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Analytical essay on legend of sleepy hollow
Analytical essay on legend of sleepy hollow
Analytical essay on legend of sleepy hollow
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The Legend of Sleepy Hollow is a fiction story by American author Washington Irving. Many readers believe that Irving Washington shows in his book, aspects of the main character, Ichabod, by using his eyes. In fact, Irving Washington qualifies Ichabod's eyes to green to reveal aspects of his character. The author draws readers attention by the way in which he speaks about Ichabod. He describes Ichabod's physique, his thoughts, and his acts. In fact, Ichabod, the man who loves scary stories, is scared of everything especially the supernatural. In addition, to being a coward, he is ridiculous and greedy. Therefore, Ichabod has eyes qualified as being green because he is a ridiculouspauper, greedy, and scared.Irving Washington qualify Ichabod's …show more content…
eyes to being green because he is a ridiculous pauper. Indeed, the narrator takes much time to explain to readers how Ichabod is so ridiculous.
For example, Ichabod is describe by Irving Washington as "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 corn-field" (9). This clearly shows how ridiculous Ichabod is. Ichabod is also describe by Irving Washington as "His head was small, and flat at top, with huge ears, large green glassy eyes, and a long snipe nose, so that it looked like a weather-cock, perched upon his spindle neck, to tell which way the wind blew" (9). This show his negative particularity. Further, Ichabod wretchedness. He is lodged in the houses of the farmers, whose students he …show more content…
instructed. Indeed, his income is so small to take care of him and especially to get something to eat.Ichabod's eyes are also qualified to be green because of his greed. In fact, food is the most important for Ichabod. He is ready to do anything to get something for his stomach. That is the reason why Ichabod start fighting for Katrina (Ichabod's student) who is a daughter of a rich family in the town: the family Tassel. Ichabod decide to marry Katrina because of his financial and hunger problems.
For instance, Ichabod is describe by Irving Washington as “he is exceedingly lank which leaves all readers note that he does not have enough to eat” (9).This is due to the fact that Ichabod don't make much money from school.On this, seeking to achieve his objective, Ichabod finds fear on his way.Ichabod’s eyes shows how many times he is scared. In fact, since the beginning of the story, Washington showsfear of Ichabod. Even if the schoolteacher (Ichabod) likes scary stories, he does not wish being in the story. After being invite by Katrina's father to an event, Ichabod meets on his way Abraham Van Brunt called Brom Bones, a strong man who will give him the fear of his life. Indeed, Brunt is another character also wanting to marry Katrina.After finding an obstacle in its path, Brunt use the weakness of Ichabod against of him, the fear. Brunt uses theHeadless Horseman, the spirit of a Hessian soldier to scare Ichabod. Ichabod is frightened by Brunt who practices the story of the Headless Horseman. Ichabod has the biggest scare of his life after believing to the fiction did by Brunt and he disappears the same night from the village.Finally, Readers can see that Irving Washington uses Ichabod's eyes color to reveal aspects of his
character. In fact, using Ichabod's eyes, Irving Washington shows the peculiarity of this character. Ichabod is a sad character of the story. Further, Ichabod is described by the author as the most dirty, ugly, famished and also with a very limited thinking. He is a Schoolteacher who is not different from someone who has never been in school. He is consider as the hero of the negative in the story even with education that he has received from school. Moreover, Washington takes much time and uses many arguments to support his description about this character from beginning to the end. Thus, by relying on his eyes, Ichabod may be regarded to be not only a ridiculous pauper and Greedy, but also a scare man.
In the story, Irving used characterization to create the backstory, characters, and character’s personalities. Irving used direct characterization, so he could describe each character in the beginning of the story. The main character is Ichabod Crane was pictured as a school teacher, love interest of Katherina Van Tassel, and newcomer of Sleepy Hollow. Few people did not like the fact Crane wanted Van Tassel’s hand in marriage because of his position in society. In the story, The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, Crane was described as a simple person with no beautiful features and not the type of man that a woman like Katherina
The readings “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow” by Washington Irving and The Monster by Stephen Crane are to amazing readings. However, these two texts represent violence and conflicts in different ways, which shows that although they have the same concept their tactic for this same concept is used in a different approach.
