The Devil and Tom Walker By Washington Irving Amulya Babu

Biography Born: April 3, 1783 in Manhattan, New York Died: November 28, 1859 in Sunnyside He was 1 of 11 children, born to a Scottish immigrant. Other famous works of his include: Rip Van Winkle and The Legend of Sleepy hallow

Biography He was not a very good student at school, he and his brothers wrote the “Salamagundi papers” which was a collection of funny essays. He became more famous for “A History of New York” it was published and written under the name Diedrich Knickerbocker. In 1815 Irving went to England to work for his brothers’ business and when that failed he composed a collection of stories and essays known as the Sketch Book. This book was published under the name Geoffrey Crayon.

Literary period: Romanticism 1800-1850 He lived during the period of Romanticism. And his works reflects the ideas of that period. Just like The Devil and Tom Walker. Romanticism was an artistic and literary movement that originated in Europe. Unlike the writers of the 18th Century, who wrote based on reason, logic and science, the romantics wrote about inner feelings, emotions and the use of imagination. It was also characterized by interest and in nature and the supernatural.

Characters Tom Walker: the story's main character. He rarely spends money. He gets very selfish and greedy towards the end. He doesn't give anything to anyone, including his wife. Tom's wife: Very selfish like Tom but with a temper. The story explains that she is always yelling at Tom, and the townspeople suspect that she is physically abusive toward Tom also, because of the marks on his face after they fight. Old Scratch or the Devil: is given several names in the story: wild huntsman and black woodsman. He has a “dirty, soot-covered face” and carries an axe. He is a physical character in the story though. He is like a person with supernatural powers.

Plot: The story's plot is based on a very famous German legend about a man called Faust, who makes a deal with the Devil in order to gain knowledge and wealth. It is about the devil and Tom Walker, and the deal they made. The Devil would give his money to lend if he became a slave trader or an usurer, he would also have to follow ‘certain conditions’ of the devil. As he became rich and successful he became worried about the terms of the Devil so he started going to church and carrying the Bible with him. But one morning the devil showed up at his house and Tom was taken away on a black horse into the red fort.

Imagery He starts the story by telling us a story or a myth of Kidd the pirate. He describes in detail where the pirate hides the treasure. “A few miles from Boston, in Massachusetts, there is a deep inlet winding several miles into the interior of the country from Charles Bay, and terminating in a thickly wooded swamp, or morass. On one side of this inlet is a beautiful dark grove; on the opposite side the land rises abruptly from the water's edge, into a high ridge on which grow a few scattered oaks of great age and immense size.” He used a lot of reference to nature. He describes nature to tell the feeling or the characters mood, to the reader. This is also a “scary story or myth” so the dark descriptions and storms, also set the mood for the reader.

Language 3rd person This is a story or a tale. So the language is not very formal. Especially during the conversations between the Devil and Tom. “You shall open a broker's shop in Boston next month,” said the black man. “I'll do it to-morrow, if you wish,” said Tom Walker. “You shall lend money at two per cent. a month.” “Egad, I'll charge four!” replied Tom Walker. This conversation shows that they are using regular everyday language of their time.

Sentence structure The author uses many punctuation marks. When he is describing a mood or setting the sentences are big and the reader reads it fast. The author gets his point through quickly but in detail. When he is describing a scary part or the main parts of the story the sentences are long with many comas. It reminds us of a heart beat. The sentences are normally structured when he is just telling us what the characters are thinking or doing. The talking between the Devil and Tom or Tom and his wife are short. He uses exclamation marks a lot. It tells us the kind of relationship Tom had with the Devil or his wife.

Symbols of the story This story is an allegory meant to represent morally significant idea.  The moral in this story is that of greed leads to negative consequences. What happens to Tom Walker is symbolic of what can happen to any human that is greedy. In this time or period of the story it shows that he/she will “lose their soul to the obsession.” The woods in this story is another symbol of Tom and his conscience. The woods are dark and hard to navigate. It would be easy to get lost in them. Similarly, Tom's conscience is dark.  He easily gets lost in it, lost in the greed for money and power, and this makes him to "get lost". And he loses to the power of the devil.

Letter to Her Daughter from the New White House by Abigail Williams

Biography Born: November 11, 1744 Died: October 28, 1818 First Lady: Wife of John Adams and mother of John Quincy Adams (6th President) The daughter of a minister, she was a devoted reader. She studied the works of William Shakespeare and John Milton. Adams did not, however, attend school, which was common for girls at the time. She left a many of her letters and writing, that provided information on everyday life and insight into the activities during her time. Her letters show her to have been a woman of keen intelligence, resourceful, competent, self-sufficient, and opinionated. Her writing reveals a dedication to principle, a commitment to rights for women and for African-Americans. She also wrote letters to her family when she moved. “Letter to Her Daughter from the New White House”

Time period : New beginning in America The time period was in 1800, about 20 years after the American Revolution. The United States was still a very young nation trying to establish their own sense of identity and tradition in the world. After adopting the constitution and electing John Adams as the second President of the U.S., the government decided to build a home where all the reigning Presidents would reside until their term concluded. Unfortunately the White House was not yet completed when they decided to send Adams there.

Summary This letter written by Abigail Adams is a personal letter written to her daughter upon her arrival at the “New White House”. This letter is specifically intended for her daughter. It is for her daughter’s personal knowledge on her parent’s well being and adaptation to a new house and environment. She tells he daughter: “You must keep all of this to yourself.” Which tells that this is only between them two. She writes down her comforts and her complains, about no firewood when the city is surrounded by a forest. She also says that the house is not complete, only some rooms or “apartments’ and finished and home like

Imagery She describes the house and its surroundings pretty well, it is very straight forward. It does not have to many details on one place. She gives a brief description and moves on to something else. “The house is made habitable, but there is not a single apartment finished, and all withinside, except the plastering, has been done since Briesler came. We have not the least fence, yard, or other convenience, without, and the great unfinished audience room I made a drying room of, to hang up the clothes in.” . She doesn’t give us a clear image of the house because she doesn’t use a lot of detail in her writing.

Language and Sentence Structure This is a letter to her daughter so the language is not formal at all. It is just a mother talking to her daughter, and explaining how she is. She makes it simple and clear that she doesn’t really like the house right now but she will soon adapt to it. She uses camas when listing or describing something: The lighting of the apartments, from the kitchen to parlors and chambers, is a tax indeed; and the fires we are obliged to keep to secure us from daily agues is another very cheering comfort. It is a very calm and slow paced letter. Showing that everything is fine and they are slowly settling in.

Bibliography http://www.biography.com/people/abigail-adams-9175670?page=2#later-life http://anationisborn-p5.wikispaces.com/Letter+to+Her+Daughter+from+the+New+White+House http://essaysalearellano.blogspot.fr/ http://www.enotes.com/homework-help/what-romantic-elements-used-quot-devil-tom-walker-43359 Prentice Hall, Literature: The American Experience