Author’s Background

Washington Irving “The Father of American Short Story” (1783-1859)

Pseudonyms: Diedrich Knickerbocker, Jonathan Oldstyle, and Geoffrey Crayon

Educational Background

Irving was an avid reader as a boy. Some books he had read including "Robinson Crusoe" by
Daniel Defoe and "Sinbad the Sailor" from the Arabian Nights. He could formally attend
elementary school until age 16 and never attended college afterward. He showed his love for
the law, eventually leading him toward landing a career as a lawyer aside from being a writer.

Start of Writing Career

Washington Irving began to write at 19, just as young men built careers. He pursued his
passion by writing whimsical essays under Jonathan Oldstyle. His works were published in
his brother, Peter Irving’s newspaper, the Morning Chronicle, for a year (1802-1803).

Biography

Washington Irving was born on April 3, 1783, and died in New York City on
November 28, 1859. He was a favorite, the youngest of the 11 children of William Irving and
Sarah Sanders. He was best known for his short stories “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow” and
“Rip Van Winkle.” He was an icon for being one of the first to make a living solely through
his creative works as a writer. Although he never attended college, his love for reading
helped him land a career as a lawyer when he returned from his Europe tour (1804-1806),
passing the bar examination to enter the legal profession.

In the succeeding years, he collaborated with his brother William Irving and James K.
Paulding in writing 20 periodical essays named Salmagundi. In 1809, Washington published
“A History of New York” under another pseudonym, Diedrich Knickerbocker. Sadly, in the
same year, his beloved fiancé Matilda Hoffman died on the 29th of April at 17. He moved to
Washington D.C. in 1811, working as a lobbyist for their firm, seemingly leading a rather
aimless life for a few years. In 1815, Irving decided to live in Europe, specifically in
Liverpool, England. During the 17 years spent on the continent, he had gained
encouragement from the people he had become friends with. He put out many literary pieces,
including “The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon,” a collection of short stories published in
1819-1820 in seven parts. “The Sketch Book” marked his spot as a renowned writer and
earned him fame. This allowed Irving to dedicate his life to writing. Following his
unexpected success, in 1822, he published his most precious work’s sequel, “Bracebridge
Hall,” and continued traveling the rest of Europe. In early 1826, he accepted Alexander H.
Everett’s invitation to join the American Legation in Spain, where he wrote and published
several literary pieces, including the Spanish counterpart of “The Sketch Book” entitled “The
Alhambra” (1832).

After his long journey, Irving returned to New York and published more literary works,
including “The Adventures of Captain Bonneville” in 1837. He moved back to Tarrytown,
New York, in his estate, “Sunnyside.” Later on, he left the estate and served as Spain’s US
ambassador from 1842-1846 before returning to continue writing in his remaining years until
he died in 1859.

Published Works

 The Letters of Jonathan Oldstyle, Gent (1802)

 Salmagundi (1807-1808)
 Diedrich Knickerbocker’s History of New York (1809)
 The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent (1819)
 Bracebridge Hall (1822)
 Columbus (1828)
 A Chronicle Conquest of Granada (1829)
  The Companions of Columbus (1831)
 The Alhambra (1832)
 A Tour of the Prairies (1835)
 Astoria (1836)
 The Adventures of Captain Bonneville (1837)

The Legend of Sleepy Hollow: Brief Background

Genre: Gothic Fiction, Short Story

Published in: “The Sketch Book” by Washington Irving (1819-1820)

This story was filmed as Tim Burton’s 1999 adaptation, which has been closely based
on Irving’s original work. It was turned into a story of horror and fantasy from being a gothic
folk tale about the early history of the United States of America. In Irving’s original work, the
story takes place in 1790, only a few years after the Revolutionary War ended. Like every
nation that has experienced horrific battles – the folks in Tarry Town, New York, still
remember the war that took many lives in exchange for freedom. Ghost stories are familiar
tales passed through every folk when they recall such heartbreaking events. Although a new
constitution and government have surfaced, the nation still struggled to adjust to its identity
and accept such sentimental history. This story entails that the United States of America did
have an account before its glory. “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow” draws on this historical
context with a touch of horror and irony, which was said to be heavily influenced by Dutch
and German folktales.

