1. Rip Van Winkle has been called the first American short story. What makes this an amusing story? While this was not originally intended to be as such, why is this story popular as a children’s story? What does Irving satirize in the new America to which Rip returns? What is the underlying theme of this short story? Be sure to give references with page numbers to your decisions and answers. 2. The Legend of Sleepy Hollow is probably Washington Irving’s best-known short story. In your own words, summarize the story with who the main characters are and what their purpose is in the story. In your opinion, was the Headless Horseman real or not? What was his relationship to Ichabod Crane? Who was the main villain in this story? What were your final feelings about the Headless Horseman; was he real or fiction? Irving mentions the local folklore and superstition of the times. How does this compare to the time period where many accused others of witchcraft and the supernatural? Be sure to give references with page numbers to your answers. 3. Thomas Bangs Thorpe had a way of expressing himself that often brought humor and questionable associations. Give examples of his “tall talk” and give your interpretation of his intentions. Make sure you reference the line and page of each example. You should be able to find at least five of these statements. 4. Despite the fact that James Fenimore Cooper had never lived in the Old West, he wrote many stories of the West and of the settlers’ conquest of moving westward. After reading both of the stories assigned in your text, 48 Grantham Arts & Sciences Series comment on the significance of the following categories, giving page references and examples: a. Heroes, heroines and villains b. Chases and rescues. c. Panoramic frontier and western settings d. Ideas of the glories of wilderness and nature and the inevitable destruction by the forces of civilization 5. In the poem The Prairies by William Cullen Bryant, what qualities of the prairies does Bryant appear to admire? Why? His natural history is flawed; does sentimentalism also mar the poem? Be sure to give page and line numbers with your explanation.