Week 1 Reading Questions - The Legend of Sleepy Hollow

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Oct 30, 2023

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Kiely MacDowell Px4793 27 August, 2023 Question 1: What is important about the title? Answer: To me, the title signifies that this story isn’t about Ichabod himself, it’s about Sleepy Hollow. While it does tell the story of Ichabod, the reader needs to know that the focus is the Legend of Sleepy Hollow and the lessons to be learned from it. Question 2: What are the conflicts found throughout the story? Answer: I first wanted to touch on Ichabod’s internal conflict with himself regarding Brom and Katerina. Ichabod knows that he is viewed as someone who is weak, physically and mentally- and he is often looked down on because of this. He knows that Brom, who is courting Katerina, is the exact opposite though he thinks he is better suited for Katerina. This leads to the actual conflict between himself and Brom. Both Ichabod and Brom court Katerina but in the end she turns him down for Brom. Question 3: What are some of the themes? How do they relate to the plot and characters? Answer: One of the themes I noticed was greed and gluttony. Ichabod is so focused on greed it consumes him. One of the main reasons he wants to court Katerina is because she is the daughter of a wealthy farmer, and he looks forward to all the food that he will be able to have once they are married. Even when he is given the opportunity to win her over, he chooses to indulge himself in the foods that are available to him and other party guests. He even describes Katerina as “plump” and “ripe”. When describing a woman you are courting, I could think of 100 other adjectives he might have used to describe her. Question 4: Is Ichabod Crane consistent in his actions? Is he a fully developed character? Why? Answer: No, he is not. Ichabod is described to be someone who does not act on his feelings. He listens to and does almost everything he is told to do even though he doesn't want to. He is a grade-A people pleaser in the worst way. He also doesn’t seem to like people much, and can’t wait to use his status (if he successfully courts Katerina) to rub it in every single person who has ever talked down to him’s face. What is also ironic is he enjoys indulging in the eerie legends but he is spooked by the dark. He is a very contradictory character in this story. Question 5: Do you find the characters likable? Are the characters persons you would want to meet? Answer: I can’t say I find a single character likable. I find Ichbod quite annoying and honestly, Brom reminds me a lot of Gaston from Beauty and the Beast. I wouldn’t go out of my way to befriend any of them. Question 6: Discuss some of the symbols in the story. Answer: The bridge is a main symbol of this story in my opinion. To me, it signifies the go between the living and the dead. The bridge in the story is between the scary forest and the safety of the church. This is important because in Brom’s version of the legend, the headless

horseman disappears when crossing the bridge. The difference between the forest side and the church side is the words used to describe them, which can also be seen as a symbol for where the headless horseman resides. Question 6: What is the primary purpose of the story? Do you find the purpose important or meaningful? Answer: I think the primary purpose of the story was to teach the lesson that being greedy and glutinous will never lead you in the right direction. Question 7: How essential is the setting to the story? Could the story have taken place anywhere else? Does the setting represent or allude to something? Answer: The setting is one of the most important aspects of this story. The way that Irving described the atmosphere where this story takes place is very important not only to Ichabod’s story, but the legend of the headless horseman itself. I think if this story were to take place any other place it would lack the importance of the lessons told. Question 8: What supernatural or surprising events are employed by Washington Irving? Do you find these happenings believable? Answer: I believe things are called legends for a reason. Maybe the headless horseman is real, but as the story was told he was transformed from a regular man on a horse to someone with no head. The more the story is told, the more details could potentially be added into the story. So as much as I think this might have happened, I think that the story could have been told so many times that the details got away from it. Question 9: What is the role of women? Answer: Irving has the same ideas of men from the time the story was written. That women existed to cook and clean around the house. But, men in this story also saw them as ways to become wealthy and boost social status. He also characterized them as women who like to sit around and gossip about ghost stories. Question 10: Does the story end the way you expected? Why? Answer: In my opinion, the story ended on a note that is up to interpretation. The New York traveler shares that Ichabod was doing well in New York. He was living a healthy, wealthy and successful life. But, the woman of the town think he was scared away by the supernatural spirits. I suppose it’s up to the reader to decide what they believe. Question 11 and 12: Would you recommend the story to a friend? Would you read other works by Washington Irving based on your reading of this story? Answer: Yes, I’m sure many of my friends would enjoy reading this story, as did I. But, they might already be familiar with it since I know I was required to read this when I was in high school. I would read other works by Irving if I had the opportunity to do so if they were similar to this.

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