Rip Van Winkle Research Paper

652 Words3 Pages
“Rip Van Winkle” is a myth, which is a false belief or idea. Mythological stories are tales passed down from generation to generation. Myths are stories set in the past, containing strange characters. Which are sometimes supernatural beings. These stories also contain mystical or magical events. The stories tell us about their events in their life. A national mythology is a body of stories that reflect and celebrate a nation’s ideas. Irving shows the meaning of American mythology through the setting, characters, and events; in Rip Van Winkle. They are called American mythologies because they originated in the United States. “Rip Van Winkle” is based in a small village near the Kaatskill Mountains. The little village was founded by Dutch colonists. (“It is a little village of great antiquity, having been founded by some of…show more content…
(“Morning, noon, and night, her tongue was incessantly going, and every thing he said or did was sure to produce a torrent of household eloquence.”)(pg65) She nagged because he was lazy, but he didn’t care. He decided to go take a walk around the mountains. Along his walk on the mountains, he met some men. Who had some magical liquor; which Rip drank. The magical liquor that he drank put him to sleep for years. After the twenty years passed he woke up to finding out. His wife, neighbor, and dog had passed away. Since his wife had passed away, Rip finally got some peace. Rip also missed his child and grandchild growing up. He makes this up by going to live with her the rest of his life and eventually makes new friends. Rip now gets to be happy instead of having somebody nagging him all the time. While he was asleep he remained the same, symbolizing peace and prosperity. He realizes his family and friends are all different. Then he also realizes that everything around him has changed. A major thing is that King George has been replaced by George
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    story called “Rip Van Winkle” it shows how Iviring defines that meaning of American mythology through the setting, events, and characters. While Rip Van winkle was sleeping he didn’t noticed what was going around him until he woke up. When he woke up he noticed that everything around him had changed. The first mythic characteristic from Rip Van Winkle would be exaggerated because in the story it shows how Rip had slept for a really long time. “Ah, poor man, his name was Rip Van Winkle; it’s been twenty

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