Driven by greed, Tom Walker literally sells his soul to gain wealth. What real person or fictional character reminds you of Tom Walker? Explain your choice with specifics.
What is different about the writing style of Washington Irving, compared to some of the more recent authors we have read? Use specifics.
Ms. Ojeda
ps Always remember to make commentaries about other student's post. If you are the one of the first students to post, try and go back on sometime during the weekend to read how some of the students' post.
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Tom Walker reminds me of a lot of people,but one specifically,My friends dad. My friends dad was a good person and a good father but when it came to money it seemed it overtook him, and this caused a lot of problems in his life and his relationship with his family. I picked this person cause like the directions stated he sells his soul to gain wealth. And this really is true about the individual I chose. It also seemed like when he would have a family function he would be already to go to it but as soon as something with money came up he ran to chase the oppurtunity. I did feel very bad for my friends family.Washington Irving has a great writing style. I feel that he puts a lot of passion into his pieces. Such as Arthur Miller yes, he puts passion into his writings but I do feel that Irving is more descriptive and gives you more information on what he has written. This isnt the first time I have herd Irvings name I actually have herd very good things anout his stories and writing pieces. I do look forward to reading more of his books or short stories.
ReplyDeleteCorey Sax
3rd Period
A person that has sold his soul for the gain of wealth can easily be the former dictator of Iraq, Saddam Hussein. To hold his power and his wealth he committed genocide and killed some of his own family members. As for Irving I agree with Cory Sax he puts alot of passion into his writing but not very descriptive.
ReplyDeleteDaniel Ortiz
3rd Period
I can't seem to think of anyone who literally sold their sould to gain wealth but figuritively I would have to say that former Govenor Mitt Romney (R-Mass) did just that. By sacrificing his morals and beliefs to try to become the Republican nominee for president, he stoops to Tom Walker's level. He consistently changed his views on issues such as abortion, gay marriage, and gun control to try to seem more conservative during the primaries.
ReplyDeleteWashington Irving's style is supposedly more humorous and shorter than the other writers we've read in class. Personally, I didn't find the story funny but, hey, humor is subjective so I can't really talk about that. The reading assignment you gave us said he influenced Nathaniel Hawthorne but I couldn't really see the connection, other than the fact that they both wrote about the same time period in Massachusetts. I agree with Daniel that Saddam Hussein could also be compared with Tom Walker, although I think that's a bit of an extreme comparasion. And this is a little random but kind of funny but when we were reading this story in third hour someone was humming the old country song, The Devil went down to Georgia, and I thought it actually does remind me of the story.
Ryan Terrell
3rd Period
In Washington Irving's short story "The Devil and Tom Walker" he creates the character Tom Walker to allude to vicious human beings who would harm others to attain money. History has provided us with several examples of such gluttonous humans; during the late 19 century the there was a surge of voracious people known as the "robber barons". They destroyed competition(usually through illegal methods) to increase their personal wealth. Notable among these "robber barons" is James Fisk. James Fisk tried to corner the gold market in order to increase his own personal wealth, he would try to achieve this through illegal methods such as graft. However, such avaricious human beings are not a thing of the past; the economical crisis we are experiencing today was caused by such monsters.
ReplyDeleteWashington Irving and Arthur Miller both created literary pieces which mock Puritan Society, however they went about doing so in distinct ways. Washington Irving is significantly more humorous than Miller, this is shown in Irving's story "The Devil and Tom Walker", Tom was more concerned about the silverware his wife took than the his wife; it is sad yet funny. Furthermore Miller's diction includes words that are easily comprehended and can be classified as "colloquial" whilst Irving's diction is rather formal compared to Millers. "The Crucible" was written with the informal language of the time whilst "The Devil and Tom Walker was written with a "formal" language of the time.
I disagree with Corey, ambition and extreme ruthlessness are two different extremes. Corey said: "... as soon as something with money came up he ran to chase the opportunity." As long as your friends dad isn't harming anyone in the process, he is nothing like Tom Walker. Tom Walker was ruining peoples lives by being a merciless broker. Your friends dad is just taking a opportunity because he think it may benefit the family; even though your friend might be woeful when his dad leaves he might thank him later.
Nooooooooooooooooooooooo I did it again, forgot to put name and period at end..... happens every time....
ReplyDelete-Steven Erenst
4th Period
The first fictional character that comes to mind when I do the comparison with Tom Walker is the Joker from the movie Batman the Dark Knight. He sold his soul to wickedness that he does anything to get what he wants. In the beginning of the movie he had an evil genius master plan to rob a bank. He wanted this money so much that he didn’t care what or who he had to pass to get millions and millions of dollars. The Joker was so greedy that at the end, after getting all the money, all the numerous accomplices killed each other because the Joker promised them the same thing.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Corey Sax. Washington Irving’s stories are very detail oriented. He describes much more than Arthur Miller. I think that Washington is more detailed because as I read in pg. 362 in The Language of Literature it states there that he wanted to become an artist. In the most part, artists are more focused on the details since their job is to create an exact picture of what their eyes are captivating. He shows this quality of detail ion his writing. Regarding his humor, he was more humorous than Arthur Miller. They had two approaches with dealing with the criticism with the Puritan ways. Arthur was more serious and tragic and Washington saw it in a different perspective.
-Carolina Celis
Period 4
Wealth could be defined in several ways. It could mean literal wealth as in money, or it could be spiritual wealth. People in society like wanna-be socialites and politicians in different ways "sell their soul" to gain wealth that they define themselves.
ReplyDeleteFor example, Paris Hilton. She was born into a rich family, so she didn't need to earn wealth but her desire to be amongst the "A-list" celebrities caused her to want to be the center of attention and people saw her lack of morale.
