, which suggest the stranded and isolated nature of the residents. The main street is only two miles long, and there is "nothing whatsoever to do" during the long, hot summers. Even the nearest train stop (the significantly named 'Society' City) is far away. The largest building looks lonely and is boarded up completely. This large building, half-painted and left unfinished becomes a kind of metaphor for the town, as well as the woman who….

He might have received his wish but that wish cost him 20 years.
In "Young Goodman Brown," Hawthorne allows us to look at the frail nature of man through Brown's curious nature. He wants to know what is happening in the woods and does not stop to think of the unintended consequences. He does not know what to think when he stumbles upon the scene in the forest. The sight of respectable citizens partaking in a satanic ritual makes Brown feel "overburdened with the heavy sickness of his heart" (Hawthorne 594). He looses faith in man and, subsequently, faith in God, wondering if there was a "heaven above him" (594). He vows to "stand firm against the devil" (294) despite everything but the knowledge of his wife in the forest proves to be more than he can bear. Hawthorne utilizes the aspect of change to demonstrate the fragile human psyche.

"Rip….

In Irving's case, he expanded on his background of writing historical works, with his satirical approach individual and distinctive. This developed the genre partly by introducing satire as an effective element. At the same time, it also showed that literature could be expanded to suit any style.
Edgar Allan Poe is the third writer who contributed significantly to the development of American Romanticism. Poe added an element of horror and wrote short stories that were both disturbing and haunting. One of the interesting things about Poe is that the effectiveness of his stories did not rely only on the storyline. For example, the short story "The Fall of the House of Usher" is the narrator's account of his visit to a haunted house and his encounters with the strange brother and sister that live there. In this case, it is not the actual storyline that makes the story effective. Instead,….

Crane, Brunt, And the Prize in Van Tassel
Legend of Sleepy Hollow

The rivalry in ashington Irving's The Legend of Sleepy Hollow seem to indicate not a competition between one readily deserving lover over an undeserving antagonist, but a showcasing of economic greed and societal expectations. Ichabod and Brom Bones are two opposite spectrums of imperfect, though expected caricatures of men of the time period. Katrina Van Tassel, on the other hand, is merely part of the positive end to Ichabod and Brom Bones' means. hile Ichabod and Brom Bones find different methods in the attempt to win Katrina's heart -- Ichabod being more successful than his rival -- there is no doubt that the two view the hand of Katrina as a mere principle of a larger goal; there is no form of love in the tale.

Ichabod Crane's physical description depicts the schoolteacher as an ungainly man; he is tall, lanky,….

The expansion meant progress and it implemented the idea of progress into the minds of the new people. As Thomas Jefferson noted, the permanent moving forward of the boundaries and the idea of growth and multiplication enhanced the feeling of unfailing progress: "However our present interests may restrain us within our limits, it is impossible not to look forward to distant times, when our rapid multiplication will expand itself beyond those limits, and cover the whole northern, if not southern, continent, with a people speaking the same language, governed in similar forms, and by similar laws; nor can we contemplate with satisfaction either blot or mixture on that surface." (Peterson, Thomas Jefferson and the New Nation, 1970, p. 746) Turner was the one who has actually laid the basis for a theory of the frontier in American history in the nineteenth century. Before him however, Jefferson, long before he….

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6 Pages
Term Paper

Literature

Washington Irvings the Legend of

Words: 1669
Length: 6 Pages
Type: Term Paper

The only difference is how the legend is carried and manipulated through subsequent generations. Unfortunately, such a sanguine point-of-view does not hold up either. Because the legend itself…

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4 Pages
Term Paper

Literature

Washington Irving Uses Borrowed Material From the

Words: 1176
Length: 4 Pages
Type: Term Paper

Washington Irving uses borrowed material from the Dutch and German's to create stories of his own. Washington Irving was born in the year that America became officially recognized by…

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2 Pages
Term Paper

Family and Marriage

Spectre Bridegroom by Washington Irving

Words: 682
Length: 2 Pages
Type: Term Paper

In this way, the young people used the superstitious beliefs dictated by the status quo to introduce a new way of life: love before marriage and marriage by…

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7 Pages
Term Paper

Literature

Melville and Irving

Words: 2232
Length: 7 Pages
Type: Term Paper

Melville and rving The dawn of the American nation brought with it a need for a decidedly American culture, one depicted with careful precision by many of the authors that…

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3 Pages
Essay

Agriculture

Sleepy Hollow as an Incubator for Change

Words: 1098
Length: 3 Pages
Type: Essay

As the two protagonists battle wits, a subplot becomes evident: choices must be made between the old order and the new order. The sturdy Brom Bones, with his practical,…

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5 Pages
Essay

Literature

Ichabod Crane

Words: 1822
Length: 5 Pages
Type: Essay

Ichabod Crane Tim urton's 1999 film adaptation of Washington Irving's 1819 short story "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" is hardly a faithful or literal adaptation. R.. Palmer, in his introduction…

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7 Pages
Book Report

Literature

Sleepy Hollow as Popular Culture

Words: 3045
Length: 7 Pages
Type: Book Report

First, evil in Sleepy Hollow is more equating with a satirical view that, in this case, evil is a more benign humor, bumbling, caustic in disrupting the town, and,…

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3 Pages
Essay

History

A History of the Life and Voyages of Christopher Columbus book

Words: 1035
Length: 3 Pages
Type: Essay

Irving's book "A History of the Life and Voyages of Christopher Columbus" cannot be considered as an adequate authentic source because he put the book together speedily and impulsively,…

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3 Pages
Essay

Literature

Sleepy Hollow American Gothic

Words: 899
Length: 3 Pages
Type: Essay

Sleepy Hollow: American Anxiety Via American Gothic The early Americans lived in an America that many are unfamiliar with in this day. Early America was a fierce wilderness rife with…

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6 Pages
Essay

Literature

Assigned Readings

Words: 1740
Length: 6 Pages
Type: Essay

American Literature Listen to Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God preached. Discuss in the discussion group. Jonathan Edwards gives us a perfect example of the Calvinist beliefs of the…

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4 Pages
Essay

Literature

Fiction Analysis of Passage From

Words: 1309
Length: 4 Pages
Type: Essay

Analysis of passage from The Ballad of the Sad Cafe and Other Stories by Carson McCullers (New York: Houghton Mifflin, 1951; rpt. 1971), pp.3-5 Carson McCullers' short story "The Ballad…

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2 Pages
Essay

Literature

Allegorical Components in Rip Van

Words: 630
Length: 2 Pages
Type: Essay

He might have received his wish but that wish cost him 20 years. In "Young Goodman Brown," Hawthorne allows us to look at the frail nature of man through…

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2 Pages
Term Paper

Literature

American Romanticism the Period Known

Words: 625
Length: 2 Pages
Type: Term Paper

In Irving's case, he expanded on his background of writing historical works, with his satirical approach individual and distinctive. This developed the genre partly by introducing satire as…

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2 Pages
Essay

Family and Marriage

Crane Brunt and the Prize in Van

Words: 666
Length: 2 Pages
Type: Essay

Crane, Brunt, And the Prize in Van Tassel Legend of Sleepy Hollow The rivalry in ashington Irving's The Legend of Sleepy Hollow seem to indicate not a competition between one readily…

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6 Pages
Term Paper

Literature

New Revolution Literature the Literature

Words: 1966
Length: 6 Pages
Type: Term Paper

The expansion meant progress and it implemented the idea of progress into the minds of the new people. As Thomas Jefferson noted, the permanent moving forward of the…

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