Say if the following statements are true or false.

1 When Rip wakes up he discovers that much has changed.

2 Rip’s house is still in good condition.

3 The inn has turned into a hotel.

 

Time

Tick as appropriate.

1 Rip Van Winkle wakes up after

a 30 years

b 20 years

2 The part “Well – who are they? – name them… … …Does nobody know poor Rip Van Winkle?” is

a a scene

b a pause

 

3 In the last part of the story America is

a under British rule

b an independent republic

 

Characters

Say if the following statements are true or false. T F

1 On waking, Rip doesn’t remember what happened the day before. £ £

2 The first thing he worries about is his wife. £ £

3 Rip meets his old friends. £ £

4 Rip is sorry to hear that his wife has died. £ £

 

† Full Immersion

Setting

1 Compare the village before and after Rip’s sleep. Fill in the missing information in the grid below.

BEFORE THE WAR	AFTER THE WAR
idle personages
small inn
a small amphitheatre	no amphitheatre
	George Washington
a great tree near the inn	a tall naked pole / American flag

Can you find any other changes? What has remained unchanged? Why?

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Consider the role of nature and say if it is treated in a realistic or a symbolic way.

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Time

Fill in the chart.

MAIN EVENTS

beginning of Rip Van Winkle’s adventure

How long does each part last?

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2 In terms of ‘Duration’, how would you classify lines “A large rickety wooden house … GENERAL WASHINGTON”?

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3 Can you find any examples of ‘scene’? What function do they serve?

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Characters

Rip Van Winkle and his wife are the main characters in the story. Are they flat or round characters? Support your answer.

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Narrator

The story is told by a typical 19^th-century narrator who informs, intrude comments. Give some examples:

 

informs:

intrudes:

comments:

 

† Literary Analysis

Literary Devices

 

1 Simile. Explain the meaning of the following phrase: “… the whole twenty years had been to him as one night”.

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2 Personification. Find examples of the personification of nature (in connection with the river, the mountains, and the dog).

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3 Alliteration. Find examples. What are their effects?

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4 Archaisms. Refer to the footnotes. Make a list of the archaic words. Why are they used?

_ _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

 

5 Sense devices. Which sense devices are used in “In a long ramble … Of Dame Van Winkle”? Underline the words which indicate them. What kin of atmosphere do they create?

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Other Ingredients

 

1 Foreshadowing (the narrator’s attempts to inform the reader about the future development of the story or its ending). We are told that 20 years have passed. Find examples showing how the writer has gradually prepared the reader for this revelation.

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2 Indirect statements (ideas expressed in an oblique way to challenge the reader; metaphors can also serve this function). Consider the phrases: ‘stroked their chins’, ‘put their tongues in their cheeks’, ‘petticoat government’. Explain their meaning in your own words.

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3 Irony (stating the opposite of what one really means). Find examples of irony in the paragraph “Times grew worse … perfect approbation”. Which words are used ironically, and what are their effects?

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4 Key words (words belonging to the same semantic field used to create a certain atmosphere or to explore a certain theme). In the story there are many clusters of key words which highlight various themes. Fill in the charts below.

SEMANTIC FIELD	WORDS / EXPRESSIONS (lines)
Magic / mystery	Legendary, fairy, mysterious, …………………………………………, incomprehensible, wonder, ………………………………………………., surprised, singularly metamorphosed
Strangeness	Fancy, ……………………………., odd-looking, particularly odd, ……………………………………., …………………………… strange man, strange children, …………………………………………., strange, strange beings.
Walking	Trudging, long ramble, …………………………………………
Valley	…………………………………………………………………………….., impending cliffs, ………………………………………………, cleft, ……………………………………………….
Bossy women	…………………………………………………….., shrews, …………………………………………………………, wife continually dinning in his ears, ………………………………………………….., volley, tart temper, daring tongue, ………………………………………………., the terrors of Dame Van Winkle.
Old types of clothes	‘several pair of breeches, the outer one of ample volume, decorated with rows of buttons down the sides, and bunches at the knees’, …………………………………………………………………………………….