Walkers style of writing has been extremely different from what we have read so far in class. Even though he lived in the same time period as Hawthorne he didn't write so "archaic". Also, his sense of humor and description of land is different from writers like Bradstreet that were very concise. His elaborate descriptions helps the reader visualize the story and therefore makes it more easy to read, as opposed to Bradstreets lack of description which leaves the reader to make their own inferences.
~Tiffany Vega
Period 1
I agree with Daniel that Saddam Hussein is just like Tom Walker, if there is anyone in this world that looks like he has sold his soul to the devil its Saddam Hussein.
ReplyDeleteI also agree with Tiffany and how she says that "Walkers writing style is extremely different from what we have read so far in class. Even though he lived in the same time period as Hawthorne". She also has a really good point when she talks about Walkers writing style is more descriptive, he puts the picture right in your mind, as if you where there seeing it with your own eyes.
Travis Anagnos
ReplyDeleteP.3
This weekend I watched Slumdog Millionaire, (the movie that won 8 oscars including best picture) in this story there is a character that resembles Tom Walker in various ways. This man gets children from the slums of India, deceives them into thinking he will help them, and ends up using them to earn money. From child prostitution to making them beg on the streets; the things he does are ridiculous. One of the most disgraceful things was the fact that this man actually disfigured the children's bodies in order to make people feel more pity and in return give more money. Although the settings of these two stories are complete opposites, the idea is the same. Some people go to extreme lengths, even hurting their own kind, just to get more money.
ReplyDeleteWashington Irving style of writing seems to be a bit more humorous and light headed. His style of writing is not as serious and deep as the recent ones we have read in this class for example Jonathan Edwards, or even Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. For some reason Irving's style of writing makes me look at it from a more childish perspective, not meaning immature, but pure and less worrisome .
---Emanuela Verardi
P-1
I dont think I actually know someone like that in real life, I'm not sure, maybe I do and I just don't remember. I think that those kind of people are overcome with greedyness when they have a lot of money and suddenly the people who really care and have and always will be there and then end up losing them, which is actually very sad! Washington has a kind of a unique crazy sort of style, he is passionate, he also has a weird and cool imagination at the same time, he is a very interesting writer.
ReplyDeleteKatherine Ruiz, P.3
Driven by greed, Tom Walker literally sells his soul to gain wealth. A real person that reminds me of Tom Walker is the president of Venezuela, Hugo Chavez. These characters are similar because they both ruin people’s lives to get wealthier and in a higher position. In the story “The Devil and Tom Walker” by Washington Irving, Tom Walker is an usurer who promises to help people with their economic problems but instead he swindles them. Hugo Chavez has similar characteristics because he promises the poor people that if they vote for him in elections he will give them money, a job, and a better place to live but he doesn’t realize his promises. Additionally, I agree with Daniel Ortiz about the similarities between Tom Walker and Saddam Hussein. In order for Hussein to keep his wealth and position he hurt many people and destroyed anyone who wanted to take his riches away.
ReplyDeleteWashington Irving has a different writing style compared to some of the authors we have read in class. Washington Irving can be compared to the author of “The Crucible” Arthur Miller. They both wrote about the same time periods but used different styles to communicate their message. Irving uses easier vocabulary than Miller, also Irving wrote “The Devil and Tom Walker” in a story, Miller used a lot more dialogue between his characters.
Joanna Berkowitz
1st Period
A while ago, I saw the movie "Devil's Advocate", which is about a lawyer in Florida who moves to New York to work at a very prestigious law firm. The law firm he aspired to work at was extremely famous and a great firm to work at. Once the lawyer from Florida arrives at the firm, he realizes his boss is the literal devil, so the lawyer from Florida begins to fall under his spell and ends up selling his soul to his boss and in return he wins all the court cases...every single case! Therefore, he is bringing in all this money from the cases and become engulfed in this huge abyss of greed and lust. So the character in this movie and Tom Walker are similar because both of them sell their souls for riches.
ReplyDeleteWashington Irving's style of writing is not like the other authors we have read about. Irving has a tendency to write exactly what he means with just the right amount of higher level vocabulary to make it a complex and deep piece of writing, without making it impossible to read. Unlike Hawthorne, Edwards and Longfelllow, Irving's writing doesn't fall as much to the Puritan side because Puritans weren't all into a deep addiction with wealth, even though "The Devil and Tom Walker" takes place in a Puritan town.
Carla Quintana
P.1
Bernard Madoff reminds me of the character Tom Walker in "The Devil and Tom Walker". Madoff was the former chairman of the NASDAQ stock exchange. Madoff figuratively sold his soul to the devil when he committed the largest investor fraud ever by himself, called a "Ponzi scheme". In a "Ponzi scheme", returns are paid to investors not by actual profit, but of the investors' own money or by subsequent investors. Madoff's crime reminded me of Tom Walker as he figuratively sold his soul to the devil to gain an insane amount of wealth. Unfortunately, Madoff failed to see the downfall of a Ponzi scheme, as its failure is inevitable.
ReplyDeleteThe difference in Washington Irving's writing style and those of some of the more recent authors we've read is that Irving uses a more direct approach - as well as a more "understandable" approach to his diction - for his literature. However, as Carla stated above me, Irving is still able to create literature that has complexity and depth to it.
Kayl Karadjian
P. 4
Captain Hector Barbosa didn't really sell his soul to the Devil on purpose, but he didn't listen to the myth of Cortez's chest and its curse, so he stole it from its secret place and got a terrible curse. He and his crew were so greedy that they didn't want to believe the story and they took it anyways. The chest contained about 860 gold coins, and anyone that would still one of them would never be able to cease their hunger or thirst. I agree with Daniel Ortiz in the way that Hussein would do anything, even kill his own family members in order to gain power and money. It is not an exact example but it is similar.