...rbidden love, whereas Irving’s tale is a tale of possible unrequited love. The characters are vaguely similar in both the written story and the movie, but the glaring difference is that while Ichabod possibly flees from Sleepy Hollow because he was frightened beyond his limits, the movie allows him to denounce any superstition in order to wed his beloved.
Instead, he made Ichabod Crane a detective who had his own vision on how to solve crimes. In the movie Ichabod is sent to the small village of Sleepy Hollow where a murder of three town’s people has occurred and they want him to solve it. Soon enough, he meets Katrina, whom Ichabod falls in love with, similar to Irving’s original story. Brom once again becomes jealous of this situation. The beginning of the story is very much similar to Washington Irving’s original. However, the main difference is that Ichabod is a detective; he is attempting to resolve a murder mystery. The murder consists of three people who had their heads cut off yet the heads are not being found anywhere. Even though Tim Burton did incorporate Washington Irving’s original story, he chose to include his own version of what happened. Only in the beginning does he chose to show Brom pretending to the cloaked horseman. Burton does include a sudden alteration; he decided to introduce magic and witchcraft. A witch controls an actual demon who was behind the killing who is the horseman. Katrina’s stepmother, who is the true witch, now possesses greed and
The original story by Washington Irving starts out in a small town of Sleepy Hollow. Irving paints an image of bountiful crops, beautiful scenery, and prosperous landowners. Ichabod Crane was a local pedagogue, who taught at the local schoolhouse. He was known for his strict ways and yet he was very popular amongst the families of his students- especially the ones who had ?pretty sisters.? Ichabod enjoyed spending fall evenings with the old widows as they sat by a fire and told stories of ghosts and demons and other supernatural beings. One story that was always told was one of the legendary Headless Horsemen. The tale tells of a soldier who had his head shot off with a cannon ball. His ghost now roamed Sleepy Hollow on his horse, looking for his lost head. In place of his head, sits a jack-o-lantern, which had a fiery glow.
Over time the language of the original text of "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" by Irving has been reworked to accommodate the change in audience. The Heath Anthology of American Literature has an unabridged version of the original wording (1354-1373). A complete copy of the original text of "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" can be found in the young adolescent classic section of a bookstore or the juvenile section in the library. A juvenile edition of the text adapted by Arthur Rackham from 1928 was a replicate of the original it is filled with seven colored illustrations and numerous sketching. A young adolescent version adapted by Bryan Brown from 2001 has been abridged to accommodate the current young reader. The format is changed in Brownâs edition. The yo...
During the story the author often uses foreshadowing to give hints to the reader of things that will happen in the future. When the story starts, a storm is coming on a late October night. The storm symbolizes the evil approaching the town. Usually it seems a storm would resemble something dark and evil, because a stormy night is always a classic setting for something evil. At the climax of the story, Charles Halloway reads a passage ...
