Sandhill Crane

The American short story “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow” was written while Washington Irving was living in England. Washington Irving wanted the film audience to capture a gothic tone that mirrors a slightly surreal place. Throughout the text, Irving describes Sleepy Hollow as, “Certain it is, the place still continues under the sway of some witching power, that holds a spell over the minds of the good people, causing them to walk in a continual reverie. They are given to all kinds of marvelous…

In “The Open Boat” by Stephen Crane, four survivors of a tragic shipwreck are forced to live in a lifeboat and fight for survival. The four men are the cook, the oiler, the correspondent, and the captain. The captain assures the men that they are getting very close to a manned lighthouse that he is familiar with, although day by day the men see no lighthouse. The men start to lose hope when finally, land comes into sight. In their great efforts to make landfall, the oiler drowns, despite being…

collection of 34 pieces of writing titled The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon. One of the most popular short stories amongst this collection, The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, is noted for its action, adventure, romance, horror, and even comedy. Ichabod Crane, the protagonist of the story, is an awkward schoolteacher living in the eerie town of Sleepy Hollow, which is known for its daunting atmosphere that spooks its inhabitants and visitors. Towards the end…

According to a Russian Proverb, “With lies, you may get ahead in the world – but you can never go back” (Quotegarden). The consequence of such deception is suggested in Joe Keenan’s “The Two Mrs. Cranes” where live-in physical therapist Daphne creates a fictitious relationship with Niles in order to avoid reconciling with her ex, Clive, due to his presumed lack of ambition, which she later regrets. To that effect, the script suggests that unless people are shrewdly dishonest, they may behave in…

According to Haviland, “Verbal arts generally transmit and preserve a culture’s customs and values” (341). Throughout the United States, the story of the Headless Horseman, a verbal story described in “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow,” is well-known in American folklore. It is a scary story that many children tell around the campfire in an attempt to scare one another, saying that if someone is not careful, the Headless Horseman will come for them. However, many Americans do not realize that this…

Washington Irving creates this social conflict between the characters Ichabod Crane and Katrina Van Tassel in, “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow.” Ichabod Crane, a strict school teacher and singing instructor, represents the lower-class in this short story and Katrina, daughter of a wealthy farm owner, represents the upper-class. On the surface, the text tells a story of…

In “The Open Boat”, it is instantly recognizable that the men aboard the dinghy have no control over every aspect their situation. The crew steer the boat and row the oars, however as the men squeeze inside this tiny boat, they fall victim to naturalism. Naturalism says, mother nature is truly in control of the vessel, having no feelings of compassion or hatred towards it. Nature’s divine and uncharismatic power, is seen as nature hurls wave after wave toward the dinghy, sinks the captain’s ship…

Stephen Crane was one of America's foremost realistic writers, and his works have been credited with marking the beginning of modern American Naturalism. His Civil War novel The Red Badge of Courage (1895) is a classic of American literature that realistically depicts the psychological complexities of fear and courage on the battlefield. Influenced by William Dean Howells's theory of realism, Crane utilized his keen observations, as well as personal experiences, to achieve a narrative vividness…

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. In the Legend of Sleepy Hollow, the school teacher, Ichabod Crane, falls in love with a new girl who comes into the town of Sleepy Hollow. Her name is Katrina Van Tassel, and another man…

A fishing trip turns into a terrifying test of survival after Salvador Alvarenga becomes one man against the sea. Salvador Alvarenga loved the simple lines of the fiberglass craft. No cabin or roof. Just a 25-foot-long narrow, canoe-shaped boat designed to carve up the waves like a huge surfboard, agile and fast, with the engine mounted on the back. Alvarenga was a 37-year-old Salvadoran fisherman living and working in Mexico. A heavy drinker quick to pick up the tab, he had no family tying…