Washington Irving’s “Rip Van Winkle” and “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow” as American Folklore: A Representation of Headway

Abstract

Folk literature accounts for only a small slice of folklore, which includes, among other things, rhymes, jokes, stories, superstitions, traditions, sayings and customs and writes to preserve and honour the primitives and natives of the Dutch ancestry. Through publication in written form by retellers, folk stories complete the metamorphosis from folklore to folk literature. Folk tales are simple in their subjects and assertions while containing a moral. The information and experience found within folktales are simple because they are intended to be pertinent and helpful to everyday people. The morals within are intended for the same audience and strive to inform listeners of important life lessons and ways to behave.