Setting: The tale takes place in Tarry Town, New York, in a small village located a few
miles called Sleepy Hollow.

Characters

Washington Irving as Diedrich Knickerbocker’s “The Narrator”

The narrator claimed to have learned the tale from a storyteller while attending a business
meeting in New York. Irving often used this persona in his tales as the storyteller, which first
appears in one of his published works, “A History of New York,” under this pseudonym. This
remained true as Irving purposely used this name in his following stories because it made
them seem natural and based on this persona’s manuscripts. He describes the origin and
beautiful town of Sleepy Hollow.

Ichabod Crane

A schoolmaster from Connecticut visits Sleepy Hollow for a brief period to work with the
local youth. He alternates between staying at the houses of his numerous students for his
meals and lodging. Ichabod has an odd appearance and is tall and lanky. He loves to dance
and sing, and he also teaches singing. He thinks he is pretty good at both (Ironically
speaking). He is a greedy, shrewd, and clever man who calculates his moves when dealing
with students and hosts. He is also a gullible soul with a wild imagination, seemingly
believing the ghost stories he has heard from other people. In fact, despite his love for those
stories, he becomes terrified at the idea of encountering one.

Katrina Van Tassel

The only child of wealthy Dutch farmer Baltus Van Tassel, whom Brom Bones and Ichabod
Crane woo. Throughout the story, Katrina is not presented with a favorable impression; she
flirts and encourages her suitors to pursue her while refusing to pick just one. Despite this,
Katrina is undoubtedly independent by modern standards. She exercises a unique form of
authority thanks to her beauty and family wealth.

Abraham Van Brunt or “Brom Bones”

The hero of Sleepy Hollow is described as a person “which rang with feats of strength and
hardihood’, and is a good-looking man who loves pranking more than anything else. He is
Ichabod Crane’s love rival and a feared suitor of the flirty Katrina Van Tassel. Harmless as
his pranks may have been, being enraged by Ichabod’s valiant attempt to go up against him
made him decide to take advantage of the lanky schoolmaster’s fear of ghosts and goblins.

Baltus Van Tassel

The father of the beauty, Katrina Van Tassel. A man who is depicted to be contented,
wealthy, and comfortable. A father who adores his daughter has a loyal wife and a man who
does not brag about his riches.
Headless Horseman

The entity feared by the citizens, whose tale has been told in many different versions, is a
ghost of a Hessian soldier who got his head shot off by a cannonball during the Revolutionary
War. This ghost is told to be haunting the beautiful town, trying to seek his missing head.

Hans Van Ripper

A Dutch farmer lends his horse, Gunpowder, for Ichabod to use when he attends the “quilting
frolic” hosted by the Van Tassels.

Introduction of the story

The Legend of Sleepy Hollow is classic work of speculative fiction written by

Washington Irving. The literary work accentuates the concept of mysteriousness, difficulty
moving on from the past, and greed. The book also highlights the importance of not letting
superstition control one's decisions because it represses one's reasoning capacities. Irving was
inspired to write the short story while living in England. He was fascinated by the town’s
folks' supernatural stories, which gave him the idea to compose a report of a headless
horseman who chases and terrorizes helpless individuals. The description of the story's
environment and atmosphere illustrated gothic characteristics from the exposition to the
conclusion. More so, mysterious elements are predominantly displayed throughout Sleepy
Hollow's gloomy atmosphere. The short story follows a straightforward and descriptive
narrative. It also incorporates abstruse expressions, making the story more captivating and
bewildering.