ReplyDeleteIrving is different than the other authors we've read in the way that he writes short stories and transmits what he wants in a direct and short piece of writing. He also uses techniques elements such as ridiculous characters, absurd situations and images, exaggeration an situational irony to create humorists stories.
Luis Carducci
Period 1
The character Tom Walker from the short story "The Devil and Tom Walker", reminds me alot of Abigal from "The Crucible" which we recently read. Tom sold his soul to the devil to obtain material riches. Abigal also sold herself to the hysteria of witch craft to obtain what she wanted. Her life became an act to persecute others and manipulate untill she got what she wanted. Both characters were engulfed in greed which relinquished who they were just for their own selfish needs.
ReplyDeleteWahsington Ivring has a different style compared to other authors that we have studied. Ivring has a more humourous writing style which differs from our more serious authors such as Anne Bradstreet and Arthur Miller. Like Miller Ivring uses irony but he uses it for humour rather than for tragedy.
Michael Rufrano
Period 1
In the short story "The Devil and Tom Walker", Tom literally sells his soul for greed. One character that I see is like Tom Walker would be Thomas Putnam. Even though he didn't literally sell his soul to the devil, he did act badly towards his neighbors being driven by greed. Mr. Putnam went to all lengths to gain land that he had wanted. He even convicted one of his neighbors so that when he died, Putnam would get all of the land he owned. Therefore, I believe that Putnam was led by greed to do a lot of dirty work.
ReplyDeleteWhat I feel is different with the writing of Washington Irving is that he actually tried to be funny. He wasn't trying to scare others away, but he was trying to teach them a lesson and trying to make them laugh at the same time. I feel that he knew the lesson he wanted to spread would spread much easier in this manner. Other authors we have studied were much more serious and were writing for their own benefits.
Krystal Taveras
Period 4
Ebenezer Scrooge is a man who was greedy and barely gave his workers anything. He did not allow his clerk Bob Cratchit his day off on Christmas to spend time with his family. His son Tiny Tim was very ill and wanted to go see him, but Ebenezer in his greed did not want to loose even the smallest amount of money. He hoarded his gold like a mother cares for her child. I do agree with Luis about Hector Barbosa because he took all the gold from the chest and spent it on anything they could. They ignored all warning given thinking is was a trick and took the gold anyways for themselves.
ReplyDeleteThe author Washington Irving seems a bit different then the author's we have been learning about in the way that he writes. He introduces humor in his writings and is a bit ironic. When Tom Walker sold his soul for money to the darkened man it is ironic that it was the darkened man who took him to the afterlife.
Francis Corral
Period 1
If it’s taken literally like in the story of “The Devil and Tom Walker”, where Tom Walker sells his soul to the devil in order to get rich. I’d say that is impossible to do in real life, because I’ve never heard of someone writing a pact with the devil nor even seeing him. The act of Tom Walker selling his soul to the devil, specifically, is the fictitious part of the story; although, this act can indeed be taken metaphorically and be applied to real life.
ReplyDeleteIn connecting “The Devil and Tom Walker”, by Washington Irving, to real life I completely agree with Joanna when she stated that Hugo Chavez is similar to Tom Walker. If there is a minuscule possibility to sell your soul to the devil in order to gain power and wealth, Hugo Chavez, the president of Venezuela is the one who did it. I’m not certain he sold his soul, but the way he acts emulates the same actions Tom Walker did after selling his. Hugo Chavez got wealthy out of dust just like Tom Walker did. Tom then establishes a business where he ruined many people’s lives by lending them money with high interest rates; similarly, Chavez established his government where he has ruined many people’s live in numerous ways. So now I hope that president Chavez gets the same punishment that Tom Walker received, his death, and I hope it’s soon.
Washington Irving’s writing style compared with a more recent author like Arthur Miller is different in many ways. Although they both literary pieces concerning the Puritans, Irving’s writing includes more humor and fantasy than Miller’s. Irving tries to make the reader understand a harsh topic for the time in a funny way. For example the way Tom Walker reacts to his wife missing, is nothing compared to when he find out she took the silverware with her. Then fantasy in Irving’s piece is the devil itself appearing and collecting souls, while Arthur Miller does not implement this fantasy; instead he changes real facts making them more appealing for an audience. Obviously the language implemented by Irving is more antique so today we consider it harder to understand. Overall we can the styles of writing between these two author are not similar.
Oscar Betancourt
Period 4
Tom Walker literally sells his soul to gain wealth. I agree with Francis Corral The character Tom Walker from the short story "The Devil and Tom Walker", reminds me alot of Abigal from "The Crucible" which we recently read. Tom sold his soul to the devil to obtain material riches. Abigal also sold herself to the hysteria of witch craft to obtain what she wanted. The act of Tom Walker selling his soul to the devil, specifically, is the fictitious part of the story. I do agree with Luis about Hector Barbosa because he took all the gold from the chest and spent it on anything they could.
ReplyDeleteWalkers style of writing has been extremely different from what we have read so far in class. Washington Irving's style is supposedly more humorous. They are shorter than the other writers we've read in class. I feel that he knew the lesson he wanted to spread would spread much easier in this manner. I agree with Steven Erenst that Washington Irving and Arthur Miller both created literary pieces which mock Puritan Society, however they went about doing so in distinct ways.
Matthew Ramkissoon
per-3
A person that has sold his soul for the gain of wealth can easily be Osama Bin Laden.To hold his power he killed innocent people. Also he hurt many other people in other country. As of Irving he puts a lot of heart in his writing.
