This essay analyses the main characteristics of American Neoclassicism and Romanticism that are the most strongly present in Irving's Sketch Book as well as the contributions of Irving to American Literature. ... In "Traits of Indian Character," Irving writes a defense in the name of Native Americans; he says that "the whites have too frequently set them an example of violence by burning their villages and laying waste their slender means of subsistence; and yet they wonder that savages do not show moderation and magnanimity toward those who have left them nothing but mere existence and w...

• Word Count: 2209
• Approx Pages: 9
• Grade Level: Undergraduate