background. Washington Irving (1783-1859) has often been called “the Father of American Literature.” He is thought of, for instance, as the first American writer to make his living primarily through his creative work, and he is the first American acclaimed by the English literary establishment as worthy of recognition.

Why is Washington Irving considered an important American writer? He was the first to gain international fame and his writing celebrated america in a humorous way. Founded the Hudson River school which inspired artist to paint nature and the landscapes of America.

Washington Irving, (born April 3, 1783, New York, New York, U.S.—died November 28, 1859, Tarrytown, New York), writer called the “first American man of letters.” He is best known for the short stories “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow” and “Rip Van Winkle.”

Here are 10 things you might not know about America’s first international best-selling author.

• Irving was the last of 11 children, eight of whom lived into adulthood.
• He was named after George Washington.
• In 1798, yellow fever had reached epidemic proportions in New York with over 800 deaths.

Washington Irving (April 3, 1783 – November 28, 1859) was an American short-story writer, essayist, biographer, historian, and diplomat of the early 19th century.

Narrative Style and Simple Prose. Irving’s style mixes simple writing, a real tone, and a questionable storyteller to make a story that is among truth and fiction. In Rip Van Winkle, Irving utilizes the storyteller, Geoffrey Crayon, to share the account of Rip Van Winkle.

The 5 Characteristics of Transcendentalism

• Simplistic Living.
• Self-Reliance.
• Importance of Nature.
• Spirituality.
• Spirituality.
• Simplistic Living.
• Self-Reliance.

Anti-transcendentalism was a literary subgenre that focused on human fallibility and proneness to sin. This subgenre is better known as dark romanticism, according to Education Portal. Hawthorne believed guilt, sin and evil to be innate qualities within humans, according to Education Portal.

Unlike romantic styled stories, anti-transcendentalism writers created stories about limitations and the destructiveness of the human spirit. These writers also believed that humans were bitter, sinful and evil beings. The other writers of this era are Ralph Emerson, Emily Dickinson, and Henry Thoreau.

Transcendentalists advocated the idea of a personal knowledge of God, believing that no intermediary was needed for spiritual insight. They embraced idealism, focusing on nature and opposing materialism.

The anti-transcendentalists reflected a more pessimistic attitude and focused on man’s uncertainty and limited potential in the universe. They viewed nature as vast and incomprehensible, a reflection of the struggle between good and evil.

Transcendentalists did not believe in organized religion, but they were very spiritual people. They viewed god as someone who didn’t focus on one person. Transcendentalists viewed god as an essence through metamorphosed nature that exists in the world like a gentle breeze sublimed to pleasure the senses of all.

Transcendentalists define truth as an ultimate reality that goes beyond, or transcends, what people can know by means of the five senses. In the transcendentalist view, people gain knowledge of the ultimate reality through intuition rather than through mental training or education.

In the 1830s, the philosophy of Transcendentalism arose in New England. Some of its most famous adherents, including Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau, are still regarded as leading American thinkers today.

The transcendentalist movement encompassed many beliefs, but these all fit into their three main values of individualism, idealism, and the divinity of nature.

During his time living on Walden Pond, Thoreau wanted to demonstrate that a man could live well by working hard for one day each week, leaving the rest of his time free to devote to writing, thinking, and contemplating nature. To a transcendentalist, this self-reliant, thoughtful lifestyle was ideal.

Thoreau moved to the woods of Walden Pond to learn to live deliberately. He desired to learn what life had to teach him. He moved to the woods to experience a purposeful life. While living in the woods, Thoreau desired to simplify his life.

Thoreau’s attitude toward reform involved his transcendental efforts to live a spiritually meaningful life in nature. As a transcendentalist, Thoreau believed that reality existed only in the spiritual world, and the solution to people’s problems was the free development of emotions (“Transcendentalism”).