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1、Washington IrvingWashington Irving was an American author, essayist, biographer and historian of the early 19th century. He was best known for his short stories The Legend of Sleepy Hollow and Rip Van Winkle, both of which appear in his book The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent. His historical w
2、orks include biographies of George Washington, Oliver Goldsmith and Muhammad, and several histories of 15th-century Spain dealing with subjects such as Christopher Columbus, the Moors, and the Alhambra. Irving also served as the U.S. minister to Spain from 1842 to 1846.Washington irving(1783-1859)wa
3、s one of the frist American writers to earn an international reputation, and regarded as an early Romantic writer in the American literary history and Father of the American short stories.Washington irving was born in New York City ,theyoungest of eleven children of a weathly merchert . Froma very e
4、arly age he begin to read widely juvenile poems ,essays ,and plays .In 1798 ,he concluded his education at private schools and entered a law office ,but heloved writing more. In this years between 1802 and 1803 ,irving contributed several letters under the name of “Jonathan Oldstyle”to The Moring Ch
5、ronicle,a newspaper edilted by his brother Peter ,and these letters were published in 1803 as The Letters of Jonathan Oldstyle ,Gent.,a series of youthful satires on New York society.Irving,asOldstyle ,fashional a style which reduces all to foolishness, including the authors persona. Five years late
6、r he jioned with a brother and with his friends in an-other such series ,Salmagunch ,which commented on the phenome-other such series ,Salmagundi,which commented on the phenome-na of the day like waltzing ,tea-drinking , and feminine nudity contributions were signed “Anthony Evergreen.” Irvings hope
7、,plan and dreams came to a crashing halt after the loss of his only love ,Mitilda Hoffman ,yet he found his refuge from the grief in the researches on A ,History of New York from the grief in the Beginning of the World to the End of the Dutch Dynasty,which,written under the name of Diedrich Knickerb
8、ocker ,was a great success and won him wide popularity after it came out in 1809. The book is a parody of the Dutch colony ,in which written under the name of Diedrich Knickerbocker ,was a great success and won him wide popularity after it came out in 1809 .The book is a parody of the Dutch colony ,
9、in which Irving ridicules the human activity by combining true history with history imagination ,with a good deal of reference to contemporary events and personalities ,par-ticularly political ones .With the publication of The Sketch book of Geoffery Crayon , Gent.in serials between 1819 and 1820 ,I
10、rving won a measure of international fame on both sides of the Atlantic .The book contains familiar essays on the English life and American-ized versions of European folk tales like “Rip Van Winkle”and “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow.”Geoffrey crayon is a carefully contrived persona and behind Crayon s
11、tands Irving ,juxtaposing the Old World and the New ,and manipulating his own antiquarian interest with artistic perspectives.Following The Sketch Book,Irving published Bracebridge Hall(1822),and tales of a Traveler (1824),both of which lacked the creative energy and appeal of The Sketch Book.In 182
12、6 ,he was sent to Spain as an American attache ;he was secretary of the United States Legation in Londan from 1829- 1832;later on he made an adventous trip to the Western fronier on horseback and wrote three books ,which celebrated the adventure of exploring the West and the possibilities of develop
13、ing it.Irving spent the rest of his life in “Sunnyside”, his home on the Hudson River, except for a period of four years when he was away from as Minister to Spain ,living a life of leisure and comfort.During these years irving never stopped writing ,yet none of them could acclaim the same admiratio
14、n and recognition The Sketch Book did.Irvings relationship with the Old World in terms of his literary imagination can hardly be ignored considering his success bot abroad and at home .A History of New York is a patchwork of reference ,echoes ,and burlesques.He parodies or imitates Homer,Cervantes ,
15、 Fielding ,Swift and many other favorites of his.He was also absorbed in what he called “the rich mine of German Literature”and got ideas from German legends for two of his famous stories “Rip Van Winkle”and “The Legendof Sleepy Hollow.”The Alhambra (1832)is usually regarded as Irving s “Spanish Ske
16、tch of the thirty-three essarys in The Sketch Book were written in Eng-land ,filled with English scenes and quotations from English authors and faithful to British orthography .Washington Irving brought to the new nation what its people desired most in a man of letters the respect of the Old World .However exotic his tales are ,everyone who reads “Rip Van Winkle”or “The Legard of sleepy Hollow ”will know instantly that they are amon
