How Does Washington Irving Show The Power Of Fiction

Washington Irving (2010), writer of the classic short story “Rip Van Winkle,” uses his writings to express his views of disagreement with pre-Revolutionary War era thinking. His views on how the Puritans thought are carefully displayed in his works. Through his writing, Washington Irving demonstrates the power of fiction as he indicates the apparent errancies of the American Revolution. Fiction has the power to subtly infiltrate one’s thinking. Sarah Wyman (2010), an Associate Professor at the State University of New York at New Paltz, in her article “Washington Irving's Rip Van Winkle: A Dangerous Critique on a New Nation” states, “Novels and stories may excite the passions and fancies of impressionable readers, but could also seduce naïve