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This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. From the description of Rip's attitude to his farm, on page 30, what can be deduced about Rip?

2. When on page 31, the narrator says of Rip that he will "eat white bread or brown," how is Rip being characterized?

3. After he can no longer spend time with his friends, where does Rip start going to spend time away from his home and farm?

4. On page 29, the narrator says that a person might have "descried" the smoke from the village. What does this mean a person might have done?

5. Where does Rip spend time with his friends?

Short Essay Questions

1. Describe the condition of Rip's home and farm.

2. Describe the relationship between Rip and his wife.

3. Explain the relationship of Washington Irving, Diedrich Knickerbocker, and Geoffrey Crayon.

4. What do Rip and his friends do when they gather together outside the village inn, and how does this characterize Rip?

5. How is the setting of the Catskills described?

6. Describe the condition of Rip's children.

7. Describe how Rip's relationship with the dog contrasts with his wife's relationship with the dog.

8. What relationship does Rip have with the village children, and how does it characterize him?

9. Explain what the frame narrative says about the historian who recorded Rip's story--where does his work come from, and how reliable is it?

10. Describe the contents of the story's epigraph and tell how this relates to the frame narrative.

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Write an essay in which you defend a claim about what you believe happened to Rip in the mountains. Were the strange men real? Ghosts? A dream? Did Rip make them up entirely? Use textual evidence to defend your point of view.

Essay Topic 2

Write an essay in which you argue for or against the proposition that Dame Van Winkle is an allegorical representation of Great Britain. Be sure to offer textual evidence for your claims.

Essay Topic 3

Write an essay in which you analyze the use of stories attributed to indigenous cultures in the "Postscript." Be sure to use textual evidence to defend your claims, and if you use outside sources, be sure to cite them in MLA format.

(see the answer keys)

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