The Legend Of Sleepy Hollow

Improved Essays
The development of America is captured in both factual and fictional stories. The characters in the “Legend of Sleepy Hollow” are specifically shaped to represent well-thought attributes of America. The author of sleepy hollow uses characters to expound on the development of young America. Washington Irving is reflected as the father of American short story. His inscription depicts the invention of the American myths that deal with ancestors, heroes, and mystical beings that are an essential part of the American culture. The tradition reflected in the story expounds on the aspects of the natural world by presenting the psychology, ideals, and customs of the American society.
Irving successfully depicts the fresh physiognomies of America through

Related Documents

  • Improved Essays

    Most people tend to practice old ways, never challenging the thoughts or beliefs they’re following in fear of being viewed as different. The American Identity is an idea of being a strong, generous person with their own views and opinions without looking to others for guidance. In the story Sleep Hollow written by Washington Irving, Ichabod Crane and the American Identity are complete opposites. Director Tim Burton put his own twist on the movie Sleepy Hollow. Although in both the movie and story Ichabod is a vulnerable character, in the movie Ichabod is great representation of the American Identity.…

    • 877 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The Legend of Sleepy Hollow is a short story written by Washington Irving, and is a very detailed piece of writing. The story is very well known with many people throughout the world, and is even said to be a classic. Thus, becoming popular as…

    • 1182 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The short story The Legend of Sleepy Hollow is filled with fanciful and magical tales. Nearly all of the characters in the story seem to believe in the supernatural, particularly Ichabod Crane. Throughout the tale, the reader is shown how vast of an imagination Ichabod has. He loved to read books with marvelous tales of witchcraft and magic and hear stories of ghosts, goblins, and the like. The reader is even told “his appetite for the marvellous, and his powers of digesting it, were equally extraordinary……

    • 223 Words
    • 1 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    Throughout its 239 years of independence, the United States of America has experienced peace, war, and just about everything in between. American culture has evolved significantly since the 18th century, and nothing more effectively represents its centuries of triumphs and tragedies than the literature of American authors. Specifically through short stories, these authors discuss both personal and societal concerns of their times, and simultaneously interweave themes of life, love, and happiness in their works. Three specific authors in American history – Charlotte Perkins Gilman, Sarah Orne Jewett, and Theodore Dreiser ¬– act as “moral purifiers” presenting their case through their creative works that, left up to the reader, may have a positive…

    • 1582 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Improved Essays

    An additional example would be the sexual culture of this time period and region. Unlike Twain, who used racial titles to describe different areas and the culture of that region’s inhabitants. Harte, not to say was more qualified, due to the fact that he lived in this region his entire life, he could describe the sexual culture that was occurring during this time. Harte displayed this more risky culture throughout his book, Miggles (Reidhead, 352).The author of Norton Anthology American Literature book described this as a challenge of it time, for American sexual and gender behaviors (Reidhead, 352). During this time, California was growing in industry and its towns were flourishing in popular culture.…

    • 734 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Decent Essays

    Sleepy Hollow Myths

    • 463 Words
    • 2 Pages

    The Legend Of Sleepy Hollow The Legend of Sleepy Hollow has Imagination, Individuality, and Interest in things outside the realm of the “normal” like ghosts/spirits. The legend of Sleepy Hollow is about a headless horseman that comes out at midnight to find his head and to seek revenge. They say that the reason he doesn’t have a head anymore is because he was in the war and they cut his head off.…

    • 463 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Every one of us as kids loved reading myths such as Hercules or Perseus. However, did you know that there are some myths that originated right at home? Washington Irving’s story of Rip Van Winkle manages to merge several traits of a mythological story. The traits we will focus on include, setting the story in the past, filled with exaggerated characters, and features magical events with their consequences. How do these traits affect the story?…

    • 1010 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Past and Present: Human Nature Portrayed in American Literature The very root of human nature has been debated for as long as humans have been civilized. The topic became ever more intriguing in literature over the last few centuries, as The United States of America was founded. The idea of a common human nature is very debatable and is open to interpretation, which can be seen through various authors’ representations of human nature. While each individual is entitled to their own interpretation as to what human nature is, many classic American works convey a common theme.…

    • 1211 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    This shows that in order to achieve the author 's goal and deliver the theme, the story must express these features of American society in the…

    • 1289 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Sleepy Hollow

    • 779 Words
    • 4 Pages

    The allure of a scary movie comes from the thrilling and oddly addictive terror of the unknown. Watch your deepest fears on screen, and let your imagination run wild with these Netflix scary movies. “Sleepy Hollow” (1999) Scare scale: 6/10 This is a movie that’s based on Irving’s’ tale of Ichabod Crane and the Headless Horseman, in which Ichabod, played by Johnny Depp, is a NY detective who is sent to Sleepy Hollow to investigate multiple murders of people who are found headless in the woods. The local myth is that a ghost of a Hessian trooper who got his head removed by a cannon ball rides through the woods on horseback and decapitates those who don’t believe.…

    • 779 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Warfare and the Legend of Sleepy Hollow There comes a time when everyone is faced with a battle, whether it is a battle that requires brain, brawn, or simply charm to attain victory. “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow,” a short story written by Washington Irving in the aftermath of the Revolutionary War, examines not only the literal battlefield of warfare, but also the perceived battlefield of everyday life or the universal theme of battle. In “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow,” Irving uses vivid war-like imagery, tone, and plot to relay to the reader the battles faced by his characters in various aspects of life such as love, wealth, and power.…

    • 800 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    In the eighteen and nineteen hundreds, American gothic themes were very common throughout stories and poems. These gothic elements, whether in the form of settings, actions, or characters, influenced American literature and are still present in many stories today. Some of these gothic elements include those of terror, the supernatural, and the dark outdoors. Both the Legend of Sleepy Hollow by Washington Irving and Somnambulism by Charles Brockden Brown contain gothic elements in the form of terror, horror, fear of unknown, madness, and setting of the story.…

    • 1168 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    As soon as the first settlers began to arrive in America, different pieces and types of literature began to emerge rapidly. Although they were all created in different formats and tell different stories about the happenings, they all share equal value among the literary world. Because people began to write about the happenings within the colony, we are now able to reflect upon and relate ourselves to what our ancestors encountered when they traveled to and settled in the new world with a sense of appreciation. In William Bradford’s short story, “Of Plymouth Plantation,” Bradford details the arrival and settlement of the Pilgrims in Plymouth, Massachusetts.…

    • 521 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    How does Irving incorporate at least three of these mythical-story characteristics into "Rip Van Winkle"? What is the impact of these characteristics on the story or on the reader’s experience of the story? Two very good questions that will soon be answered. In this essay, You will learn about Rip Van Winkle; a man who loved nature and zoning out. You will also read the brilliant writing style of Washington Irving, and how it pulls the reader in.…

    • 1026 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    In literature, there is a cornucopia of authors whose works are arguably more different than they are similar. However, even through the seemingly stark contrast of various authors, there are similarities that are way too often overlooked or just unconsidered. Edgar Allan Poe and Washington Irving were authors most renowned for their short stories during the Romantic Era of literature, each having their own unique style. Poe was known for his use of horror and the dark characteristics of human nature, and Irving for his use of fantasy and humor of different varieties. Two seemingly different approaches to literature by two seemingly different authors . . .…

    • 1738 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Superior Essays