Irving''s position in American literature Washington Irving was one of the first American writers to earn an internationalreputation， and regarded as an early Romantic writer in the merican literary history and Father of the American short stories. ⼀。⼀般识记
His life and major works
Washington Irving was born in New York City in a wealthy family. From a very early age he began to read widely andwrite juvenile poems， essays， and plays. In l798， he conc1uded his education at private schools and entered a lawoffice， but he loved writing more.
His first successful work is A History Of New York from the Beginning Of the World to the End of the Dutch Dynasty，which， written under the name of Diedrich Knickerbocker， won him wide popularity after it came out in 1809. With thepublication of The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon， Gent. in serials between 1819 and 1820， Irving won a measure ofinternational fame on both sides of the Atlantic. The book contains familiar essays on the Eng1ish life and Americanizedversions of European folk tales like \"Rip Van Winkle＂， and \"The Legend of Sleepy Hollow.\" Geoffrey Crayon is a carefullycontrived persona and behind Crayon stands Irving， juxtaposing the Old World and the New， and manipulating his ownantiquarian interest with artistic perspectives.
The major work of his later years was The Life of George Washington. ⼆。识记
1.Irving''s great indebtedness to European literature
Most of Irving''s subject matter are borrowed heavily from European sources， which are chiefly Germanic. Irving''s
relationship with the Old World in terms of his literary imagination can hardly be ignored considering his success both abroadand at home.
A History of New York is a patchwork of references， echoes， and burlesques. He parodies or imitates Homer，
Cervantes， Fielding， Swift and many other favorites of his. He was also absorbed in German Literature and got ideas fromGerman legends for two of his famous stories \"Rip Van Winkle\" and \"The Legend of Sleepy Hollow.\" The Alhambra isusually regarded as Irving''s \"Spanish Sketch Book\" simply because it has a strong flavor of Spanish culture. Most of thethirty-three essays in The Sketch Book were written in England， filled with English scenes and quotations from Englishauthors and faithful to British orthography. Washington Irving brought to the new nation what its peop1e desired most in aman of 1etters the respect of the Old World.
2.Irving''s unique contribution to American literature
Irving''s contribution to American literature is unique in more than one way. He was the first American writer of
imaginative literature to gain international fame. Although greatly influenced by European literature， Irving gave his worksdistinctive American flavor. \"Rip Van Winkle\" or \"The Legend of Sleepy Hol1ow\"， however exotic these stories are， areamong the treasures of the American language and culture. These two stories easily trigger off American imagination withtheir focus on American subjects， American landscape， and， in Irving''s case， the legends of the Hudson River regionof the fresh young 1and. It is not the sketches about the Old World but the tales about America that made Washington Irving ahousehold word and his fame enduring. He was father of American short stories. And later in the hands of Hawthorne andMelville the short story attained a degree of perfection. 三。领会
1.Irving''s theme of conservatism as is revealed in \"Rip Van Winkle\"
Irving''s taste was essentia1ly conservative and always exa1ted a disappearing past. This socia1 conservatism andliterary preference for the past is revea1ed， to some extent， in his famous story \"Rip Van Winkle.\" The story is a taleremembered mostly for Rip''s 20-year s1eep， set against the background of the inevitably changing America. Rip went tosleep before the War of Independence and woke up after it. The change that had occurred in the 20 years he slept was to himnot always for the better. The revolution upset the natural order of things. In the story Irving ski1lfu1ly presents to us
paralleled juxtapositions of two totally different worlds before and after Rip''s 20 years'' s1eep. By moving Rip back and forthfrom a noisy world with his wife on the farm to a wild but peaceful natural world in the mountains， and from a pre-Revolutionvillage to a George Washington era， lrving describes Rip''s response and reaction in a dramatic way， so that we see
clearly both the narrator and Irving agree on the preferabi1ity of the past to the present， and the preferability of a dream-like
world to the real one. Irving never seemed to accept a modern democratic America. 2.Irving''s literary craftsmanship
Washington Irving has always been regarded as a writer who \"perfected the best classic style that American Literatureever produced.\"
（1） We get a strong sense impression as we read him along， since the language he used best reveals what aRomantic writer can do with words. We hear rather than read， for there is musicality in almost every line of his prose. （2） We seldom learn a mora1 lesson because he wants us amused and relaxed. So we often find ourselves lost in aworld that is permeated with a dreaming quality.
