Before 1-1 Click the mouse button or press the Space Bar to display the information. To read and analyze a short story about the consequences of a man’s pact with the devil  To identify the elements of a tall tale  To write an effective character sketch

Before 1-2 Washington Irving was born in 1783 and died in Click the Speaker button to hear more about Washington Irving.

Before 1-3 BACKGROUND Click the mouse button or press the Space Bar to display the information. Literary Influences Both Irving and his readers would have been familiar with two references that appear in this tale. The first reference is to Captain William Kidd (c. 1645–1701), a real pirate who became the subject of many legends. The second is to Faust, who makes a deal with the devil. The Time and Place “The Devil and Tom Walker” takes place in New England in the 1720s–when Puritanism was fading and the urge to acquire wealth was growing. 

Elements of Romanticism/Themes of the Story Legend/Folklore/Supernatural elements – use of imagination Making a deal with the Devil – the nature of greed is a major theme – what is your price? (Greed) Hypocrisy - is the act of preaching a certain belief, religion or way of life, but not, in fact, holding these same virtues oneself. Swamp/Wooded area of nature – the place where Tom and his wife must confront the nature of their own beings and moral make-up

Before 1-4a VOCABULARY PREVIEW Click the mouse button or press the Space Bar to display the information. prevalent: (adj) widespread;  discord: (n) lack of agreement or harmony; conflict  impregnable: (adj) incapable of being taken by force; able to resist attack  melancholy: (adj) depressing; dismal; gloomy  surmise: (v) to infer from little evidence; to guess  obliterate: (v) to remove all traces of; to erase;

Before 1-4b VOCABULARY PREVIEW (cont.) Click the mouse button or press the Space Bar to display the information. speculate: (v) to engage in risky business ventures, hoping to make quick profits;  parsimony: (n) excessive frugality; stinginess; Characterization: Writer tells you what a character is like. Indirect Characterization: Writer reveals a character’s personality through the character’s speech thoughts, actions, appearance, and other characters’ reactions.

Before 1-5 FOCUS ACTIVITY Click the mouse button or press the Space Bar to display the information. Journal Write for a few minutes in your journal about the results of your decision and how you might have acted differently.  Have you ever made a decision or commitment that you later regretted?  Setting a Purpose Read to find out the results of the main character’s decision.

Reading 1-B Literary Elements B Motif Irving mentions Captain Kidd shortly before he introduces Tom and his wife. Why does he do this? Irving implies that both Kidd and the Walkers are dedicated to selfishness and greed. Click the mouse button or press the Space Bar to display the answer. Greed is a recurring motif in the story. It is evident in the wife’s plan to meet the devil, in Tom’s eventual acceptance of the devil’s bargain, and in his sharp dealing as a moneylender.

What is the appropriateness of this comparison? It is appropriate on both the physical and symbolic level: the texture of a tree trunk resembles the skin of an alligator, and an alligator is a reptile, suggesting the satanic snake of the Garden of Eden. Literary Elements Reading 1-C C Figures of Speech: Simile A simile is a comparison that uses the word like or as to show a likeness between two seemingly unlike things. Note Irving’s use of a simile to compare the “trunks of pines and hemlocks” to “alligators sleeping in the mire.” Click the mouse button or press the Space Bar to display the answer.

Active Reading Reading 1-D D Question What might have been Irving’s purpose in going into such detail about the Indian fort? The details foreshadow Tom’s discovery of the skull. The tomahawk’s association with “savages” and their “sacrifices to the evil spirit” connects the Indians with the devil. Tom’s kick initiates the devil’s sudden appearance. Click the mouse button or press the Space Bar to display the answer.

Critical Thinking Reading 1-E E Drawing Conclusions Focus on the stranger’s appearance, words, and actions before Tom asks his direct question about the stranger’s identity. What details help you identify the stranger? His blackened face links him to the “fires and forges” of hell, and he has an evil “pair of great red eyes.” Saying “I am likely to have a good stock of firewood [that is, souls to burn] for winter” is an allusion to his identity. Click the mouse button or press the Space Bar to display the answer.

Active Reading Reading 1-F F Visualize Tom learns that the tall trees, “fair and flourishing without,” are actually “rotten at the core.” What is the link between Crowninshield and these trees? Crowninshield, rich through piracy, was morally as rotten as the trees. Click the mouse button or press the Space Bar to display the answer.

Literary Elements Reading 1-G G Character: Context Clues Click the Speaker button to listen to an excerpt from the story.  What is the common thread running through the devil’s nicknames? Huntsman, miner, woodsman–they are all gatherers. Click the mouse button or press the Space Bar to display the answer. What is it that the devil gathers? He gathers souls.