ReplyDeleteIt is unthinkable how someone can sell their soul just to have what they think is a better life when in reality the best life one can have is the one that is created from that person's sweat. Tom Walker thought that the grass was greener on the other side of the fence. Unfortunately, it wasn't so. One well known person, now infamous, is the Governor of Illinois, Rod Blagojevich. His greed compared to the uncontrolled human greed, is like putting the Sears Tower in the middle of a suburban town. When Obama was elected President, he was currently a Senator for the state of Illinois, and so he had to be replaced. At that moment is when Blagojevich's greed struck like a bolt of lighting. He was quoted by the FBI saying, "a seat in the senate is not something you give away for free." Then he added saying he would give it away to the "highest bidder."
ReplyDeleteMoreover, Washington Irving's style of writing is different to some of the writings of recent authors we have read because it doesn't show God as the one who controls everything. It really portrays the idea of Transcendentalism of the time by showing Tom Walker as the only one responsible for his actions and for the consequences that came along. Irving even gives a hint of being against slavery and the idea of abolition by showing that the devil wanted Walker to become a slave owner.
Sebastian Posada
period 1
I completely agree with Sebastian's post on top of mine. How can someone think that wealth is what can make a person happy. I personally do not know anyone who I know has chosen wealth over family, or anything important in life. Some people I can say chose wealth over reality are they people who we call "Role models". A perfect example would be Paris Hilton. Paris Hilton is who she is because of her fathers money. Fame has lead her to do all kinds of disastrous stuff in her life. She has sold her body on internet and tapes, done very unintelligent stuff that have landed her in jail, and because of all her money she has been able to escape it and still to the day of today, she has not learned to watch out for herself. Another great example would be Britney Spears. Not too long ago, I was watching an interview Britney did of her life. Something that caught my eye was when she said "I did all this for attention, I wish I could just go back to what I had, and learn to appreciate it." A role model who with all the money in the world tells us viewers that that doesn't make her the happiest person.
ReplyDeleteWashington Irving is not like the other authors we have read. Like Carla said, Washington does write with more complex words to make his writing deeper. Washington is very humorous throughout his short story unlike Miller. Miller wrote the truth about Puritan life and witch craft of Salem Massachusetts in 1692. As compared to Washington, he wrote about fantasy of a devil stealing someone's soul for him to gain wealth.
Natasha Hamaoui P.1
There is no one I personally know that would sell his soul to gain wealth, but like Emanuela said, the first movie that came to my mind was Slumdog Millionaire. Like Emanuela said, the character in the movie uses other people, in this case, poor children from India and uses them for prostitution to earn money. The man would do anything to to make more money with the children, and does not help them financially like he promised before he took them from India.
ReplyDeleteAfter reading Irving's story, I didn't think the story was humorous, until someone explained to my why it was humorous, and I agreed. I agree with Steven that both Washington Irving and Arthur Miller mock the Puritan society in their story, but they do so in completely different ways.
Steven Marcano
Period 4
In agreement to my fellow blogger Joanna, I find a parallel between Tom Walker and the President of Venezuela, Hugo Chavez. Chavez destroyed a patriotic, united country and turned it into an extremely unsafe, communistic country with the level of poverty and crime rates increasingly rapidly. In return, Chavez received complete power and domination, along with the riches and wealth of many. Along with Chavez, I see a connection between Walker and Josef Stalin. Stalin took over Russia, impoverished some, and killed many while receiving control, money, and riches.
ReplyDeleteIn comparison between Washington Irving's style and some of the most recent authors we have studied, one can see a significant difference. For example, Irving used comic relief in the story-line and had his points proven in a more subtle way , while Miller was completely serious and straightforward with his ideas. Also Irving provided an surfeit of adjectives and details, while authors like Miller and Anne Bradstreet.
I agree with Carolina Celis that the Joker from the Batman movie, "The Dark Knight", is similar to Tom Walker. Both characters are essentially selling their souls to gain wealth. In the movie, the Joker sold his soul to greed. The Joker was planning to rob a bank with a bunch of accomplices and they were all supposed to split the stolen money. Instead, the Joker got greedy and started killing off his accomplices in order to obtain more money for himself.
ReplyDeleteWalker's style of writing has been very different from authors that we have read in class. Walker incorporates humor within his writing while still attempting to spread a valuable lesson to his readers. Walker is more effective at making his lesson clear because he uses humor and irony to hold the reader's interest.
I forgot to post my name and period above
ReplyDeleteTaylor Chatting
Period 1
Tom walkers story reminds me of Dick Cheney.As the United States was going through as time of peace and prosperity, the war in Iraq, launched over 7 years ago, hurt America not inly morally, but politically and economically as well. As the united states economy is deterring we are still spending 3 million dollars a day in Iraq. Dick Cheney swayed the American people and government into thinking that this war was necessary and lied to make it more appealing.Though the American and Iraqi people suffered the concequences, former Vice President, Dick Cheney, is still making millions through his investments in Haliburton, Xe( formerly known as Blackwater), and numerous arms dealers.
ReplyDeleteWashington Irving's humorous style is different form the dramatic and sometimes depressing styles of Puritan writers such as Bradstreet and Edwards. Irving's writing flirted with the boundaries of society to develop a different and enjoyable piece of writing.
