Knowra Washington Irving Washington Irving Washington Irving (1783–1859) was an American author, essayist, biographer, and diplomat. His stories “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow” and “Rip Van Winkle” helped establish a distinctively American literary tradition.
The Legend of Sleepy Hollow : A short story about schoolteacher Ichabod Crane and the Headless Horseman in a Dutch-American village. This tale made Irving’s Sleepy Hollow setting and its spectral horseman enduring parts of American folklore.
Short story : A brief work of prose fiction focused on a limited cast, setting, or sequence of events. Irving helped establish the short story as a prominent form in American literature.
New York City : A major city in the northeastern United States, founded as the Dutch colony of New Amsterdam. Irving was born and raised in New York, whose Dutch colonial past inspired his early writing.
James Kirke Paulding : An American writer and politician who collaborated with Irving on early satirical works. Paulding joined Irving and William Irving in writing the satirical periodical Salmagundi.
American literature : Literature written in the United States, encompassing its diverse languages, histories, and traditions. Irving’s international success helped demonstrate that American writers could attract audiences abroad.
Rip Van Winkle : A short story about a villager who sleeps for twenty years and awakens after the American Revolution. Its time-shifted Catskills setting turns political change into an American folk legend.
American folklore : Traditional stories, beliefs, and customs that developed among communities in the United States. Irving reshaped regional legends into written tales that became widely recognized as American folklore.
Knickerbocker Group : A circle of early nineteenth-century New York writers associated with a developing American literary culture. Irving’s literary success helped give this circle its name and cultural prominence.
William Irving : An American writer and politician, and Washington Irving’s older brother. He collaborated with Washington and James Kirke Paulding on Salmagundi.
American literary nationalism : A movement to develop literature expressing a distinct national culture in the United States. Irving’s use of American places and legends supported calls for a literature rooted in national life.
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