Active Reading Reading 1-H H Question Think about the “certain conditions” that Tom might accept to get the hidden money. Irving later hints of these conditions when he writes, “the more resolute was Tom not to be damned to please her.” What deal do you think Tom has made?

Active Reading Reading 1-J J Evaluate Is Tom’s uneasiness caused by a genuine concern about his wife’s safety or concern for the loss of the silver articles?

Active Reading Reading 1-L L Review Are Tom’s responses to the Devil surprising? Tom’s responses are very much in character. From the beginning Irving establishes Tom’s greed and his eagerness to find the devil again after his wife’s disappearance. Click the mouse button or press the Space Bar to display the answer.

Critical Thinking Reading 1-N N Inferring Do you think Tom is a hypocrite? What details support your inference? Tom’s public appearance masks his real self. Instead of being a “universal friend of the needy,” he squeezes his customers dry; his “vast house” is actually “unfinished and unfurnished”; he owns a carriage but starves his horse; he attempts to compensate for his great sins with outward and zealous religious acts; he points out his neighbors’ sins but never acknowledges his own. Click the mouse button or press the Space Bar to display the answer.

Literary Elements Reading 1-Q Q Symbol How is the description of the “big Bible … buried under the mortgage” symbolic? God’s word is “buried” under a potent symbol of Tom’s greed. Click the mouse button or press the Space Bar to display the answer.

How are Tom and his wife alike? In your opinion, does Tom’s wife contribute to Tom’s cooperation with the devil? Explain. Analyzing 1-1 Each tries to cheat the other; the wife attacks Tom; there does not seem to be any love between them. RECALL Click the mouse button or press the Space Bar to display the next question. Click the mouse button or press the Space Bar to display the answer. INTERPRET What kind of people are Tom Walker and his wife? Describe what you know about them. Both are greedy. Tom’s wife encourages him to cultivate a friendship with the devil, which he does after she disappears.

Analyzing 1-2 Click the mouse button or press the Space Bar to display the answer. Not repelled, Tom asks for time to consider the devil’s offer. RECALL Click the mouse button or press the Space Bar to display the next question. INTERPRET How does Tom react to the devil and his offer? Tom is so avaricious that he sacrifices his soul for wealth and status. What does Tom’s agreement with the devil tell you about Tom?

The narrator offers different versions of what might have happened to Tom’s wife. What might the narrator want us to believe? Explain. Analyzing 1-3 Click the mouse button or press the Space Bar to display the answer. She disappears, and Tom later finds a heart and liver tied in her apron. RECALL Click the mouse button or press the Space Bar to display the next question. INTERPRET What happens to Tom’s wife? The narrator wants us to believe Tom’s wife was killed by the devil. It is “the most current and probable” and “authentic” version.

What business does Tom go into? What makes this possible, and what makes this a good time to go into such a business? Analyzing 1-4A Click the mouse button or press the Space Bar to display the answer. The devil persuades Tom to become a moneylender and supplies the money at a time when feverish speculation and get- rich-quick schemes are flourishing. RECALL Click the mouse button or press the Space Bar to display the next question.

What can you infer about the narrator’s attitude toward money and the people who care about it? What evidence supports your inference? Analyzing 1-4B Click the mouse button or press the Space Bar to display the answer. The narrator implies that people overly fond of money are in the grip of the devil: Tom’s wife disappears in search of it; ruined speculators are called “patients”; Tom himself “goes to the devil” because of it. INTERPRET

Analyzing 1-5 Click the mouse button or press the Space Bar to display the answer. He is whisked away by the devil, and his wealth is reduced to cinders. RECALL Click the mouse button or press the Space Bar to display the next question. INTERPRET What finally happens to Tom Walker? The narrator believes that material wealth is “perishable.” The narrator tells us what happens to Tom’s possessions. What do you understand from this?

Analyzing 1-10 EVALUATE AND CONNECT Click the mouse button or press the Space Bar to display the answer. Theme Connections What are some of the insights that this story conveys? In your opinion what is the most powerful message? Explain. Possible answer: Greed endangers the soul, and insincere religious zeal does not offer redemption.

Literary Elements 1-1 “The Devil and Tom Walker” is a tall tale, a type of folklore associated with the American frontier.  LITERARY ELEMENTS Tall tales are humorous stories that contain exaggerations and invention.  Typically, their heroes are bold but foolish characters who may have superhuman abilities or who may act as if they do.  Tall tales are not intended to be believable; their exaggerations are used for comic effect. Click the mouse button or press the Space Bar to display the information.

Literary Elements 1-2 LITERARY ELEMENTS Click the mouse button or press the Space Bar to display the answer. When Tom’s wife disappears, what does Tom do and say? What makes this comic instead of sad? Tom says, “Let us get hold of the property, and we will endeavor to do without the woman.” The phrasing makes this line more comic than sad.