 

SEMANTIC FIELD	CONNECTIONS
Magic / mystery	The legendary lore of the Dutch community and the quaintness of Rip’s adventure
Strangeness
Walking	Contact with nature
Valley
Bossy women
Old types of clothes	Old Dutch community

 

SEMANTIC FIELD	IDEAS SUGGESTED
Magic / mystery	Non-realistic events / story
Strangeness	The singularity of Rip’s adventure Confrontation with a new world
Walking
Valley
Bossy women	Misogyny or matriarchy
Old types of clothes	Early settlers of North America

5 Now you have read and worked on the story, try to describe:

a the plot structure (e.g. introduction → preparatory action → climax → resolution or it can break these rules and begin in medias res and / or have an open ending):

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

b the language and tone (e.g. grave, humorous, ironic, detached, pompous, intimate, friendly, etc.) of the story:

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Note The foregoing Tale, one would suspect, had been suggested to Mr. Knickerbocker by a little German superstition about the Emperor Frederick der Rothbart^[58], and the Kypphauser mountain: the subjoined note, however, which he had appended to the tale, shows that it is an absolute fact, narrated with his usual fidelity:

"The story of Rip Van Winkle may seem incredible to many, but nevertheless I give it my full belief, for I know the vicinity of our old Dutch settlements to have been very subject to marvellous events and appearances. Indeed, I have heard many stranger stories than this, in the villages along the Hudson; all of which were too well authenticated to admit of a doubt. I have even talked with Rip Van Winkle

myself, who, when last I saw him, was a very venerable old man, and so perfectly rational and consistent on every other point, that I think no conscientious person could refuse to take this into the bargain; nay, I have seen a certificate on the sub­ject taken before a country justice and signed with a cross, in the justice's own handwriting. The story, therefore, is beyond the possibility of doubt. D.K."   Postscript^[59] The following are travelling notes from a memorandum-book of Mr. Knickerbocker: The Kaatsberg, or Catskill Mountains, have always been a region full of fable. The Indians considered them the abode of spirits, who influenced the weather, spread­ing sunshine or clouds over the landscape, and sending good or bad hunting sea­sons. They were ruled by an old squaw spirit, said to be their mother. She dwelt on the highest peak of the Catskills, and had charge of the doors of day and night to open and shut them at the proper hour. She hung up the new moons in the skies, and cut up the old ones into stars. In times of drought, if properly propitiated, she would spin light summer clouds out of cobwebs and morning dew, and send them off from the crest of the mountain, flake after flake, like flakes of carded cot­ton, to float in the air; until, dissolved by the heat of the sun, they would fall in gentle showers, causing the grass to spring, the fruits to ripen, and the corn to grow an inch an hour. If displeased, however, she would brew up clouds black as ink, sitting in the midst of them like a bottle-bellied spider in the midst of its web; and when these clouds broke, wo betide the valleys!

In old times, say the Indian traditions, there was a kind of Manitou or Spirit, who kept about the wildest recesses of the Catskill Mountains, and took a mischievous pleasure in wreaking all kinds of evils and vexations upon the red men. Sometimes he would assume the form of a bear, a panther, or a deer, lead the bewildered hunter a weary chase through tangled forests and among ragged rocks; and then spring off with a loud ho! ho! leaving him aghast on the brink of a beetling precipice or raging torrent. The favorite abode of this Manitou is still shown. It is a great rock or cliff on the loneliest part of the mountains, and, from the flowering vines which clamber about it, and the wild flowers which abound in its neighborhood, is known by the name of the Garden Rock. Near the foot of it is a small lake, the haunt of the solitary bittern, with water-snakes basking in the sun on the leaves of the pond-lilies which lie on the surface. This place was held in great awe by the Indians, insomuch that the boldest hunter would not pursue his game within its precincts. Once upon a time, however, a hunter who had lost his way, penetrated to the garden rock, where he beheld^[60] a number of gourds placed in the crotches of trees. One of these he seized and made off with it, but in the hurry of his retreat he let it fall among the rocks, when a great stream gushed forth, which washed him away and swept him down precipices, where he was dashed to pieces, and the stream made its way to the Hud­son, and continues to flow to the present day; being the identical stream known by the name of the Kaaterskill.   1818, 1819

 

† Summing Up