The story is filled with considerable details. Accordingly, many meaningful

observations are worth mentioning. First are the autumnal features. The tale spotlights
pumpkins, apples hanging in opulent trees, and a cider press. It gives the readers the idea that
the story is associated with Halloween. Second, the writing style is lyrical, it is delightful to
read, and the tale is incredibly engaging. Third, the vocabulary used is young, and the
characteristics or traits of the characters are implied rather than articulated. Lastly, there are
many images involved in the story. The story also insinuates enchantment and gluttony.
Sleepy Hollow is described as a cursed place where nothing significant appears to transpire
except for spiritual visions, mysticism, curses, and things of that sort. On the other lens, an
extraordinary character, Ichabod Crane, is described to be gluttonous. He is portrayed in the
story as “a huge feeder" and has "the dilating powers of an anaconda. The Legend of Sleepy
Hollow is a commendable and thrilling literary work. The story is entertaining, stimulating,
and supernatural. Still, it teaches the reader about American literature's cultural and historical
background and the innovativeness of American authors such as Washington Irving.

Content Analysis of The Legend of Sleepy Hollow

The main principle argument of the author is emphasizing reality, imagination, and
the supernatural.  He concludes the story with an open interpretation, challenging the reader
to decide the story’s ending. The report also conveys a message about being married for love
and money. After how Ichabod Crane and Brom Van Brunt compete for the affection of
Katrina Van Tassel for different reasons, the story is unreliable since it is stated in the story
that the author heard the events from someone else. Its affairs were inconsistent, yet the
author is qualified to write stories. He ensures that the reader will be entertained and,
simultaneously, feel curious about how the story flows. In the narrative, written in 1819–
1820, Irving blends comedy and horror to subtly ridicule contemporary American norms
while also studying the storytelling process. It was relevant today in a way that we shouldn’t
always rely on the stories unless they are proven true. Credible sources should be considered.
Besides that, we shouldn’t take everything seriously. Even if the situation is difficult, we
should always look bright.

There is symbolism in the book that depicts how Washington Irving gave us lessons
in those hidden symbols. First, the books in which it shows us the high level or high status in
society since, at the time that he was writing the story, education was only for some. The
short story describes that the books were used to mend the broken windows, showing that
education in the sleepy hollow is insignificant. Second, the singing bird in the valley of
sleepy hollow also depicts how peaceful the place is, and it describes how beautiful the world
is. These symbols mentioned are just some of many signs that we can read in the story;
however, this gives us the hints that if you were able to read between the lines, you would
probably be able to see the true meaning and understand the things that you can see around
you.

Evaluation of the content

 Sleepy Hollow is one of the most famous short stories ever mentioned the early
American fiction. If we talk about its theme, the Legend of Sleepy Hollow is whimsical,
comedic, and convincing at the same time because of how relatable the characters can be in
the contemporary world. Legends purport to be accurate and unreal, making one nation or
country’s culture unique. For instance, the revolutionary war can be acquainted with what
had happened in the past century, which caused many deaths and made each landmark
haunted or a ghost town. As a reader of the story, I highly believe that the author’s purpose is
to entertain the audience, especially with Ichabod Crane, who is bewitched by the
supernatural realm. The author’s portrayal of Ichabod Crane made him look like a
laughingstock, yet saddening because of the humiliation he experienced. It may be humorous,
but it also implies that this happens in the 21st century. 

The main characters displayed different attitudes that were true to the world. I want to
say that the author favored the mighty Brom Bones, a bully, and narcissistic with the same
personality as Disney’s Gaston. However, this kind of scenery is realistic because the world
can be unjust to people, but at the same time, Ichabod Crane got his karma, too, because of
his greediness. You may pity Ichabod Crane, but at the back of your head, you may think he
deserved it. In our opinion, no one is pure in the story, which makes it interesting because it
often happens in the real sense. While reading, we observed that the author often describes
the character’s movement verbosely so that it almost becomes unreadable and unlikeable.
Yet, it gave a good analysis and symbolism (e.g., greediness is the root of all evil) in the real
world. We can see that there is bullying, rejection, racism, greediness, and injustice in the
short story, which dates back to the doings of the old century. These negative attributes were
prevalent because people were still close-minded to each person’s differences. Moreover, the
available data could have been more accurate because some parts were explained
sophisticatedly. Still, the entirety of it makes the whole reading process slow because of how
vast the description of the setting and per character is. Any reader might have tried to digest
all of the given reports to get to the gist of the story, but it takes much patience to do so. 

