-
The Legend of Sleepy Hollow
Introduction
Washington
Irving's
tale
of
the
Headless Horseman has become a
Halloween
classic,
although
few
Americans celebrated that holiday
when
the
story
was
new.
In
this
unit, students explore
the artistry
that
helped
make
Irving
our
nation's
first
literary
master
and
ponder
the
mystery
that
now
haunts
every
Halloween
--
What
happened to Ichabod Crane?
Learning Objectives
After
completing
this
lesson,
students will be
able to:
?
Summarize
the
plot
of
Legend of Sleepy
Hollow.
?
?
?
Adapt passages of
of
Sleepy
Hollow
for
a
contemporary audience.
Analyze the
characterization of
Ichabod Crane and
Brom Bones
in
Legend
of
Sleepy
Hollow.
Offer
an
imaginative
response
to
the
conclusion
of
Legend of
Sleepy Hollow.
Guiding Question:
How
does
Legend
of
Sleepy
Hollow
still
capture
the
imagination of readers today?
Preparing to Teach this
Lesson
1
This lesson plan
consists of four
learning activities
that you can use
together
as
a
unit
or
adapt
separately
to
your
curricular
needs.
2
Review the
suggested activities,
then
download
and
duplicate
any
online
materials
you
will
need.
If
desired,
you
can
bookmark
specific
web
pages
so
that
students
can
access
relevant
online
materials
directly.
(See
Selected
EDSITEment
Links
for
a
guide to locating online
materials.)
3
For
background
on
Washington
Irving
and
additional
teaching
resources
on
Legend
of
Sleepy
Hollow,
visit
these
websites
accessible
through
The
Center
for
Liberal
Arts
on
EDSITEment:
?
Biographical
sketch
of
Washington
Irving
from
A
Student's
History
of
American
Literature at
Bibliomania.
Washington Irving
II.
WASHINGTON
1783-1859.
IRVING:
First
among
American
writers
to
obtain
universal
recognition
abroad, our first true literary artist
and
our
earliest
is
Washington
Irving.
If
some
few
among
our
earlier
pioneers
in
letters
had
already
detected
in
American soil the germs
of a native
literature,
it
is
Irving
to
whom
belongs
the
honor
of
successfully
developing
those
germs
in
works
which still preserve
their freshness,
their delicacy, and
their charm. To
the
inspiration
of
native
themes,
Irving
owed
much
of
his
ample
success.
Family and Birth.
Washington Irving was born in the
city of New York, April 3, 1783. It
was
the
year
which
marked
the
end of the long struggle for liberty
and
the
beginning
of
peace.
The
British
troops
evacuated
the
city
and
the
Continental
forces
assumed
possession.
work
is
ended,
said
Mrs.
Irving,
the
child
shall
be
named
after
him.
Some
six
years later, we are told, when
the
first president returned to New
York,
then the seat of government,
a
Scotch
maid-servant
of
the
family
finding herself and the child
by
chance
in
the
presence
of
Washington,
presented
the
lad
to
him.
your
honor,
said
Lizzie,
all
aglow,
a
bairn
was
named
after
you.
And
the
Father of his Country
gravely laid
his
hand
upon
the
head
of
his
future
biographer
and
blessed
him.
The
household
in
William
Street
was
comfortably
well-to-do.
The
father,
William
Irving,
a
Scotchman,
born
in
the
Orkney
Islands, and until his marriage an
officer
upon
a
vessel
plying
between Falmouth and New York,
was now engaged in the hardware
trade.
He
was
a
man
of
strict
integrity,
rather
severe
in
his
attitude
toward
life,
with
a
good
deal
of
the
old
strict
Covenanter
spirit in his make-up. He took little
interest
in
amusements,
required
that
at
least
one
of
the
half-holidays in every week should
be
piously
employed
with
the
catechism,
and
saw
to
it
that
his
children
were
well
grounded
in
sound
Presbyterian
doctrine.
