Washington Irving Research Paper

Founder of the short story genre, first professional writer, ambassador to Spain - there are many titles and achievements listed in the resumé of Washington Irving [1].

His many works were greatly influenced by the things Irving saw and experienced and the people he met on his many travels to Europe and different places in the United States [2, 5]. His never-ending desire to travel and see the world was indeed one of his most significant traits and to Irving his journeys were a source of great inspiration [1]. Even as a child he would listen to the stories of his foreign neighbors, read and dream about far-off-places, and sneak out of his house to wander through the city or attend plays [4, 5]. One other effect the time spent abroad had …show more content…
His parents, both Scottish-English immigrants, were wealthy, his father worked as a merchant [3]. Named after George Washington, President at the time and admired by Irving`s parents, he was the youngest of 11 children. Though he was not unintelligent, his performance in school was rather poor, his bad health and lack of discipline were the reason for that [1]. As he did not want to go to college like his brothers, Irving finished his education at the age of sixteen, though he still enjoyed to read much and widely [1]. He then went to study and practice law in different offices, but his interest in law did not last very long [1]. During his time in the practice of Josiah Ogden Hoffman he developed a great friendship with the family and fell in love with Hoffman´s then seventeen year-old daughter, Matilda [8]. The two get engaged, but before they can marry Matilda tragically dies in 1809 [3]. He never truly recovered from that loss and it influenced him throughout his life …show more content…
The successful book was followed by Irving´s even more successful "A History of New York", a comical satiric story of the Dutch colonization New York´s [11]. Published under Irving´s other pseudonym Dietrich Knickerbocker, a name that became the inspiration for the New York Knickerbockers "Knicks" title, A History of New York was called the first great comical book written by an American and enjoyed in and outside of the United States [6,7]. But he could not enjoy his success, as his fiancé died in April before the publication [8]. His grief overshadowed everything for a while, and for six years Irving stopped to write [3]. Instead, he started to work for his brother in Washington D.C., an arrangement that did not work very well

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