Saif Hamideh
1st period
Thomas C. Durant could be compared to "The Devil and Tom Walker"'s main character, Tom Walker. Both of these men, fictional or not, went to rebellious lengths to gain enormous wealth. Thomas C. Durant was Vice President of Union Pacific and helped in setting up Credit Mobilier in 1863. Since the men who ran Credit Mobilier also controlled the Union Pacific, they were able to award themselves contracts to build the railway for much more than necessary. The money involved had been supplied to the railway by Congress, through loans and land grants, and these sums of money were now significantly more then what was required, causing a direct increase in wealth to the owners of the Union Pacific Railroad. Obviously, these two figures were filled with greed and were similar in that regard.
ReplyDeleteComparatively, Irving has a very different style of writing then other authors we have recently read. Washington goes into incredibly image-painting details in order to set the scene for you and allows the reader to visualize the story completely. This varies from Miller, or Nathaniel Hawthorne who rely more on the characters personality and characteristics to set the feeling or mood of the story for the reader.
Max Adamsky
Period 1
“Tom Walker sold his soul for wealth,” this character and cite reminds me of other terrible villains in our world’s history. Adolf Hitler for one. He as we all hopefully know, slaughtered millions (inevitably selling his own soul) so he could live his life in his own perfect world filled with his own race. Tom Walker not quite as brutal, remorseless, savage and tyrannous as Hitler was still very selfish to get what ever he wanted, in his case money and power and not caring who was knocked down on his way up, including him in later years when karma kicks in.
ReplyDeleteA fictional character written by J.K. Rowling also comes to mind, Lord Voldemort. Voldemort was such a terrible complexion that J.K. Rowling’s other characters would shudder in hearing such a name and would resolve to calling him “he-who-must-not-be-named” and “you-know-who.” Voldemort inflicted pain throughout the magical world as a result of his narcissistic operations. Voldemort slits his soul into pieces beyond amendable by doing these acts of evil selfishness.
Hitler and Voldemort like Walker are aware of their action’s consequences and yet they continue walk through darkness.
Washington Irving’s writing style was different from the previous writing styles we have read. Bradstreet’s writing was a little vague and open to “interpretation” as Tiffany Vega had said. Irving was very detailed and wanted you to understand exactly what he had in mind.
Tom Walker, from "The Devil and Tom Walker" reminds me of Lebron James. James is a basketball player who I feel is only after money. Once saying that he would leave the NBA to play in Europe if he would get payed more. In "The Devil and Tom Walker", Tom Walker sells his soul to the Devil in order to gain riches. The situation of both people are very similar in that they both do morally unjust things in order to gain riches.
ReplyDeleteThe writing style of Washington Irving is opposite to that of Arthur Miller. The style in which Irving writes is much more humorous compared to Millers powerful writing. The main character in "The Devil and Tom Walker" and "The Crucible" are both married men. The difference is in "The Crucible" John Proctor loved his wife, and they never seemed to bicker. In "The Devil and Tom Walker", Tom Walker never seems to care about his wife. In fact, when she runs away he cares more about the silverware then his wife missing.
I agree with Natasha to the fact that Paris Hilton has sold her soul to the devil. When I was considering people who have done this she was one of the people that crossed my mind. She allowed a sex tape to be shown to the public in return for her getting money. She showed a negative image of herself in order to receive money and publicity.
Arash Afshar
Period 4
The only person I know that sold his soul to the devil is Hugo Chavez the Venezuela president. Because this men has been in presidency for over 9 years and all his done is made Venezuela one of the most dangerous city’s to live because all the corruption and immoral behavior. All he wants is more money no matter if it means totally braking down a country and killing the economy and the security of Venezuela. I think this men will sell his soul to the devil all for power. He is not only destroying a country but the people in it and there mental tranquility.
ReplyDeleteWashington Irving is different than the other authors. I enjoy his irony in his writing and his humor I like the way he writes and they way he expresses his writing on paper very easy to understand and with a lot of preciseness and feeling. So I agree with most of my classmates about this new author.
Arturo Sifontes
Pr 3
The only person that I am able to think about as being greedy would have to be my uncle Isaac. He rarely even has time for his own family because he works instead of seeing his loved one’s. I can recall when my uncle came over to my house with his wife and children for dinner. He received an email on his BlackBerry that was from an avid client of his. Upon getting the message, he zoomed back to Aventura so that he could meet the future buyer. My uncle’s family doesn’t even enrapture him with delight since he is always on the go. My uncle and I don’t have a beneficial relationship as I refuse to be sympathetic towards him. I dislike speaking with him since he is so egotistical and refers to everyone else with little importance.
ReplyDeleteIrving’s style differs from the dramatic styles of Jonathon Edwards and Anne Bradstreet. Throughout the past couple of weeks, I have been able to notice that Puritan writers write about sad and depressing topics.
I agree with Beverly, Adolf Hitler and all the Nazis definitely resemble Tom Walker and the way he sold his soul. Tom Walker was extremely selfish and only wanted success no matter what he had to go through. The Nazis sold themselves to Hitler because some were scared they would be killed or they wanted power. They killed millions of people because they felt that they were inferior. Tom Walker turned people's loans down because all he was interested in was himself and his own personal gain, just like the Nazis didn't care about each soul and person they killed.
ReplyDeleteWashington Irving's writing style was different from the previous styles we have read because it deviated from God and very strict views, rather it switched to the Devil and very detailed writing. Bradstreet's writing was more about herself and real stories and this was a story that required imagination.
Mariale Marcano
Period 1
Jonathon Lenett Period 1
ReplyDeleteDriven by greed, Tom Walker literally sells his soul to gain wealth. People who resemble Walker are dictators and terrorists. History has always seemed to repeat itself, and we don’t seem to learn from previous atrocities. This type of people have always existed and will probably always exist. From centuries ago: Stalin, Franco, Mussolini and Hitler, and from present day: Fidel, Chavez, Saddam Husain, and Osama Bin Laden. These are selfish and greedy people who don’t care who they have to destroy in order to get what they want. People that believe reaching their goal is everything, forgetting that how you get there is most important. One mistake Walker, and the others have done is forgetting where they came from, when tasting the tiniest taste of power, they go crazy and forget about their morals; this is what leads to atrocities like innocent people dying and unnecessary wars.