The
mother,
daughter
of
an
English
curate,
was
far
less
rigid
in
her
views
and
more
vivacious
in
temperament. Needless is it to say
that
the
future
chronicler
of
the
Knickerbocker
legends
resembled
the mother more
closely than the
father in his
inheritance of spirits.
Full
of
drollery
and
mischief,
the
boy
ran
merry
riot,
sometimes
a
source
of
perplexity
even
to
the
more
indulgent
parent,
who
once
was
heard
to
exclaim:
Washington,
if
you
were
only
good!
He
loved
music
and
delighted
in
the
theatre,
whither,
in spite of his father's prejudices,
the
boy
often
betook
himself,
secretly,
in
company
with
his
young comrade, Paulding.
Education.
Irving's
training
was
desultory,
and his schooling
ended at sixteen.
This
cutting
short
of
the
school-days
was
due
to
the
state
of his
health in these early years,
which
forbade
confinement
or
close
association
with
books.
Yet
he
read,
and
read
intelligently,
becoming
familiar
with
the
best,
especially books of
travel, voyages,
and
adventure.
In
his
rambles
about the city --
for he lived much
out of doors -- he
oftenest turned
toward
the
docks,
dreamily
wandering
among
the
piers
and
along
the
waterside
with
mind
apparently
stirred
by
the
sight
of
the
shipping
and
the
romantic
suggestions
of
foreign
lands.
Up
the Hudson, also, he
wandered --
into the Highlands and over
all the
country-side, until the suburbs
of
Manhattan
and
the
picturesque
region
of
the
Catskills
were
familiar ground.
Law vs. Literature.
Nevertheless young Irving settled
down
more
or
less
seriously
to
a
professional
career.
Upon
leaving
school, he began the
study of law.
Tradition
has
it,
however,
that
Irving's
reading
was
more
upon
works of general literature than on
those
concerned
with
legal
practice. His excursions continued.
In
1798,
he
thoroughly
explored
that idyllic region of Sleepy Hollow,
afterward
immortalized
in
the
Sketch-
Book
. In 1800, he took an
extended
trip
up
the
Hudson
and
into the Mohawk Valley. Although
he had become in 1802 a law clerk
in the office of Josiah Hoffman, he
was
at
least
to
outward
appearance a good deal of an idler.
He had always been fond of society
and
entered
with
zest
into
its
pleasures. In the wide circle of his
friendships, he was a conspicuous
and favorite figure, admired for his
genial,
happy
gayety,
and
for
his
warmth
and
kindliness
of
heart.
His first
contributions to literature
were made
at this time.
Suggested Activities
4
Ask students to share what
they
already
know
about
Washington
Irving's
Legend
of
Sleepy
Hollow,
them from the film
adaptation by
Tim
Burton
or
the
animated
version by Walt Disney. Then have
students
read
the
story,
first
published in 1820. Ask students to
compare Irving's short story (one
of the first examples of this genre)
with the tale that has become part
of American folklore. Consider, for
example:
?
The
proportions
of
humor
and
terror
in Irving's telling.
The
has
gained
a
reputation as a ghost
story over
the years, but Irving shaped
it
as a comic tale of self-delusion
leading to its own downfall. Ask
students to point out
parts
of
the
story.
How
scary
are they in Irving's hands?
The prominence of the Headless
Horseman in the original story.
Hollywood
has
made
this
?
frightening
apparition
the
signature image of the tale, yet
Irving
presents
him
as
a
creature of hearsay and foolish
superstition
who
remains
indistinct
even
when
he
finally
appears. Ask
students to point
out descriptions of
the Headless
Horseman
and
evaluate
his
impact on the narrative.
?
The
underlying
dynamics
of
Irving's plot.
At
its
core,
the
is
a
fabliaux-like tale of
rival suitors,
with
a
suggestion
that
their
affections
are
being
manipulated
by
the
lovely
whom
they both desire. And as
in
a
fabliaux,
appetite
is
the
driving force behind the plot, in
this
case
the
appetites
of
Ichabod
Crane
--
for
food,