McGuffey's Sixth Eclectic Reader, Revised Edition · Lesson LXIII · Part 7: Lessons LXI-LXX: Brutus and Cassius to Hayne

69. Rip Van Winkle (Washington Irving)

Goal: Your student reads the famous return of Rip Van Winkle and explains the humor and sadness of the scene.

⏱ About 45 minutes · 7 steps

Open it at the Internet Archive ↗

You'll need

  • The book, or the scan beside this guide
  • A notebook and pen
  • A dictionary

What's in the book

From Irving's tale: Rip comes down from the mountains after twenty years and finds his village changed, an election underway, and nobody who knows him. Notes on Stony Point, Anthony's Nose and the political parties of the time follow.

The lesson, step by step

  1. Words and meanings

    Read the book's notes on Stony Point and Anthony's Nose (headlands on the Hudson) and on the Federals and the Democrats, "the two leading political parties of that time."

    Before reading, find these words in the selection and look up any your student does not know: grizzled, fowling-piece, uncouth, tory.

  2. About the author

    Irving's life is told in the author note to Lesson XLVII: born in New York in 1783, he lived seventeen years in Europe, was Minister to Spain, and wrote The Sketch Book, the Life and Voyages of Columbus and the Life of Washington.

  3. Read it aloud

    Read together:

    They crowded around him, eying him from head to foot with great curiosity.

    The orator bustled up to him, and, drawing him partly aside, inquired on which side he voted.

    Your student reads on. Rip's cry:

    I am a poor, quiet man, a native of the place, and a loyal subject of the king, God bless him!

  4. Talk about it

    SayWhy does Rip not understand the question "Federal or Democrat"?

    SayWhy is the crowd alarmed when he says he is a loyal subject of the king?

    SayWhat does he learn about his old friends Nicholas Vedder and Brom Dutcher?

    SayThis scene is funny and sad at once. Where do you feel each?

  5. Tell it back

    Your student retells Rip's return, step by step.

  6. Copywork and memory

    Copy:

    I am a poor, quiet man, a native of the place, and a loyal subject of the king, God bless him!

  7. Write (optional)

    Imagine waking up twenty years from now. Write a paragraph about what you find.

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