ReplyDeleteWhat is different about the writing style of Washington Irving, compared to some of the more recent authors we have read is that Washington gives his writing a sense of humor; he also catches the reader’s attention by giving an incredible amount of detail, making the reader feel enraptured by the story. I completely agree with Tiffany (1st period), Washington’s elaborate descriptions do help the reader visualize the story and therefore makes it more easy to read, as opposed to other authors we have read in class who’s writing lack description, forcing the reader to make their own inferences.
Alma Ricart
4th Period
Tom Walker, reminds me of a fictional character named Macbeth. Macbeth was a character whom sold his good nature to become king of Scotland. This man took his king's life and his best friend's as well to obtain the right to be crowned king. In both stories, "Macbeth" and "The Devil and Tom Walker", each man encounters a spiritual creature that exudes evil in a forest who spoke to them of a prophecy which presented a life of wealth, which may be in terms of money or power. In both pieces of literature they both regret their decision which ultimately leads each one to his death.
ReplyDeleteIrving's writing style was easier to grasp than most literature from the 19th century. His writing rivets the audience attention from the very beginning through the very end. At moments Irving put comical relief into the short story, "The Devil and Tom Walker". These reliefs made many chuckle along with keeping others entertained. As Oscar mentioned “The Devil and Tom Walker” had a more humorous feel as well as a less realistic touch than Miller’s writing, “The Crucible”. Personally, I enjoyed the story and understood it in its entirety.
~Kristian Shaffer
Period 4
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ReplyDeleteWahington Irving, as a true representative of the transcendentalism era, connects natute and celebrates the imagination as basic elements of human nature. His way of writing was based on a belief that "transcendent forms" of truth exist beyond reason or experience, having that in mind, the reader can interpret Irving's way of writing as detailed and sentimentalist. Looking at quotes such as "Tom's wife was a tall termagant, fierce of temper, loud of tongue, and strong of arm" helps us predict his sharp and audacious tone.
ReplyDeleteWhen reading "The Devil and Tom Walker", a character that always came to mind was Abigail Williams from "The Crucible". As we all have discussed, this teenager sold her soul andmind to the Devil without any doubt with the only purpose of possesing Proctor's heart, she was droven by greed and didn't measure the actions she made, Abby as very ambicious and never cared about how her manners and actions could affect her image and the destiny of the people surrounding her.
Victoria Hernaiz
Period 4.
I agree with Francis Corral The character Tom Walker from the short story "The Devil and Tom Walker", reminds me alot of Abigal from "The Crucible" which we recently read. Tom sold his soul to the devil to the material riches. Abigal also sold herself to the hysteria of witch craft to get what she wanted. The act of Tom Walker selling his soul to the devil, specifically, is the fictitious part of the story. It also reminds me of Fidel castro it was like a curse that send him there to Cuba to take over and he promised them foodand aid for the need, but never happend did it?
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ReplyDeleteDriven by greed, Tom Walker literally sells his soul to gain wealth. A person who I compare this character has to be the demagogues of our world history such as Mussolini, Hitler, or Fidel. All these indiviuals are only concerened about themselves and their selfish reasons. They behavior through history was such that it seems if they had truly sold their soul to the devil becuase they were extrememly self-centered and careless towards any human. Being the ruler of a Country or people is more valuable to them then the lives of the people they rule. Although it is fairly impossible to sell ones soul literaly to the devil but it can always be portrayed through ones character and behavior, figurtively. Similar to Tom Walker, once these people gain their position in life they have moved on and have gained another greed to life so therefore they are never satisfied with what they and will forever crave more and more.
ReplyDeleteThe difference between the writing style of Washington Irving, compared to some of the more recent authors we have read is that Tom Walker's characters in the story are more fantasy based. Although both Arthur Miller and Washinton Irving wrote concerning the Puritans and there way of life, Millers characters were to a great extent true characters while Irving's story characters were mind made. I agree with all the fellow blogers who have said that Irving has a humorous or sarcastic sort of side to his writing style. For example, when Tom Walker is more worried about his treasures than his wife. When he finds the sack on the tree with the liver and heart of his wife he wasn't upset because of his wife's death but more because the sack didn't contain his missing treasures. Miller's tone was very serious and it was displaying reality while in Irving's writing you can understand the ficiton and fantasy from the way he protrays his characters. The foundation of the two authors was one, Puritans, but the way of appealing and reaching to their audience is different.
Sahar Jafar
Period 4
Tom Walker did anything to gain wealth, even if it was to gain by talking money from others or make deals with the Devil. He started to become a broker, taking 4% a month on loans and driving everyone who came to him bankrupt. Thinking of the greed that overcame Tom Walker reminds me of Governor Rob Blagojevich. Governor of Illinois, Blagojevich was willing to do what it takes to make a little more dough for his pocket. Blagojevich was willing to sell Barrack Obama’s former Senate Seat after he was elected as President of the United States. He stated that whoever paid him the most money for the Senate seat would get it. This was very selfish, not being fair to those who wanted it. It didn’t matter who was most qualified to have this position, it was who could come up with the most money. Even though some could debate that he didn’t sell his soul to the Devil, I feel as if what he did was a wrong, sinful act which could be associated with the Devil. Both of these people after committing their acts of greed for money, both felt as though they shouldn’t get punish. For instance, Tom Walker felt as though if he became a churchgoer that the deal he made with the Devil would go away. This is similar to Blagojevich because he felt as though what he did wasn’t bad, and that he should still keep his seat instead of being impeached.
