Washington Irving, was born on April 3, 1783 in New York City. He was the son of William Irving and Sarah. He was the last of 11 children born to his parents. Irving developed an interest for literature because of his two older brothers William and Peter. Irving graduated from private school in 1798. He then studied law and in 1806 barely managed to pass the bar. (Britannica) After returning to New York City from France and Italy, he started practicing law. Law really wasn’t his interest. While working at different offices he wrote articles for different newspapers. He worked alongside his brother Peter. Irving was also known as the “first American man of letters.” Irving stopped writing for six years after his fiancée, Matilda Hoffman, died in 1809. (Biography) During…show more content… The story takes place after the American Revolutionary War in the Catskill Mountains located in New York. Mr. Winkle was a British American that enjoyed doing thing alone. He ends up leaving his wife and going to the mountains with his dog. He ends up sleeping through the American Revolution and awakes years later to discover tremendous changes. Irving uses a lot of similes, metaphors and personification in this story. The following simile describes the rays of setting sun as “glow and light up like a crown of glory.” (Rip Van Winkle) His children were described as nobodies “His children too were as ragged and wild as if they belonged to nobody.” (Rip Van Winkle) In following metaphor, Irving provokes a “fresh volley from his wife, so that he was fain to draw off his forces and take to the outside of the house” (Rip Van Wrinkle) A great example of personification, is when he describes the mountains “clothed in blue and purple” and “print their bold outlines on the clean evening sky” (Rip Van Winkle) The does an excellent job using this literary devices to bring the story to life and help the readers create a mental picture of the