WHOEVER has made a voyage up the Hudson must remember the Kaatskill mountains. They are a dismembered branch of the great Appalachian family, and are seen away to the west of the river, swelling up to a noble height, and lording it over the surrounding country. Every change of season, every change of weather, indeed,…
Month: October 2023
Character Development in Washington Irving’s Rip Van Winkle
Character Development of Rip “…a simple, good-natured fellow, of the name of Rip Van Winkle. “…I have observed that he was a simple, good-natured man; he was, moreover, a kind neighbour, and an obedient, hen-pecked husband. Indeed, to the latter circumstance might be owing that meekness of spirit which gained him such universal popularity; for…
Setting in Washington Irving’s Rip Van Winkle
Painting of Rip Van Winkle by Jon Quidor – 1829 Washington Irving is considered the Father of the Short Story, which began as an American literary form. His delightful story Rip Van Winkle is thought to have been the first American short story. In 1916, W. Patterson Atkinson said the following about the short story: “A short…
Little Red Riding Hood Illustrated and Redtold by Trina Schart Hyman
[Red’s mother packed a basked and sent Red through the woods with it to her grandmother’s house.] Picture Book Writers Often Allow Their Illustrations to Create the Setting: Hyman’s Written Creation of the Setting of Grandmother’s House “‘Oh, it’s a good fifteen minutes farther into the wood. Her house is the one by those three…
Why Are Crows Associated with Evil?
Especially in the USA, Crows or Blackbirds are simply part of the landscape, and over time, they have become associated with the autumnal time of year. I suppose that is because we associate scarecrows with the fall, and what is a scarecrow’s job? To scare crows. Perhaps it is because they are black that crows…
Description of Autumn Leaves by Winthrop Packard in Wood Wanderings
AMONG AUTUMN LEAVES WOOD WANDERINGS BY WINTHROP PACKARD ILLUSTRATED BY CHARLES COPELAND Published in 1910 THE deep woods catch all the rich colors of the autumn sunsets in their foliage. The dull reds and the vivid ones, the maroons and the scarlets, the golden yellows and the wondrously soft and mellow shades of tan and…
My Day Trip to Hawksbill Crag in the Ozark Mountains
For a few years, I lived in Harrison, Arkansas, which is located in the heart of the beautiful Ozark Mountains. For my first day trip, I elected to go out to the area Along the highway, I passed some other notable spots that I’ll talk about later, but by the time that I had reached…
The Opening of the Movie Tuck Everlasting Was Filmed at Hawksbill Crag in the Ozark Mountains
I love everything about Tuck Everlasting. I love the novel. I love the writing style of the novel. I love the magic that is captured in that novel, and beyond that, I love how Walt Disney transformed Babbit’s words into a movie version of that novel. For a few years, I lived in the Ozark…
The Duvals of Kentucky from Virginia
Published in 1938 HIS book was written to meet the need of a permanent record of the history of the descendants of four brothers of the old Virginia family of Col. Samuel DuVal of “Mt. Comfort,” Henrico County, Va. On this plantation of five hundred acres was built the Chestnut Hill and Highland Park additions…