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(2017
midterm assignment) Sample Student Midterm Answers 2017 #3: Web Highlights (Index) |
LITR 4328 |
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Diane Alonzo
A Winkle in Time: Web Highlights
The story
of Rip Van Winkle, by
Washington Irving has always been an intriguing story. One question that has
resonated in me that was asked during Dr. White’s class was, “How and why does
everyone know the story, even if you've never read them before?” I am not a
well-read person. Honestly, I only read if I have to. That does not mean I do
not enjoy what I read, but in a way, I have to be assigned readings to actually
make an effort to read. As a child, I remember hearing of the story, but never
actually reading it. I remember learning about it in Social Studies classes and
English classes, but I was only able to get the full picture of it during Dr.
White’s lecture. I felt that as an adult, I could comprehend how time flies. As
a child, time seems to stand still. We crave as children to be adults, but as
adults, we yearn to go back to our pasts. Analyzing
Rip Van Winkle, helped me see,
as an adult, how fast pace and changing the American lifestyle is, and how we as
adults tend to forget the process that brought us to where we are today.
In
the short essay titled, Time Changes
Everything, Michael points out the quick and high-tech advancements of
the iPhone. He writes, “Simply
put, our society and culture is expanding at an exponential rate, so much so
that I believe if Rip Van Winkle were to fall asleep in our present day and wake
up twenty years in our future, the world wouldn’t simply be unfamiliar, but
almost entirely unrecognizable.” I absolutely agree with his words. The changes
between decades in recent times, is unbelievably drastic. In the 1990s I
remember technology being scarce for me, but by 2000, everyone seemed to have a
computer in their home. Now in the present, we can use our cell phones as
mini-computers. Technology advancements are incredible and I feel that although
I know how to work computers and other electronics, I may fall behind as I age.
Just like Rip.
In the
short essay titled, The Fall of the
House of Winkle, Eric points out that Irving’s story “explores the idea
of American Amnesia.” He mentions that when Rip enters his home after his
twenty-year nap, he finds his dog, Wolf.
The
dog “has forgotten” Rip. Eric believes that passage isn’t about being
remembered; it is about the horror of being forgotten. Honestly, I felt that I
wanted more analysis of what Eric called “American Amnesia.” I feel that the
paragraph only touched on the term. I felt he could have gone more in depth with
his analysis. American lifestyle can, at times, focus so much on the future that
sometimes we forget our past or the process it took to get here. I wonder if he
meant to say that Rip was America’s and the dog was America’s future.
The final
essay I analyzed was Who Am I?
by Jennifer Hamilton. She quotes Rip Van Winkle,
“I’m not myself – I’m somebody else – that’s me yonder – no – that’s
somebody else got into my shoes – I was myself last night, but I fell asleep on
the mountain, and they’ve changed my gun, and everything’s changed, and I’m
changed, and I can’t tell what’s my name, or who I am!” She says the America she
knew as a child is different from how it is in present day and it will keep
changing for future generations. I agree with her perspective. The fact is, not
only is America changing, but the entire world is as well. Globalization and
technology have given people the opportunities that our ancestors never had.
Through Rip’s situation, we can understand the desire to go back in time, but
change and progress is inevitable. We can either accept it or resist it, but
with resistance, one can fall behind. Like Rip, falling behind can leave you in
a lonely position.
The
story of Rip Van Winkle, I feel is not just a story, but a historical artifact.
America has always been a land of progress and change. From its humble
beginnings to its fast-paced and technological present, America’s future is
right around the corner. Ready or not, here it comes. Will you accept the
change, or resist it?
