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LITR 4232 American
Renaissance 2010 Student Midterm Samples 2. Short essay (4-6 paragraphs) on 1 of 2 options (or combinations as inspired) :
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The Fall of the House of Winkle
“It
was with some difficulty that he found the way to his own house, which he
approached with silent awe, expecting every moment to hear the shrill voice of
Dame Van Winkle. He found the house
gone to decay—the roof fallen in, the windows shattered, and the doors
off the hinges. A half-starved dog that looked like Wolf was skulking about it.
Rip called him by name, but the cur [rude dog] snarled, showed his teeth, and
passed on. This was an unkind cut indeed—“My very dog,” sighed poor Rip, “has
forgotten me!”
He entered the house, which, to tell the truth, Dame Van Winkle had always kept
in neat order. It was empty, forlorn, and apparently abandoned. This
desolateness overcame all his connubial fears—he called loudly for his wife and
children—the lonely chambers rang for a moment with his voice, and then all
again was silence.”
There is something so fascinating about Washington Irving’s
Rip Van Winkle—it appears to be a
folk-tale without a moral. Rip betrays his familial obligation to go out and
drink in the woods; as a result, he loses an unhappy marriage and becomes a wise
elder in the town (a hero). However,
The gothic is fairly obvious in the passage. “He [Rip] found his house gone to
decay.” “Decay” is a word usually associated with the gothic genre. Other
instances of this can be found all over: “half-starved,” “desolateness,” and
“lonely chambers” to name but a few. However,
description is a cheap way of getting the point across. The true gothic nature
of this passage is in its theme. Rip has come to his house searching for
answers. He finds that his house, wife, and children are gone. The only thing
left is his dog “Wolf.” “Wolf” “showed his teeth, and passed on.” The narrator
describes this as an “unkind cut indeed.” This is what the entire passage hinges
on. It is not Rip that has a sense of longing, the way the narrator in Ligeia
does, it is the dog that longs. The dog has been waiting for Rip’s Return;
however, time has changed not only Rip’s house, but Rip’s physical appearance as
well (they share in the gothic decay), and the dog “has forgotten me [Rip].”
Therefore, the passage isn’t about being remembered; it is about the horror
being forgotten.
The sublime is fairly subtle in this passage. For the most part it is playing on
the gothic. When Rip arrives at his house, He is in “silent awe.” The ability
nature has to destroy what people know is both gothic and sublime. Unfortunately
there is not any other instance of the sublime in the passage. Though, the use
of it is found in other parts of the story. Specifically, the use of the sublime
can be seen when Rip is in the woods following the ghost. This is also an
example of a fantastic metaphor for the time we waist chasing things that do not
matter. However, this is a digression. It may be better to focus on the metaphor
in the passage.
The metaphor in the passage deals with the house and Rip’s marriage (including
children). In describing the house, the narrator states: “It was empty, forlorn,
and apparently abandoned.” This description also applies to Rip’s relationship
with his family. His abandonment of his family is in direct correlation with the
destruction of his house. Even prior to his leaving, Rip was neglectful of his
house; this is why he was in an unhappy marriage—Mrs. Van Winkle felt neglected.
Rip Van Winkle is an interesting story about a man becoming myth. He is a bad
husband, neglectful father, and cannot keep his house in order (bad Christian?).
However,
