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1、Washington Irving (1783-1859)“Rip Van Winkle”（瑞普凡温克尔)Washington Irving(1783-1859)vvI. Position in American literaturevvII. Life vvIII. WorksvvIV. Literary AchievementsvvV. StylevvVI. ContributionsI. Position in American literatureFather of American literaturevv1. the first American (true) literary w
2、ritervv2. the first American man of lettersvv3. Americas first genuine internationally best-selling author vv4. the first belletrist in American literature, writing for pleasure at a time when writing was practical and for useful purposes -belletrist n. 纯文学作者纯文学作者vv5. the first American writer to ea
3、rn his living solely by his penvv6. the first American literary humoristvv7. the first modern short story writervv8. the first to write history and biography as entertainmentvv9. His use of the gothic looks forward to Poe.vv10. the messenger sent from the new world to the old worldvv11. “the America
4、n Goldsmith”Mark Twain also is called vthe Father of American Literaturevthe true Father of American LiteratureII. life and literary careervBorn: 3 April 1783vBirthplace: New York, New YorkvDied: 28 November 1859vnamed for George Washington; his parents were admirers of General Washington.vIrving wa
5、s born in 1783, the year in which Benjamin Franklin signed at Paris the treaty of peace with England after the Revolutionary War. vIrvings mother was born in Englandvstudied lawvamused himself by writing for periodicals vFrom 1804 to 1806 his older brothers financed his tour of France and Italy. vUn
6、der the pseudonym Diedrich Knickerbocker, he published A History of New York (1809), a satire that has been called the first great book of comic literature written by an American. vIn 1820, Irving published The Sketch Book under the pseudonym Geoffrey Crayon. vThe hit book made Irving the first Amer
7、ican author to gain real fame in Europe. vThe stories (including “Rip Van Winkle” and “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow”) appeared serially in 181920.vTheir enthusiastic reception made Irving the best-known figure in American literature both at home and abroad. vIn search of colorful material, he made a
8、journey to the frontier and wrote about the American West in A Tour of the Prairies (大大草原游记草原游记,1835). Late life:va colossal 5-volume biography of George Washingtonva biography of Christopher Columbus is still considered a classic.Irvings graveIII. Major Worksv(1809: A History of New York纽约外史v 1820:
9、 The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent. 见闻札记v Two folktales: “Rip Van Winkle” and “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow”(睡谷传奇)v 1822: Bracebridge Hall布雷斯勃列奇庄园v 1824: Tales of a Traveller 游客谈v 1835: A Tour of the Prairies大草原游记Stylev graceful, refined, fluent and dignifiedv sentimental, romanticIV. Commentv
10、 The first American author to win international recognitionv The first prose stylist of American romanticismv In his Sketch Book appeared the first modern American short stories. v His essays are models of perfect English.v Irving created humor by the way he said things: 1)He delighted in making iro
11、nic remarks which say just the opposite of what he meant. 2) He used dignified words to produce a half-mocking effect. 3) He was also fond of exaggerating the seriousness of situations.v He not only provided a young nation with humorous, fictional accounts of the colonial past but also helped create
12、 an American mythology which is made up of stories about the American past so widely read as to be familiar to nearly every American.short storyva prose narrative that is brief in naturevalso has many of the same characteristics of a novel including characters, setting and plot. vHowever, due to len
13、gth constraints, these characteristics and devices generally may not be as fully developed or as complex as those developed for a full-length novel. vThe short story usually deals with a single episode and often a single character. vThe short story frequently also lacks denouement (n. 结结局局 ), ending
14、 instead at its climax. vmany authors well known for it including Edgar Allan Poe, 埃德加埃德加爱伦爱伦坡坡O Henry, 欧欧亨利亨利Ernest Hemingway, 海明威海明威vPoe first theorized on the structure and purpose of the short story.Rip Van Winkle2. “Rip Van Winkle”vv(1) introductionvv(2) Rip Van Winkle: the protagonistvv(3) The
15、 plot(1) introductionvsimilar to a 3rd-century Chinese tale of Ranka retold in Lionel Giles in A Gallery of Chinese Immortalsvpart of a collection entitled The Sketch Book of Geoffrey CrayonvThe story is set in the years before and after the American Revolutionary War. (2) Rip Van Winkle: the protag
16、onistva villager of Dutch descentvlives in a nice village at the foot of New Yorks Catskill Mountainsvan amiable man whose home and farm suffer from his lazy neglectvhe is loved by all but his wife(3) The plotvOne autumn day he escapes his nagging wife by wandering up the mountains. vThere he encoun
17、ters strangely dressed men, rumored to be the ghosts of Henry Hudsons crew, who are playing nine-pins. vAfter drinking some of their liquor, he settles down under a shady tree and falls asleep. vHe wakes and returns to his village, where he finds twenty years have passed. vHe finds out that his wife
18、 has died and that his close friends have died in a war or gone somewhere else. vHe immediately gets into trouble when he proclaims himself a loyal subject of King George III, not knowing that the AmericanRevolution has taken place.vAn old local recognizes him, however, and Rips now grown daughter t
19、akes him in. vRip resumes his habitual idleness, and his tale is solemnly believed by the old Dutch settlers, with certain hen-pecked husbands wishing they shared Rips good luck.VI. Topics for Discussionv 1. Compare the different situations in the village for Rip Van Winkle before and after his 20-y
20、ear sleep. 1) changes in his family his daughter grew up and married; his wife died; his dog no longer recognized him. 2) changes in the village When Rip returned, children hollered at him and at first no one recognized him. The portrait of King George was replaced by that of Washington; a harangue
21、about citizens rights 3) change in the life style: peaceful in the past but noisy after Rips long sleepv2. What is the authors opinion of Rip Van Winkle? And what is yours? Do you agree with Rips view as to the changes of states and empires? Why?v3. This selection is a good illustration of the humor
22、 characteristic of Irving. Analyze how Irving creates humor.v4. Do you think Rips wife is also a well-developed figure? How does this figure impress you?The protagonist Rip Van Winklev good-natured, well-oiled, carefree, happy-go-lucky, showing no interest in political affairsva lazy farmerv a hen-p
23、ecked husband; an irresponsible head of his familyv a good neighbor, ready to help othersV. StylevConservative e.g. Rip felt into sleep before American Independence and woke after itlove of old worlds tradition“an old gentleman speaking English not American vAim of writing: entertainment, not morali
24、zingvmaster of a graceful and unobtrusively(不引人不引人注意的注意的) sophisticated prose stylevGentle, refined, lucid, beautiful vClassical in form though romantic in subjectsvGood at creating atmosphere vHumorous vFinished(精致完美的精致完美的) and musical language vvivid charactersVII. ContributionsvA. He was the firs
25、t American writer of imaginative literature to gain international fame. vB. The short story as a genre in American literature probably began with Irvings The Sketch Book. C. Irving popularized the nickname “Gotham”(哥谭镇,愚人村) for New York City.vHe is credited with inventing the expression “the almight
26、y dollar”(万能的美元).vD. The surname of his Dutch historian, Diedrich Knickerbocker, is generally associated with New York and New Yorkers, and can still be seen across the jerseys of New Yorks professional basketball team, albeit in its more familiar, abbreviated form, reading simply Knicks. vIn Brooklyn, a neighborhood of New York City, there are two parallel streets named Irving Avenue and Knickerbocker Avenue; the latter forms the core of the neighborhoods shopping district
