The legend of sleepy hollow sparknotes. The Legend of Sleepy Hollow Short Summary 2022-12-16

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The Legend of Sleepy Hollow is a classic short story by Washington Irving that tells the tale of Ichabod Crane, a lanky and superstitious schoolmaster, and his doomed pursuit of the beautiful and wealthy Katrina Van Tassel. Set in the quaint town of Sleepy Hollow, the story is filled with supernatural elements and explores themes of greed, vanity, and the dangers of obsession.

Ichabod Crane arrives in Sleepy Hollow as the new schoolmaster and quickly becomes enamored with Katrina Van Tassel, the daughter of a wealthy farmer. Despite his lack of social status and wealth, Ichabod is determined to win Katrina's hand in marriage and becomes jealous of Brom Bones, a local bachelor who is also vying for Katrina's affections.

As Ichabod becomes more obsessed with winning Katrina's hand, he becomes more and more paranoid and superstitious. He becomes convinced that the town is haunted by the ghost of the Headless Horseman, a legendary figure who is said to roam the town at night in search of a new head. Despite his fear, Ichabod continues to pursue Katrina, even going so far as to attend a party at her house on the night of a full moon, when the Horseman is said to be at his most active.

At the party, Ichabod's rival Brom Bones tells a terrifying story about the Horseman, causing Ichabod to become even more paranoid. As he leaves the party and rides home through the woods, Ichabod is chased by the Headless Horseman, who seems to be gaining on him with each passing moment. In a fit of panic, Ichabod abandons his horse and runs for his life, only to be found the next morning unconscious and without his hat or horse.

The legend of the Headless Horseman becomes a popular story in Sleepy Hollow, with many people claiming to have seen the ghostly figure riding through the woods. Some believe that Ichabod Crane was the victim of the Horseman, while others believe that he simply ran away in fear and was never seen again. Regardless of the truth, the legend of the Headless Horseman and Ichabod Crane remains a classic tale of the supernatural and the dangers of greed and vanity.

An Analysis Of Washington Irving's The Legend Of Sleepy Hollow Essay on Edgar Allan Poe, Family, Fiction, Poetry, Short story, Writing

the legend of sleepy hollow sparknotes

While there, his heart beats when he sees the beautiful Katrina Van Tassel whom is the flirtatious village beauty. The immediate cause, however, of the prevalence of supernatural stories in these parts, was doubtless owing to the vicinity of Sleepy Hollow. Both stories are similar in that they give the story of someone whose greed and lust ends to destruction. Ichabod is initially confident in his ability to win over Katrina. Here, a headless figure emerged from the dark shadows shocking him. Ichabod is a strict teacher but not a cruel one, doling out his punishment of the rod only to those who can handle it. The plot proves whether the horseman was real or not.

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The Legend of Sleepy Hollow Summary

the legend of sleepy hollow sparknotes

After its end, one elderly gentleman had asked the storyteller what the story meant. At the beginning, the movie appears to be so similar to the story, but later changes to a direction different from the original plot. This rantipole hero had for some time singled out the blooming Katrina for the object of his uncouth gallantries, and though his amorous toyings were something like the gentle caresses and endearments ofa bear, yet it was whispered that she did not altogether discourage his hopes. His decapitated head is resting on the saddle in front of him. He repaid them in kind with large extracts from his invaluable author, Cotton Mather, and added many marvellous events that had taken place in his native State of Connecticut, and fearful sights which he had seen in his nightly walks about Sleepy Hollow. Retrieved October 29, 2018.

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The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, Washington Irving

the legend of sleepy hollow sparknotes

State University of New York Press. He leads the psalm-singing lessons at church and enjoys flirting with the young women, who admire him for his intellectualism. How often did he shrink with curdling awe at the sound of his own steps on the frosty crust beneath his feet; and dread to look over his shoulder, lest he should behold some uncouth being tramping close behind him! Our academic experts are ready and waiting to assist with any writing project you may have. The greater part of the time he scraped on two or three strings, accompanying every movement of the bow with a motion of the head; bowing almost to the ground, and stamping with his foot whenever a fresh couple were to start. He was a native of Connecticut, a State which supplies the Union with pioneers for the mind as well as for the forest, and sends forth yearly its legions of frontier woodmen and country schoolmasters. Burton applies this line of the story to introduce the theme of greed, taking it away from Ichabod, the main character, qualifying him as the hero.

