Washington Irving

The Devil and Tom Walker
The Legend of Sleepy Hollow

Website Evaluators

Daphne Roberts - Bryan Station Traditional Magnet, Kentucky
Nicole Alise Rosenberg - Graduate student, California
Matthew S. Weeks - St. Mary's High School, California

Website Reviewer  and Compiler

Charles R. Sanders - San Pedro High School, California

Site Ratings

1 = Poor     2 = Fair     3 = Good     4 = Excellent

EAF Authors:  Washington Irving
http://etext.lib.virginia.edu/eaf/authors/first/wi.html

Researchers looking for information on the life and works of Washington Irving won't find much help at the primary site, but there are three excellent links to "extensive biographical information" on the author.  One version includes "commentaries of his works by the people of this time…that makes him more real as a human."  Another features biographical information on Irving's family and several excerpts from many of Irving's lesser known writings.
Overall Rating:  3

EducETH: Washington Irving
http://educeth.ethz.ch/english/readinglist/irving,washington.html

The initial page has "little content," but explore the links and you will find "a great amount of information on Irving."  Of special interest is a link that leads to a "detailed biography of Irving," and one that offers a "nice sixth grade lesson plan for 'Rip Van Winkle' with an exploration of the Hudson Valley and its history."  One "nice option" is a chat room where teachers and students can "speak with others about Irving and (receive) assistance in assignments and in forming creative ideas."
Overall Rating:  3

"Rip Van Winkle" Site
http://www.cwrl.utexas.edu/~daniel/amlit/rvw/rvw.html

If you are doing an in-depth study of Washington Irving's "Rip Van Winkle," this site "does a wonderful job of analyzing various ideas in the story."  Among the ideas discussed are "the story as an American fairy tale," Irving's role "in establishing an American tradition" in literature, and "how the passage of time changes a society."  This site, with its "images of a disembodied head with flowing hair," should "engage the interest of high school students," and teachers will find "useful information for lesson preparation."
Overall Rating:  3

Washington Irving (1783–1859)
http://www.kirjasto.sci.fi/wirving.htm

At this site, one will find a "good amount of biographical information on Washington Irving."  Perhaps the most valuable feature of the page is its links "to a plethora of other writers" and their connections to Irving.  Links to two of his literary friends, Mary Shelley and Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, do a good job of enriching students' understanding of what else was being written in Irving's time.  Also included is a chronology of Irving's works with publication dates, and a summary of "Rip Van Winkle."  The site can be "easily understood by students" and would be "especially useful to beginners."
Overall Rating:  3

Washington Irving Link Page
http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Parthenon/6672/

As the title of this page suggests, this site contains a series of links to information on Washington Irving's life and works.  The first link offers a rather verbose, but interesting, biography of Irving which ends, inexplicably, with an excerpt from A History of New York.  Another link leads to interesting summaries of "Rip Van Winkle" and "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow," and the e-text versions of both.  The third link is a "modifiable" text of "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" that "allows readers to annotate passages and create discussion forums."
Overall Rating:  3

Chapter 3:  Washington Irving
http://www.csustan.edu/english/reuben/pal/chap3/irving.html

Paul P. Reuben of California State University Stanislaus has included this page about Washington Irving in chapter three of his online research and reference guide that is used in several college classes.  The "site has an attractive image...and professional-looking backgrounds," and contains a bibliography which "would be a good asset for future research leads."  Also included are selected study questions for "Rip Van Winkle" and "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" with links to the e-texts of both.
Overall Rating:  2

The Price of Greed
http://internet.ocii.com/~benjc/essay/english/deviltom.html

Students studying Washington Irving's short story, "The Devil and Tom Walker," may enjoy reading this essay written by a tenth grade English student.  The essay "solidly draws the connection between greed and its role in the folktale" and is "well documented with allusions to archetypes and folktales."  This site "will engage fellow students and demonstrate how far literature projects can go—all the way to the world wide web."
Overall Rating:  2

Washington Irving
http://etext.lib.virginia.edu/railton/projects/rissetto/irving.html

Students may find this thesis, which is "rather long and wordy," difficult to read, but it does give one a "glimpse into (Washington) Irving's personal insights and beliefs."  Using excerpts from such Irving works as A History of New York and The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Cayen, the author of the thesis shows Irving's sympathetic nature to the American Indians and how he tried to portray their displacement.  There is a link to the University of Virginia library that offers a substantial amount of accurate, useful information on American literature.
Overall Rating:  2