Explain how Washington Irving’s short stories, “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow” and “Rip Van Winkle” represent a literary example of romanticism in the way his fiction conveys a sense of nostalgia for an older, more pre-modern society. What similar or dissimilar literary themes do each of these tales convey about the dramatic changes that occurred, in American society, during the 1820’s? What changes and transformations do his tales seem to bemoan? How might his tales be seen as a reaction to and criticism of the legacy of the Enlightenment (i.e. Franklin, etc.)? Feel free to focus your essay on the significant differences and similarities between Ichabod Crane and Rip Van Winkle as characters as a way to address this prompt.
Requirements:
* 5-6 pages double-spaced
* Must contain a thesis statement with body paragraphs that support your argument and interpretation
* Must be argumentative rather than summative
* Must incorporate a minimum of 10 citations (direct quotes) from the texts examined.
* Must provide documentation and a works cited page for any outside recourses used other than the textbook
* Must provide parenthetical references (i.e. pages numbers) for all quotes
* Must use proper MLA formatting rules
* Must be submitted as a .doc or .docx file