Rip Van Winkle

Summary

Rip Van Winkle, peaceful man and nice neighbor but henpecked husband lives in the pleasant village in years before American Revolution. He is loved by everyone for being helpful, but as far as his own home and farm hit seems to be disordered.

One day he goes out his home and wanders into the mountains. Then he hears someone calling his name. It was a man wearing Dutch clothes who needed help. Together they carry a keg up the mountain and start drinking with others who were there. Rip soon falls asleep.

Waking up, Rip discovers a lot of changes which has happened. When he returns to his village no one recognizes him. The village grew bigger, his wife and his friends died as the American Revolution had taken place. He gets to know that he was sleeping for almost twenty years and that the man calling him in the mountains was a ghost of Hendrick Huston’s crew.

He is being recognized by his daughter and welcomed back in the society and the village, which seem to be completely different now.

The allegorical meaning

Rip Van Winkle story may be an allegory of how the new nation grows. It gets bigger and better without any notice. The changes happen and no one really take care of that. Also a Rip himself may symbolize America – careless, ignorant but also innocent.

How important is imagination in the story

The story seems to be just a short piece of art, easy and nice to read if we do not consider its deeper meaning. But if we take look into the allegory and symbols the imagination plays the most important role to understand the story properly.

How important is the history

There are some historical facts mentioned as American Revolution and the end of George III rule. It is important as far as we want to symbolize Rip with the image of new born American nation.

Elements of Romanticism

1. The beauty of nature shown in the description of village.

2. Feeling of nostalgia when Rip sees the changes in the village and the society, he regrets that it happened.

3. The presence of ghost – supernatural elements.

The Legend of Sleepy Hollow

Summary

The action takes place around 1790. The main character, Ichabod, comes to the little town called Sleepy Hollow, being Dutch settlement, to be a teacher in the school. The place itself is rather mysterious; people tell a lot of ghost stories but he likes it.

He soon get in love with Katrina Van Tassel, a beautiful lady about eighteen, but he isn’t the only one who want to win her hand. He has a serious competitor name Brom Bones. One day there is a party at the Van Tessels’. Although the party was nice, there was a lot of ghost stories telling and the one about the headless horseman, Ichabond being disappointed by Katrina leaves the party soon.

On his way home he is followed by a stranger riding a large, dark horse. Finally he notice that the rider has no head. The head is sitting on the saddle in front of the man. They end up by the church