ReplyDeleteJust how Steven Erenst and Oscar Betancourt mentioned, Washington Irving type of writing is more humorous than any other writers than we have studied before. One author we had recently read about was Arthur Miller. He writes in such a way that he tells directly about the true things that happen incorporating some details in which are unknown. Washington Irving wrote “The Devil and Tom Walker” to show the legend of Johann Faust who had sold his soul to the Devil. This was in fact a fictional story that Irving used to add his own humorous touch. The writing of Irving is a little more complicated than Millers to understand, making their pieces of writing different.
-Ashley Fuchs
Period 4
Tom Walker, from "The Devil and Tom Walker", reminds me of prostitutes. Prostitutes literally "sell" themselves to desperate, lonely people. Instead of making a real living with a professional career, they have sex with unknown strangers and charging them for it. They take the easy road to gain money with the use of their physical characteristics.
ReplyDeleteWashington Irving's writing style is extremely different from the other authors we have read about in class. Irving uses more descriptive text and uses a more humorous tone. I agree with Tiffany when she states that Irving's writing is more descriptive and paints a picture, where as Bradstreet's lacks description and is straight to the point, forcing the reader to analyze and take in their own point of view.
Sorry, forgot to put my name and period.
ReplyDeleteRyan Hodges
Period 1
I agree very much so with Beverly's theory on Tom Walker to be very much like Adolf Hitler. Tom walker ended up having himself completely devoted to whatever pleased him, not caring about the effect on others. He was selfish and cruel, as Hitler also was. Tom walker did not care about his wife, or the people of his town. He cared too much for possession, and material items, that he was blind of seeing what really mattered. Paris Hilton is another example of selling oneself for material items. They will go out of their ways to make themselves look inferior, and to get what they want, no matter what the consequences on others.
ReplyDeleteThe way that Washington Irving writes is I'd say is much more descriptive, and full of detail. Compared to Arthur Miller's writing, which I'd say is much more implied detailing.
Paulina Gregory
Period 1
I agree with Sahars post because those three men that she mentioned are exactly like Tom Walker because they are all careless and all they wanted to do was torture humans and brainwash them with things that where completetly untrue just to scare them. The other reason why agree with Sahars post is because Hitler wasent a very nice guy he only cared about himself and had no simpathy for anybody only to himself because he believed that torturing people and just killing them for the heck of it was the right thing to do which wasent at all, I also believe Hitler was just a disgrace to this world because he thought that all the things he did where always right. To Conlclude i believe that everything that Sahar had to say about Hitler was true because his such an aufull men who had no respect for the Jews and even the Catholics he only cared about the people that where on his side. The Difference between Washington Irvings writing is that he's very descriptive about what he writes and likes to explain things in such details just like Arthur Miller from the Crucible because in many of his scenes he always put sertain words or clue words that made people know or at least figure out what was going to happen throughout the play.
ReplyDeleteStefania Berman
Period: 3 English 3
A real person that reminds me of Tom Walker is Alex Rodriguez, because he sort of sold his soul to the devil in order to be better. In doing this he tarnished a great career and will most likely not be inducted into the Hall of Fame.Irving writing style is more humorous and entertaining than the other authors we have been reading. His writing grabs the readers attention and does let go until the very end.
ReplyDeleteI would have to agree with ryan because like Tom Walker from "The Devil and Tom Walker", Prostitutes sell themselves for their own personal gain of wealth. Although, they arent exactly giving themselves to the devil, they are definately not self rightous people.
ReplyDeleteIrving uses a lot more descriptive tones and writes in a more humorous style. It was a big jump from reading something as serious as "The Crucible" to reading something like this.
Brian Murphy
ReplyDeletePeriod 3
I forgot to put my name and period again.
ReplyDeleteI'll copy paste:
In agreement to my fellow blogger Joanna, I find a parallel between Tom Walker and the President of Venezuela, Hugo Chavez. Chavez destroyed a patriotic, united country and turned it into an extremely unsafe, communistic country with the level of poverty and crime rates increasingly rapidly. In return, Chavez received complete power and domination, along with the riches and wealth of many. Along with Chavez, I see a connection between Walker and Josef Stalin. Stalin took over Russia, impoverished some, and killed many while receiving control, money, and riches.
In comparison between Washington Irving's style and some of the most recent authors we have studied, one can see a significant difference. For example, Irving used comic relief in the story-line and had his points proven in a more subtle way , while Miller was completely serious and straightforward with his ideas. Also Irving provided an surfeit of adjectives and details, while authors like Miller and Anne Bradstreet.
-Daniela Gonzalez-Jatar
Period 4
In agreement with Kayl Karadjian, I sincerely believe that Bernard Madoff comes to mind as I read "The Devil and Tom Walker". The similarities conducted by both Bernard Madoff and Tom Walker as they sold there "Soul" to the Devil in return for monetary resources. However, like most schemes that seem to good to be true,the downfall of Bernard Madoff and Tom Walker was eminent as their greed led to their demise.
ReplyDeleteThe writing style of Washington Irving differs from the recent authors that we have read as his writing is straight and to the point. Washington Irving's writings also include the Devil within the plot, which the Puritan authors' writings that have been previously read would have prohibited the Devil from being with a storyline. Similarly to the recent authors though, Washington Irving's writings contain a moral that is to be taught and lesson to be learned.
