Analysis Of Rip Van Winkle - 1055 Words

Washington Irving, â€Å"Rip Van Winkle† (29) Within Washington Irvings story â€Å"Rip Van Winkle†, Irving depicts an early British colonist by the name of Rip. Rip although the descendant of the chivalrous Van Winkles, does not like to perform arduous tasks. Irving illustrates this within the text stating, â€Å" Rip Van Winkle, however, was one of those happy mortals, of foolish, well- being oiled dispositions, who take the world easy, eat white bread or brown, which ever can be got with the least thought or trouble, and would rather starve on a penny than work for a pound.† ( Irving 32) This highlights the indifferent attitude Rip has when it comes to results in life as well as his desire to avoid work. Rip is somewhat odd in this respect†¦show more content†¦The overall themes of the story can be interpreted as old habits die hard, or time flies when you are having fun. The notes of D.K. draw a conclusion of his belief in such an event in happening, this reveals the idealistic outlook of folktales. Edgar Allan Poe, â€Å"The Fall of the House of Usher† (654) The story of â€Å"The Fall of the House of Usher† by Edgar Allan Poe reveals the terrors that can derive from fear. The story starts with the description by the narrator of his friends Roderick Usher’s house, the text reads, â€Å"During the whole of a dull, dark, and soundless day in the autumn of the year, when the clouds hung oppressively low in the heavens, I had been passing alone, on horseback, through a singularly dreary tract of country; and at length found myself, as the shades of the evening drew on, within view of the melancholy House of Usher. I know not how it was --but, with the first glimpse of the building, a sense of insufferable gloom pervaded my spirit.† (Poe 654) The story later goes onto explain how Roderick and his twin sister, Madeline are the last of the Usher bloodline and both suffer from serious illnesses. Madeline although, suffers from a more serious illness catalepsy resulting in various seizures. Upon one of her seizures Roderick declares Madeline as dead and asks the narrator to help bury her. A week goes past and the narrator and Roderick are readingShow MoreRelatedRip Van Winkle Analysis732 Words   |  3 PagesRip van Winkle by Washington Irving is a story about a man, and a bizarre adventure through time to the near future during the American Revolution. The story follows a Dutch-American settler living in the New York Catskills before the American Revolt. Within the village, the man is well-known as a remarkable member of the society, as that plays into the genre. The story takes an unexpected turn when the main character, Rip Van Winkle, is fast-travelled through time, to an era soon after the AmericanRead MoreTradition and Revolution in Rip Van Winkle: An Analysis1643 Words   |  7 PagesAn Analysis of Tradition and Revolution in Rip Van Winkle Washington Irvings Rip Van Winkle is a tale that he wrote after an old traditional European story. Irving situates it in America before and after the Revolutionary War and describes Rip as a man whose only desire in life is to get away from petticoat tyranny meaning his wife. However, Rip may also be seen as a traditional figure of simplicity who is just as content to be a subject of the king as he is to be a subject of the PresidentRead MoreLiterary Analysis Of Rip Van Winkle939 Words   |  4 Pagesâ€Å"Rip Van Winkle† is a classic American Mythological story that tells the tale of a man who sleeps for twenty years after drinking a mysterious drink. Rip Van Winkle is a very lazy, American man who one day, ventures off into the woods with his dog named Wolf. While in the woods, he finds a group of men playing Skittles and drinking liquor in the middle of an amphitheater. He joins them, and drinks some of their alcohol, but he soon passes out. When he awakens, twenty years h ave passed, and he missedRead MoreAnalysis Of The Book Rip Van Winkle 1868 Words   |  8 Pages For the latter part of the last two centuries, generations of people around the world have read or heard of the tale of the man who slept for two decades known as â€Å"Rip Van Winkle†. This short story was originally published in a book called â€Å"The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent.† by American author Washington Irving under the pseudonym â€Å"Geoffrey Crayon. Irving used effective writing to show the reader every detail needed to understand where and what is going on especially during the transitioningRead MoreAnalysis Of The Book Rip Van Winkle 940 Words   |  4 Pages Rip Van Winkle is a confusing national identity story written in the 1819(IRVING 467). It’s a time in history when America was developing and changing as a nation. The twist of the story makes the dialogue kind of confusing but it all makes sense at the end. It’s very interes ting how the story takes place. In the beginning of the story Washington Irving describes the nature in a quote by stating, â€Å"Whoever has a voyage up the Hudson, must remember the Catskill Mountains. They are a dismembered branchRead MoreAnalysis Of The Poem Rip Van Winkle 1527 Words   |  7 Pagesexperience. â€Å"Rip Van Winkle† is a mature version of Franklin’s short fictional sketches, such as â€Å"The Speech of Polly Baker,† and if one were to read isolated passages from Irving and Franklin aloud, it could be difficult to identify the source, as both develop a muted sarcasm and rely heavily on irony to develop their narratives. Perhaps more surprising, however, is the fact that Irving is most indebted to the older tradition of Native American literature that he references in the postscript to â€Å"Rip VanRead MoreAnalysis Of Erving s Rip Van Winkle And Mason953 Words   |  4 PagesIn this paper, I will be explaining Washington â€Å"Erving’s Rip Van Winkle† and Mason Locke Weems’s â€Å"Life of Washington† cultural, social, and historical context. In the â€Å"Life of Washington†, Weems shows how George Washington was raised and how he acted as a child. However, in â€Å"Rip Van Winkle†, Irving tells a story of a man who slept through the Revolutionary War and wakes to find a new country. These stories show the problem of how the United States of America was seen in the eyes of foreignRead MoreAnalysis Of The Book Rip Van Winkle And Young Goodman Brown 1197 Words   |  5 Pages In Rip Van Winkle by Washington Irving and Young Goodman Brown by Nathaniel Hawthorne, the wilderness is used as a place for the main characters of both stories to have profound supernatural, spiritual experiences. Washington Irving uses the wilderness and nature to add a great sense of romanticism to his writing by creating a peaceful, mystical world. In Rip Van Winkle, Iriving implies that nature’s possessive beauty offers a great escape from the conventions of everyday life and can allow oneRead MoreAnalysis Of Rip Van Winkle And The Legend Of Sleepy Hollow By Washington Irving1380 Words   |  6 Pagesbelieved in the purity and beauty of nature.[Thesis] Romanticism is a time period that many authors began to emerge in. These authors wrote about their strong feelings, and that nature is more important than city life. [Previ ew] In the pieces â€Å"Rip Van Winkle† by Washington Irving, â€Å"Thanatopsis† by William Cullen Bryant, and â€Å"The Legend of Sleepy Hollow† by Washington Irving all show strong relations to the traits of Romantic writing. These characteristics include strong imagination, strong feelingsRead More Confusion and Personal Identity in Rip Van Winkle Essay985 Words   |  4 Pages   Rip Van Winkle tells the story of a man who, on a trek into the Kaatskill mountains, mysteriously sleeps away twenty years of his life during the Revolutionary War. When he returns home, he finds that things have dramatically changed; King George no longer has control over the colonies, and many of his friends have either died or left town. At this point, the story reaches its climax, where Van Winkle realizes that his life may be forever changed. To this point, Rip Van Winkle has had