Part I: "Rip Van Winkle" is making a statement about the Revolution. What is it Washington Irving is trying to convey to the reader through his story? Then consider the characters of Rip and Dame Van Winkle. Discuss their traits in terms of them being important to the message of the story.
Rip Van Winkle, a descendent of the original Dutch settlers going back to the days of Peter Stuyvesant, literally slept through the American Revolution and could not comprehend the changes that had occurred over the preceding twenty years. When he arrived back in the village after his twenty-year ...
