Washington Irving, The Sketch Book

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Significance and Genre

The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent. contains two of the most famous pieces of American literature: “Rip Van Winkle” and “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow”, In them Washington Irving created two of the earliest examples of the American short story, and also two stories with lingering appeal to both critics and the general public, inspiring numerous adaptations on stage, in film, and on television, influencing later writers, and giving rise to a great deal of conflicting commentary among literary critics, who do not entirely agree on what Irving accomplished in these two stories, but do agree that they are his two masterpieces.

The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent.

contains two of the most famous pieces of American literature: “Rip Van Winkle” and…

2774 words

Citation: Goldfarb, Sheldon. "The Sketch Book". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 27 May 2014 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=7758, accessed 19 March 2024.]

7758 The Sketch Book 3 Historical context notes are intended to give basic and preliminary information on a topic. In some cases they will be expanded into longer entries as the Literary Encyclopedia evolves.

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