-Brandon Sproul
Period 4
After reading several posts from people whose opinion I value, I must say that if Tom Walker is to be compared with greedy people, he should also be compared to everyone else. Are we not all giving in to the evils of society? Materialism, gossip, hypocrites, conformists and, most importantly, those people who do not look in a mirror before they judge. Giving into the pressures of society is normal, however, that does not excuse the fact that selfishness blindness people and lets them only see what is affecting them directly. I am not criticizing anyone in anyway, in fact, that is my point. I believe that to a certain extent everyone has some Tom Walker in them, that doesn’t mean they are evil.
ReplyDeleteThe writing style of Washington Irving was definitely different than what we have read before. In other stories authors are extremely upfront compared to this story that uses an analogy comparing something impossible and something true. Not only is the type of thing the author writes different, but also, this story is extremely more individualistic and yet its essence is human as in what is natural.
Nicolas S
Period 4
I defently know some people that sold their soul to the devil and they are the drugdilers of colombia and the world in general. They sacrifice their lifes for wealth and power. why do I say this? well they know that when they are getting in to this bussines they have to ending; one spend their rest of their lifes in a prision or two get killed by other drugdilers. They not only have terrible endings but they live with constantly concern about their legal situation. They sell their soul to the devil by sacrificing wel mental tranquility for money.
ReplyDeleteI agree with mariale this new author is very different because he does not talk about God and fanatics he talks about the total opposite, a person selling his soul to de devil.
Laura Calderon
Period 3
In Washington Irving's short story "The Devil and Tom Walker" he made the character Tom Walker to symbolize people who would commit intolerable acts to quench their thirst for money. History has provided us with several examples of such gluttonous humans; during the late 19 century the there were business people known as "robber barons". They destroyed competition usually through monopolization to increase their wealth. As well, in the story it is perfect symbolism for the economic recession we face today caused by people similar to Tom Walker.
ReplyDeleteWashington Irving has a different writing style compared to some authors we recently read in class. Washington Irving can be compared to the author of “The Crucible” Arthur Miller. I agree with Johanna that they both wrote about the same time periods and both have religious themes playing deeply within their stories.
Martin Perry P-4
Tom Walker, the person who sold his soul to the devil for wealth. Right now I can’t remember about someone selling his soul. However I know about someone in my country Venezuela who was being bothered and being threatened by a group of criminals in Venezuela. This person received calls from these people, sometimes received letters, sometimes in the streets some stranger would talk to him. This person is now living in USA because of the situation that he and his family were having in Venezuela. This man is my uncle, and I related my uncle to Tom Walker because both of them had to sacrifice something in order to gain wealth. Tom Walker had to sacrifice his soul as my uncle sacrificed his family’s life in Venezuela, their cars, their house, their cousins and uncles, everything. One of the first posts was from Daniel who related Tom Walker to Saddam Hussein. I personally think that you are right about that, but I think that it is because he was a dictator, and every dictator had to sacrifice something in order to gain the power or keep it.
ReplyDeleteWashington Irving has a similar style to Nathaniel Hawthorne and this is due to the fact that Nathaniel Hawthorne was influenced on his writing by Washington Irving. Instead, on the other hand we have Arthur Miller, the author of the play “The Crucible” in which he uses a lot the literary form of irony. This fact leads me to the conclusion that Miller is really different of Irving and Hawthorne.
Tom Walker is one of many people to sell himself to greed. In the story, he literally sold his sould to the Devil in exchange for amazing wealth. These kinds of people are seen in real life and even in fictional books and movies. Examples of sell-outs are dictators like Hitler and Mussolini, like many other students mentioned in the comments above. Their greed was enough to drive them out of their sanity into actions that are unthinkable many times. Many movie stars sell themselves to the media to become a fake icon of today's society, but in the end they all lose their individuality.
ReplyDeleteFrom what I've read from Irving and the other authors in this course, I can say that " The Devil and Tom Walker" appeals to me because I have always been interested in plots related with interactions with personified evil.
Ms. Ojeda, I had trouble putting up this post since Sunday and it finally decided to work on my computer.
Jose Maldonado Period 1
Someone that reminds me of Tom Walker is the man in the story where all he wants is money and will do anything to get it. I cant seem to remember the name but the story goes like this... It starts off with this man who has no of money but he thinks of only money and wants nothing else. The man plans these little plots and scams to get rich. Eventually one of these scams works and he becomes the wealthiest man in the area. But by this time he was old, sick , and around his late 60's and . The man is lonely and sad and all the money in the world couldnt change that.The discovers that he going to be dieing soon and to cut it short gives all his money away and dies happy. Thats who Tom Walker reminds me of the man in this story but towards the begining.
ReplyDeleteSimilar to Tom Walker selling his soul to the devil is Fidel Castro who has done nothing more than torture families and killing innocent people just to maintain power within the island. He has taken away jobs and buisness from people just so he can become wealthier.The greed has made Castro sell his soul to the devil. Arthur Miller uses alot of irony and foreshadowing in his literary art. His writing keeps the reader alert and wondering what might happen.Another really good attribute that Arthur Miller uses in his writing is details, he can make the reader imagine what is happening and how it is happening and u can imagine the face that these charecters put on during major scenes. Someone that reminds me of Tom Walker is Fidel Castro. Per. 3
ReplyDeleteA person that has sold his soul for the gain of wealth can easily be the former dictator such as Adolf Hitler. To hold his power and his wealth he committed genocide and killed some of his own family members and mostly all of the jews. As for Irving I agree he puts alot of passion into his writing but not very descriptive with his writting.
ReplyDeletePeriod 3. To be honest I dont really know who real people that Tom Walker might remind me of maybe one of the hig corporation guys thats really greedy, but if i had to pick someone that Tom Walker reminded me of it would be Mr. Scruge from that old Disney movie.
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