华盛顿欧文1

HisBaidu NhomakorabeaMajor Works
Writing style
• • • • Imitative, but highly skillful His writing with great humor Vivid and true characters Avoid moralizing as much as possible • Never shocking and a bit sentimental at time .
Life Experience
3) He was a partner with his brothers in the family hardware business and representative of the business in England until it collapsed in 1818. During the war of 1812 Irving was a military aide to New York Governor Tompkins in the U.S. Army. 4） Irving's career as a writer started in journals and newspapers. His success in social life and literature was shadowed by a personal tragedy because his engaged love died at the age of seventeen. So he never married or had children. 5） After the death of his mother, Irving decided to stay in Europe, where he remained for seventeen years from 1815 to 1832.
Writing style
• We seldom learn a moral lesson because he wants us amused and relaxed. So we often find ourselves lost in a world that is permeated with a dreaming quality. The Gothic elements and the supernatural atmosphere are manipulated in such a way that we could become so engaged and involved in what is happening in a seemingly exotic place. He is worth the honor of being “the American Gold-smith” for his literary craftsmanship.
Writing style
• He parodies or imitates Homer, Cervantes, Fielding, Swift and many other favorites of his. He was also absorbed in what he called “the rich mine of German literature” and got ideas from German legends for two of his famous stories “Rip Van Winkle” and “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow”.
Washington Irving (1783-1859 )
Washington Irving
• • • • • Introduction Life experience Writing style Contribution Major works
Introduction
• Washington Irving(1783-1859) American author, short story writer, essayist, poet, travel book writer, biographer, and columnist. He was one of the first American writers to earn an international reputation, and regarded as an early Romantic writer in the American literary history and Father of the American short stories.
Life Experience
1) Washington Irving was born in New York City on April 3, 1783 as the youngest of 11 children. His parents, Scottish-English immigrants, were great admirers of General George Washington, and named their son after their hero. 2) Early in his life Irving developed a passion for books. He studied law privately but practiced only briefly. From 1804 to 1806 he traveled widely in Europe. After returning to the United States, Irving was admitted to the New York bar in 1806.