The Motif of Magic in Rip van Winkle
The story of Rip van Winkle is a popular folktale of the United States. Its general motif is the magical passing of many years in what seems only a few days. Japan’s popular version of this story is Urashima Taro. In addition to the common motif, the personality of the main characters, Rip van Winkle and Urashima Taro, and plot structures are similar as well.
The main characters, Rip van Winkle and Urashima Taro, in both stories are very similar. Both are simple men. One example of this is how they spend their time. For example, Urashima Taro likes to spend his days fishing, but does not really care if he catches anything, and Rip van Winkle likes to go hunting in the mountains with his dog as an excuse to get away from his duties. However, both men have social responsibilities that do not fit well with this lazy lifestyle. For example, Rip van Winkle’s short-tempered wife constantly scolds him for his lack of ambition and initiative. Taro either has a mother or a wife who depends on him for the very few fish he bothers to bring home. Although we recognize that these men are irresponsible, we sympathize with their simple desires and we understand they are very kind as well. As examples, Rip is described as a friendly and caring father and Taro saves a turtle that is being cruelly teased by a group of boys. It is easy to imagine them as basically the same man.
The first episode in both stories emphasizes these aspects of their characters and habits. The next episode involves them having experiences with magical people far away from their own communities. In one case, Rip goes hunting in the mountains and meets fairies bowling and drinking. He enjoys their company and, after drinking some magical drink, falls asleep for many, many years. In the other case, the turtle takes Taro to the Ryugu Palace at the bottom of the sea. After joining the beautiful women in a variety of fun pastimes, he too discovers that he has been gone many, many years. The third episode of both stories involves the men returning to their communities. In both cases the men find their old homes strange an very unfamiliar. They experience loneliness, isolation, and old age.
These similarities of structure and character help to make the stories almost the same.
Irving, Washington. “Rip Van Winkle.” The Norton Anthology of American Literature. Ed. Nina Bayn. New York: Norton & Company, 1999.
In “Rip Van Winkle” by Washington Irving he writes about a simple man, Rip Van Winkle, who does just enough to get by in life. He lives in a village by the catskill mountains, and is loved by everyone in the village. He is an easy going man, who spends most of his days at the village inn talking with his neighbors, fishing all day, and wandering the mountains with his dog to refuge from his wife the thorn on his side. On one of his trips to the mountains Rip Van Winkle stumbles upon a group of men who offer him a drink, and that drink changes everything for Van Winkle. He later wakes up, twenty years later, and returns to his village were he notices nothing is the same from when he left. He learns that King George III is no longer in charge,
Geib, Rich. "THOMAS HOBBES QUOTES." Thomas Hobbes. N.p., 12 Apr. 2006. Web. 09 Feb. 2014.
MIller, Mike. "What Happened to Chicago's Murder Rate After Illinois Upheld Concealed Carry and Why It Matters." Independent Journal Review. N.p., 2 Apr. 2014. Web. 30 Apr. 2014.
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...ductivity shaped the development of the American economy in the 1920s. The nation’s industries shifted from coal to electricity. Mass production, electrification, and other innovations increased American productivity and established industries flourished while new industries developed. One of the most signigicant inventions during this time was the assembly line. This made hard work become less tedious and forever changed the lives of factory workers.
Likewise, lung cancer affects people who have never smoked due to the presence of radon and household pollutants. Radon has contributed to 10% of all lung cancer deaths and is considered second to smoking. There is no way to predict who will get cancer, but inherited genetic risk factors make some people more vulnerable to carcinogenic exposures than others. Lung cancer starts whenever there is an uncontrolled growth of abnormal tissue cells that affect the normal function within the lungs. As these abnormal cells grow they form tumors which can block the oxygen exchange within the body. (Lungcancer.org, 2014).
works of literature have tremendous amounts of similarity especially in the characters. Each character is usually unique and symbolizes the quality of a person in the real world. But in both stories, each character was alike, they represented honor, loyalty, chivalry, strength and wisdom. Each character is faced with a difficult decision as well as a journey in which they have to determine how to save their own lives. Both these pieces of literatures are exquisite and extremely interesting in their own ways.
Lee, Jack. "7 Reasons Why An Assault Weapons Ban Will Fail to Reduce Violent Crime." Www.PolicyMic.com. Policy Mic, 15 Jan. 2013. Web. 09 Dec. 2013.
“A well-regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed.” The right of all Americans to bear arms is a right the Founding Fathers held to equal importance as the Constitution itself. Gun control laws directly violate this right and therefore should not even be under consideration. Even if that issue is overlooked, gun control advocates state that in order to reduce firearm related violence, gun control laws must be implemented to remove the violence caused by firearms. Although this may seem reasonable, the consequences of such laws are ironically counterproductive; they exacerbate the problem instead of fixing it. Besides the fact that the American Constitution guarantees its citizens the right to bear arms, the idea of restricting gun ownership in order to reduce firearm-related violence would ultimately fail given the previous experiments of gun control in England and in numerous states.
Over the last decade, gun control has been one of the hottest political topics nationwide. Those who support gun control believe that stricter gun laws reduce crime, while opponents of gun control believe that firearms are essential for self-defense. Both sides possess passionate views, and are usually unwilling to compromise their beliefs. What exactly is gun control? Gun control is a series of laws that limit the availability and ownership of privately owned firearms. Cliff Stearns, a member of the U.S. House of Representatives, claims that “Our society is a violent society. However, the innocent deserve access to the tools they need to defend themselves.” Gun laws should be relaxed in the United States because the 2nd Amendment prohibits the government from infringing on the right to keep and bear arms, a well-armed general population would deter the government from becoming abusive in the future, and finally, because access to firearms make it easier for people to defend themselves and their families.
Both narratives compare as timeless tales of reputable heroes. They both include similar plots of long journeys back home. The main characters’ flaws are arrogance which is the source of many of their troubles.
One particular criterion character effectively supports the central idea in “Rip Van Winkle” by Washington Irving. The character's type develops with the personality development throughout the story. Three types of characters: round, flat, and stock, appear in most stories. The round character displays a fully developed personality and full emotions. Flat characters, also known as supporting characters, do not develop fully or express complex emotions. A stock character, also known as a stereotype, fits an established characterization from real life or literature. With these three types of characters leading the reader through the story, the reader learns the events taking place as well as the changes in the character’s lives. The author keeps the reader informed of the changes affecting the characters throughout the narrative through style. When a character undergoes a fundamental change in nature or personality during the story, the character has dynamic style. However, a character without change defines a static character. Although all characters have a style and type sometimes understanding the differences appears complicated. A chart often helps establish a better understanding of character type and style.
The biggest difference between the two texts is that one is about gangs and racism while the other is about the way a boy’s perception of his father changes as he grows up. However, both texts cleverly use techniques to convey messages that are relevant to our society.
When we first started to talk about good advice, I didn't fully understand what makes good advice, well, good. "Advice is advice." I said to myself, walking home from class trying to think of where to start. As the subject grew in class, everybody started to get deeper into the subject until we all had a well-based understanding on what good advice is. Everyone had a little different perspective than everybody else, which made the subject very interesting. I realized that there are many requirements for good advice.