Writing Comparison, Essay Example

During the 1800s, the American culture saw the expansion and change of the United States after the Revolutionary and Civil War. For instance, Americans began exploring and settling towards the West and others were investigating the sciences, arts and social fields. These changes in societal and cultural views pushed Americans to begin reading moreliterature resulting in an emergence of several important American writers. One of the earliest milestones in American literature was introduced by Washington Irving in 1819, from a collection of essays and stories known as “Rip Van Winkle” and “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow”. Irving was the first writer to develop what is known as a “short story”. Other American literature writers began developing shortstories, and at the same timeincorporating British representations to capture their British ancestry, history and illustrate the credibility of English writers; however, the works of the American literature writers during this time period were also capturing and integrating the American colonial settings as well.(UNCP) The current paper compares and contrasts the representation of colonial America in the writings of two famous American Literature writers, Washington Irving and Nathanial Hawthorne.

Washington Irving stories were compiled into short stories and were based on wilderness and the people living in the particular area. Within the short stories, the description of the colonial time of that period is vividly described. The stories of “Rip Van Winkle” are a good representation of the colonial period in America, with a narrative of the time period before the American Revolution. Irving uses a setting during the colonial days of America and during the time of the last governor of the Dutch province of the New Netherlands. In addition, Irving uses humor in a fairy tale type of style. For instance, Irving introduces the character of Rip Van Winkle as, “In that same village, and in one of these very houses, there lived many years since, while the country was yet a province of Great Britain, a simple good natured fellow, of the name of Rip Van Winkle. He was a descendant of the Van Winkles who figured so gallantly in the chivalrous days of Peter Stuyvesant, and accompanied him to the siege of Fort Christina.(Uslu, 188)” Irving describes the village setting and different Inn’s that the townspeople gathered at, with descriptions of the English king, King George III, on the wall. Irving also uses the character of Rip Van Winkle to show the change in the American colonies in regard to culture. For instance, Rip Van Winkle is described as wearing old fashioned colonial clothes and the presentation of the townspeople are described as being curious about Rip’s political party. On the other hand, Rip Van Winkle is noted as curious and in wonder about people, such as peasants, talking about his elections and politicians, which was not common in Europe. The story written by Irving therefore illustrates the dramatic change that occurred in the American colonies from a cultural and political standpoint. (187-188)

Nathaniel Hawthorne, another great American Literature author, in contrast to Irving, wrote about American colonial ages; however, his writing explored a darker side of American history. For instance, Nathaniel Hawthorne concentrated works on Salem Witch trials and Puritan culture and religion. (Smith, a) Nathanial Hawthorne’s works involved a more serious tone and included the ways in which individuals were treated and prosecuted for disobeying religious beliefs; whereas, Irving used humor to portray his conception of American colonial times. Nathaniel Hawthornewrote about his view on life and described a more tragic tale in his works, such as exploring the inner guilt that people lived with on a daily basis and connected these descriptions with American colonial culture. The Scarlett letter is a good example of this as it is a solemn and tragic type of story in which the main characters suffer prosecution from the townspeople. At the same time, he depicts the culture of the Puritans during that time period. Therefore, like Irving, he combined his work to an English type setting.

Washington Irving and Nathaniel Hawthorne’s representation of American during the colonial times are similar in the respect that they based their works off of real life cultural experiences that were present during those times. The American people during that time did not particularly read fiction stories, since the culture was dominated by the Puritan religion. As seen in both of Irving and Hawthorne’sworks, the use of a traditional European narrative with an American colonial setting is exemplified. Another example of this use of English tradition in American colonies is illustrated in “The Minister’s Black Veil” by Nathaniel Hawthorne. The setting is in a small Puritan community where the townspeople gather for Sunday. The enjoyment amongst the townspeople is interrupted by a Reverend wearing a black veil, which terrifies the town. (Smith, b)Here we get a glimpse of the colonial life; however, with a darker, more dramatic tone. Same as in Irving’s work “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow”, with the setting in a small colony with European influence as described as Dutch. Irving incorporates the American culture into the story using comments suggesting the influence of the American Industrial Revolution through depictions of townspeople traveling to other towns for work. (NCSU)

Overall, the works of both Hawthorne and Irving have both similar and different characteristics. Both authors use the English influence in their writings to portray the American colonial culture; however, each author has a different writing style. Irving’s style is more playful with humor; whereas, Hawthorne’s style is more dramatic and dark. Although their styles contrast, the overall scenery and essence of the times is greatly portrayed in both of the author’s works.

Works Cited

NCSU. Lecture Notes for Washington Irving. Retrieved from: http://www4.ncsu.edu/~wdlloyd/irvingnotes.htm

Smith, N.(a) “Nathaniel Hawthorne: An Overview of the Author and Thematic Analysis of Works”. (2011). Article Myriad. Retrieved from: http://www.articlemyriad.com/nathaniel-hawthorne-overview-author-analysis/.

Smith, N.(b) “Full Summary and Analysis of “The Minister’s Black Veil” by Nathaniel Hawthorne”. (2011). Article Myriad. Retrieved from: http://www.articlemyriad.com/summary-analysis-ministers-black-veil/

UNCP. (2002). “ENG 223: American Literature Before 1865.Lesson 7: Washington Irving, American Romantic”. (2002). http://www.uncp.edu/home/canada/work/markport/lit/amlit1/fall2002/08irving.htm.

Ulsu, A.D. Reflections of History on Literature: The impact of American Revolution and Benjamin Franklin on Washington Irving’s “Rip Van Winkle”. Çankaya Üniversitesi Fen-Edebiyat Fakültesi,Journal of Arts and Sciences Say?: 12: 180-192.