in creating his vision of the town of Sleepy Hollow and the headless horseman, Katrina,
Irving does this to help readers realize how caught up the society of Sleepy Hollow is with their past. Irving frequently brings up the Revolutionary war and how the headless horseman was a Hessian soldier from the war. When he writes, “The dominant spirit that haunts this enchanted region is the apparition of a figure on horseback without a head. It is said to be the ghost of a Hessian trooper, whose head had been carried away by a cannonball in some nameless battle during the Revolutionary War… The specter is known, at all the country firesides, by the name of the Headless Horseman of Sleepy Hollow” (Irving 2). This is an allusion to the Revolutionary war because the headless horseman was a hessian soldier. This explains the theme of supernatural because the Headless Horseman haunts their town and the main character, Ichabod Crane, comes across the ghost of him. Another major allusion in “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow” is Ichabod's belief in witches. The author supports this when saying, “He was, moreover, esteemed by the women as a man of great erudition, for he had read several books quite through, and was a perfect master of Cotton Mather's 'History of New England Witchcraft” (Irving 4). Ichabod also believes in the supernatural past. His belief in witches supports the theme of supernatural within the book. Referring to the past using allusion develops different themes within the
Irving's main character, Icabod Crane, causes a stir and disrupts the female order in the Hollow when he arrives from Connecticut. Crane is not only a representative of bustling, practical New England who threatens rural America with his many talents and fortune of knowledge; he is also an intrusive male who threatens the stability of a decidedly female place. By taking a closer look at the stories that circulate though Sleepy Hollow, one can see that Crane's expulsion follows directly from women's cultivation of local folklore. Female-centered Sleepy Hollow, by means of tales revolving around the emasculated, headless "dominant spirit" of region, figuratively neuters threatening masculine invaders like Crane to restore order and ensure the continuance of the old Dutch domesticity and their old wives' tales.
...than usual and Katerina seems to disappoint him and leaves him crestfallen. On his way home he finds a dark and creepy path he takes and sees a dark figure nearby that passes. He finally notices that the man on the horse has no head. He tries to get his horse to go faster but fails, because he is not a skilled rider. He ends up by the church where the Headless Horseman is known to be seen. The Headless Horseman follows and with his detached head throws it at Ichabod forcing him to fall off his horse. The next day, there is no sign of Ichabod, but the horse returns back to the owner’s farm. Later a group of people go looking for Ichabod and all they find is his hat next to a smashed pumpkin. Some people believe that Brom pulled a great prank, but the local folklore and old women know he was taken by the Headless Horseman. Ichabod is never seen again in Sleepy Hallow.
Although the titles of the two works are relatively similar, the plot of each is different. If the film does not include the character, Ichabod Crane, and the reference to a Headless Horseman, the film would have no resemblance to Irving’s story. The difference in structure of plot in the two works changes the entire story. Every facet of the story is different between the two. The exposition offers the audience different stories because Ichabod has a new profession in the movie. The conflict in the two w...
Rather than attempt to dissect the works of a more obscure writer I've decided to go with America's first well known and widely respected author, Washington Irving. Washington's story The Legend of Sleepy Hollow is well known among my peers, but I can accurately assume far less have bothered to read it. I am sure most are familiar with the many movies and cartoon knockoffs the Headless Horseman has spawned. They shall not fret however, as I will explore this literary classic for thy dear lackadaisical MTV generation.
An author can reveal characteristics of characters in literature through several different methods. Some common methods of characterization include one’s appearance, speech, thoughts, name, actions, and emotions. However, unconventional means can also be used, such as imagery, which is visually descriptive or figurative language. In Hamlet, by William Shakespeare, imagery is used to characterize central characters to the play. Firstly, Hamlet’s characteristics are revealed through the imagery of death in his speech. Secondly, Claudius’ characteristics are revealed through the imagery in the Ghost and Hamlet’s descriptions of him, as well as his own thoughts. It is through this visually descriptive and figurative language, that readers can identify characteristics of these central characters.
Authors use gothic elements, metaphors and the imagination of narrators to shed light on issues they cannot regularly explain. Irving created the town of Sleepy Hollow for the purpose of his story. He names this town to mean a lethargic pit of emptiness to comment on the state of America at this time, following the Revolution. Sleepy Hollow is a town that possesses “a drowsy, dreamy influence seems to hang over the land, and to pervade the very atmosphere” (294). The metaphor of the town is Irving’s literal wake up call to Americans to take action. The gloomy setting and ancient prophesy concerning the apparition of a Hessian trooper, surrounds the town and provides a gothic element, which are enhanced by the imagery illustrated by the narrator. This mysterious atmosphere is able to “lull one to repose” (29...