（3） The Gothic elements and the supernatural atmosphere are manipulated in such a way that we could become soengaged and involved in what is happening in a seemingly exotic place.
（4） Yet Irving never forgets to associate a certain place with the inward movement of a person and to charge hissentences with emotion so as to create a true and vivid character. He is worth the honor of being \"the American Goldsmith\"for his literary craftsmanship. 四。应⽤
Selected Reading：
An Excerpt from \"Rip Van Winkle\" The story of Rip Van Winkle
Rip， an indolent good-natured Dutch-American， lives with his shrewish wife in a village on the Hudson during theyears before the Revolution. One day while hunting in the Catskills with his dog Wolf， he meets a dwarflike strangerdressed in the ancient Dutch fashion. He helps him to carry a keg， and with him joins a party silently playing a game ofninepins. After drinking of the liquor they provide， Rip falls into a sleep which lasts 20 years， during which the
Revolutionary War takes place. He awakes as an old man and returns to his home village that has greatly altered. Upon
entering the village， he is greeted by his old dog， which dies of the excitement and then learns that his wife has long beendead. Rip is almost forgotten but he goes to live with his daughter， now the mother of a family， and is soon befriended withhis generosity and cheerfulness.
This excerpt below is taken from the story， describing for us Rip''s difficulties at home， which he often escapes bygoing to the local inn to spend his time with his friends and sometimes by going hunting in the woods with his dog， and thenfocusing on Rip ''s return from his 20 years'' sleep to his greatly altered home village. Here， Irving''s pervasive theme ofnostalgia for the unrecoverable past is at once made unforgettable. What are the theme and the artistic features of \"Rip Van Winkle\"？ （1） The theme：
Irving''s taste was essentia1ly conservative and always exa1ted a disappearing past. This socia1 conservatism andliterary preference for the past is revea1ed， to some extent， in his famous story \"Rip Van Winkle.\" The story is a taleremembered mostly for Rip''s 20-year s1eep， set against the background of the inevitably changing America. Rip went tosleep before the War of Independence and woke up after it. The change that had occurred in the 20 years he slept was to himnot always for the better. The revolution upset the natural order of things. In the story Irving ski1lfu1ly presents to us
paralleled juxtapositions of two totally different worlds before and after Rip''s 20 years'' s1eep. By moving Rip back and forthfrom a noisy world with his wife on the farm to a wild but peaceful natural world in the mountains， and from a pre-Revolutionvillage to a George Washington era， lrving describes Rip''s response and reaction in a dramatic way， so that we see
clearly both the narrator and Irving agree on the preferabi1ity of the past to the present， and the preferability of a dream-likeworld to the real one. Irving never seemed to accept a modern democratic America. （2） The artistic features：
\"Rip Van Winkle\" is not only well-known for Rip''s 20-year sleep but also considered a model of perfect English inAmerican Literature and in the English language as well. Washington Irving has always been regarded as a writer who\"perfected the best classic style that American Literature ever produced.\" He has a clear， easy style.
（a） We get a strong sense impression as we read him along， since the language he used best reveals what aRomantic writer can do with words. We hear rather than read， for there is musicality in almost every line of his prose.
（b） We seldom learn a mora1 lesson because he wants us amused and relaxed. So we often find ourselves lost in aworld that is permeated with a dreaming quality. He uses genial humor to exaggerate the seriousness of situation. He usesdignified words to produce a half-mocking effect.
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