“Rip Van Winkle” and “Young Goodman Brown” are told as third-person narratives, not as first-person narratives. The difference is that a third-person narrative presents the characters to us in the words of a narrator rather than from the words of the characters themselves. The story contains descriptions such as “Rip Van Winkle did this” or “Young Goodman Brown said that,” but it’s not as if the characters themselves are telling everything from their perspective. Of course, sometimes they speak in the story, but they do not get to tell the story or what they thinking or feeling. It is up to the reader to determine what the characters might be thinking or feeling.
For this assignment, choose one of the following options:
(A) Imagine you are Rip Van Winkle’s daughter, Judith, writing a journal entry after her father reappears after 20 years. Try to get into the mind of Judith. Be imaginative and creative. Pretend you are Judith and have just seen your fater after he has been missing for 20 years. You will not be retelling the plot of the story; you will be Judith reflecting on the events of the day. In this journal entry you can put down whatever thoughts she might have using absolute frankness and honesty.
- Write a minimum 400 words in paragraph form, using Times New Roman 12-point font (or similar) with double spacing. A title page is not required.