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The Legend of Sleepy Hollow

the legend of sleepy hollow sparknotes

Its high school teams are named "the Horsemen". Let it suffice to say, Ichabod stole forth with the air of one who had been sacking a henroost, rather than a fair lady's heart. Retrieved October 27, 2017. Indeed, certain of the most authentic historians of those parts, who have been careful in collecting and collating the floating facts concerning this spectre, allege that the body of the trooper having been buried in the churchyard, the ghost rides forth to the scene of battle in nightly quest of his head, and that the rushing speed with which he sometimes passes along the Hollow, like a midnight blast, is owing to his being belated, and in a hurry to get back to the churchyard before daybreak. About two hundred yards from the tree, a small brook crossed the road, and ran into a marshy and thickly-wooded glen, known by the name of Wiley's Swamp. Brom is also there with his risky horse, Daredevil.

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The Legend of Sleepy Hollow by Washington Irving Plot Summary

the legend of sleepy hollow sparknotes

Irving was born on April 30th, 1738 in New York City. The narrator says that they do not know what happens in this conversation, but that Ichabod leaves the house looking disappointed and that the reader must use their imagination to fill in the gaps. He passed the tree in safety, but new perils lay before him. Ichabod lingers afterward to talk to Katrina as the other guests begin to leave. Vitus himself, that blessed patron of the dance, was figuring before you in person. Gunpowder leaps onto the bridge, and Ichabod reaches the other side, but as he looks back he sees the figure hurl his head at him. These remind him of the abundance awaiting him if he manages to marry Katrina.

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The Legend of Sleepy Hollow

the legend of sleepy hollow sparknotes

Despite that the two stories contains a main character that is helpless, the plot line of the movie is totally different from the original story. Benches were built along the sides for summer use; and a great spinning-wheel at one end, and a churn at the other, showed the various uses to which this important porch might be devoted. Katrina Van Tassel is one of Ichabod's singing pupils and eighteen-year-old known throughout the area for her families wealth and her incredible beauty. The common people regarded it with a mixture of respect and superstition, partly out of sympathy for the fate of its ill- starred namesake, and partly from the tales of strange sights, and doleful lamentations, told concerning it. To see him striding along the profile of a hill on a windy day, with his clothes bagging and fluttering about him, one might have mistaken him for the genius of famine descending upon the earth, or some scarecrow eloped from a cornfield.

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The Legend of Sleepy Hollow Main Story Summary & Analysis

the legend of sleepy hollow sparknotes

A drowsy, dreamy influence seems to hang over the land, and to pervade the very atmosphere. They harried his hitherto peaceful domains, smoked out his singing- school by stopping up the chimney, broke into the schoolhouse at night, in spite of its formidable fastenings of withe and window stakes, and turned everything topsy-turvy, so that the poor schoolmaster began to think all the witches in the country held their meetings there. He is well respected and liked throughout the town. Our man of letters, therefore, was peculiarly happy in the smiles of all the country damsels. Ichabod calls out "Who are you? But as he crosses the bridge, the Horseman hurls its head at Ichabod, who crashes to the ground. Despite his unattractive appearance, he quickly proves to be a ladies man who charms the local beauty, much to the local tough, Brom Bones', displeasure. Hard by the farmhouse was a vast barn, that might have served for a church; every window and crevice of which seemed bursting forth with the treasures of the farm; the flail was busily resounding within it from morning to night; swallows and martins skimmed twittering about the eaves; an rows of pigeons, some with one eye turned up, as if watching the weather, some with their heads under their wings or buried in their bosoms, and others swelling, and cooing, and bowing about their dames, were enjoying the sunshine on the roof.

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The Legend of Sleepy Hollow Themes

the legend of sleepy hollow sparknotes

Inchabod is found to be in love with Katrina Van Tassel. The sons, in short square-skirted coats, with rows of stupendous brass buttons, and their hair generally queued in the fashion of the times, especially if they could procure an eelskin for the purpose, it being esteemed throughout the country as a potent nourisher and strengthener of the hair. He takes time to dress properly so that he can impress at home. It is true, an old farmer, who had been down to New York on a visit several years after, and from whom this account of the ghostly adventure was received, brought home the intelligence that Ichabod Crane was still alive; that he had left the neighborhood partly through fear of the goblin and Hans Van Ripper, and partly in mortification at having been suddenly dismissed by the heiress; that he had changed his quarters to a distant part of the country; had kept school and studied law at the same time; had been admitted to the bar; turned politician; electioneered; written for the newspapers; and finally had been made a justice of the ten pound court. Initially, the party seems to go well. By the evening, Ichabod arrives at the Van Tassel castle, already packed with the most well-to-do farmers and their wives and children, clothed in traditional dress though a few of the daughters boast a slightly modern addition like a ribbon or straw hat.

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