Washington Irving

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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 familys 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
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• Took European literary themes and gave them
  American settings
• Themes were
• 1. Enchanted person discovers that an enormous
  amount of time has passed when the spell is
  broken.

Rip Van Winkle
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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?
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• 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

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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.