For discussion or writing. 1. “the Legend of Sleepy hollow” and “rip Van winkle” both address change and attempts to resist it

1. “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow” and “Rip Van Winkle” both address change and attempts to resist it. How is this theme presented in the Leatherstocking series, of James Fenimore Cooper, a fellow New York writer?

2. Rip sleeps through the nation’s foundational event, the Revolutionary War. Does he represent America, or is he a fi gure sympathetic to pre–Revolutionary War times when the colonies were ruled by England?

3. Both of Irving’s tales point to aspects of the country’s violent past—the Salem witch trials and the Revolutionary War. How does Irving reconcile his treatment of these two events with his general desire for an idyllic past, represented by the secluded Dutch communities in the two tales?

4. How is the landscape imagined for the Dutch and native communities? Consider the arid conditions of Rip Van Winkle’s farm and the dangers inherent in the Catskills.

5. Irving details the landscape of this particular nook in New York quite assiduously. Read over some of these descriptions of the landscape and explain their role in creating the story’s tone.

6. In the postscript, the storyteller and one of his listeners engage briefl y over the question of a tale’s purpose or moral lesson. The storyteller concludes that he does not “believe one half of it [him]self.” How does a dubious storyteller affect the reader’s sense of the tale?

7. In both of Irving’s famous tales, “Rip Van Winkle” and “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, ” he describes a fi gure who is both within and yet not a part of a particular society. What might be the benefi ts of placing protagonists in such luminal positions? How are readers to assess the judgments of Ichabod Crane and Rip Van Winkle?

8. Irving scholars and critics argue that he both defended America from European insults and yet was abusive of Americans when living abroad in Europe. Examining two of his stories, how might you make an argument for Irving’s ideal notions of Americans? Are there characters who embody these ideals, or are these characteristics dispersed among several characters?

9. Irving’s detailed landscapes are a signature aspect of his writing and are what critics believe elped to foster an American literary identity. Look closely at passages about the natural settings in “Rip Van Winkle” and “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow.” What conclusions might you draw about the Americanness of these landscapes?

10. In both of Irving’s famous tales, “Rip Van Winkle” and “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, ” he describes a fi gure who is both within and yet not a part of a particular society. What might be the benefi ts of placing protagonists in such luminal positions? How are readers to assess the judgments of Ichabod Crane and Rip Van Winkle?

11. Irving scholars and critics argue that he both defended America from European insults and yet was abusive of Americans when living abroad in Europe. Examining two of his stories, how might you make an argument for Irving’s ideal notions of Americans? Are there characters who embody these ideals, or are these characteristics dispersed among several characters?

12. Irving’s detailed landscapes are a signature aspect of his writing and are what critics believe helped to foster an American literary identity. Look closely at passages about the natural settings in “Rip Van Winkle” and “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow.” What conclusions might you draw about the Americanness of these landscapes?

13. Describe Rip Van Winkle as husband and as citizen. As you articulate his relationship with his wife, consider whether you think Irving means us to feel more sympathy for Rip or for Dame Van Winkle.

14. How are we supposed to feel about Ichabod Crane? To what extent should we feel sympathy for him? On which of his characteristics or habits do you base your judgment?

15. Note that Rip sleeps through the Revolutionary War; that is, he sleeps through America’s transition from colony to nation. Why does it matter that Rip sleeps through these particular eighteen years? Describe his village before and after his fateful nap: which do you think Irving prefers? What is different and what is the same in the village before and after Rip’s sleep?

16. Like “Rip Van Winkle, ” “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow” suggests a distinction between Dutch colony and American nation (in the figures of Brom and Ichabod, respectively). What is Irving saying about the difference between the two communities?

17. In 1820, Sydney Smith asked, “In the four corners of the globe, who reads an American book? ” In The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent. (1820), Irving responds by formulating America—and Americans—as a site of interest and inspiration. As you read “Rip Van Winkle, ” consider how Irving formulates national identity, particularly in relation to Europe. How do race, culture, and historical context figure into this formulation?

18. Compare the fate of the romance between Cora and Uncas to the happy conclusion of Faith Leslie and Oneco in Catharine Maria Sedgwick’s Hope Leslie. Consider the racial politics that allow the one marriage and prohibit the second. How do the two authors imagine relations between American Indians and Anglo Americans?

19. Compare the death scenes of father (Chingachgook) in The Pioneers and son (Uncas) in The Last of the Mohicans. What end or purpose does each death serve?

20. The natural world figures prominently in all of Cooper’s novels. It is a refuge from the corrupting influences of civilization, especially for Natty Bumppo. Selecting two of Cooper’s novels, consider the role that nature plays in them. Who else occupies the natural world, and what kind of moral, racial, or spiritual qualities or limitations are placed upon those in the natural world? In a similar vein, consider the corrupting characters who dwell in civilized areas. What qualities do they possess, and why are these qualities specifically mapped onto the town or developed space?

21. Both Natty Bumppo and his companion, Chingachgook, are liminal figures who live precariously on the outskirts of society and time, victims to industrialized progress, religious conversion, and the social expectations of marriage and domesticity. Why are Cooper’s heroes doomed? What arguments is Cooper making about 19th-century American society through Natty Bumppo and Chingachgook? Are these social comments the same across racial lines? Why or why not?