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Washington Irving. Born in New York City on April 3, 1783 He studied law but practiced only briefly. Helped in his family’s hardware business He worked his family business in England until its failure 1815. For the next 17 years he traveled & worked as an American diplomat
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Washington Irving Born in New York City on April 3, 1783 He studied law but practiced only briefly. Helped in his family’s hardware business He worked his family business in England until its failure 1815. For the next 17 years he traveled & worked as an American diplomat Died in Tarrytown, NY, 1859 1783-1859
Took European literary themes and gave them American settings: • Themes were: • 1. Enchanted persondiscovers that an enormous amount of time has passed when the spell is broken. “Rip Van Winkle”
2. Person making a pact with the devil: Ex:The Faust Legend – originated in Germany in the late Middle Ages. Describes how a man of great learning, Faust, agrees to surrender his soul to the devil in exchange for wealth, power and sensual pleasures. How do you think the legend concludes?
Irving gave ‘the Faust’ legend an American twist with “The Devil and Tom Walker” • Also well known for the classic tale….. • “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow”
1.Irving is the person in American literature, writing for pleasure at a time when writing was practical and for useful purposes. 2. He is the first American literary humorist. 3. He has written the first modern short stories. 4. He is the first to write history and biography as entertainment. 5. He introduced the nonfiction prose as a literary genre. 6. His use of the gothic looks forward to Poe.