The arguments mentioned in the book are appropriately structured because the flow is
maintained and does not jump from one thought to another. The statements are clear and not
causing a red herring fallacy because it sticks to a point. Since the book is speculative fiction,
as a result of this purports that generalizations or speculations do not spoil it because it is
what makes the book entertaining. The goal is to entertain the audience by making ridiculous
assumptions (e.g., superstitions), which makes Ichabod gullible and a pin of shame by Brom
Bones and other characters. 

Washington Irving utilized enough evidence to make it look compelling to the

readers. From the descriptions of the setting and the characters, it is undeniable that you can
visualize what the author is trying to portray. For instance, the illustration of the Galloping
Hessian is too good to be true, and the scene at the Van Tassel's gathering, especially with
mouthful delicacies described. The other purpose of the author is to evoke our minds to
imagine what happened in the book. Its flaw is just the wordiness, but the intent is quite
intelligent to do so.

Irving's way of writing is one of a kind, and it leaves a mark to be recognizable from
generation to generation. The story has many interpretations calling out the “American
lifestyle” while being lyrical or jocular. We can tell that Washington Irving is being sarcastic
and ironic through his persona as the narrator, which makes it more entertaining. From the
descriptive explanation of the gullible Ichabod Crane; to Brom Bones, the bully, and Katrina
Van Tassel as a coquette, the author may want to show that the story is flexible because each
reader has their interpretation. Knowing that it also traces back to the author’s way of living
inspired by speculations, we can say that the storyline is dogmatic because of Ichabod’s
easily swayed character when he immediately believed the superstitions of the people he did
not act pragmatic, whereas Brom Bones defeated Ichabod by ceasing his intentions towards
his prize; Katarina Van Tassel through scaring him. We can also say that it is flexible and
entertaining as it reflects something that we can understand. The book is organized and
written correctly, and the parts are equally divided and developed. The description of each
character is well-versed, which makes the book relevant because it’s from a third-person
point of view. Reasoning-wise, we agree that the author did a remarkable job developing the
story. The book is well written, but verbosity took the spotlight, and some words are too
confusing to determine and fathom in a first read. I found the story more lyrical than creepy;
each character is described heavily while being unnecessary, which I find redundant and too
hard to grasp the whole gist or synopsis.

I prefer the Tim Burton adaptation since it gives justice to the famous specter
“Headless Horseman.” It does not apply to only reading it once, but it should be read more
than once to understand the story better. However, this is understandable because the author’s
way of writing evolves in its way. As we observed, the book is unintended for beginners to
intermediate readers. Still, it is for learners who are already advanced because of the book’s
reading complexity. The book would suit learners from teenagers to adults depending on their
level of command in English; however, if a summary is given, it would be easily understood.

Conclusion

The short story is auspicious and will feed your soul with its literary art. Moreover,
you must note that the short story differs from the typical gothic fiction you know since it has
much imagery. The words were very profound. According to the learner exceptional Books
for PreK-12, This story is suitable for young adults around grade 5- 12. Although, your
reading level must be at least at the level of grade 11 since this book needs better
understanding, and the readers are very imaginative at this age. According to an article from
Good Reads, The Legend of sleepy hollow is rated 3.71 out of 5 stars. Some comments or
reviews are that the book has a cumbersome description but is still a good Halloween classic;
some also gave words that the book provides both comical and creepy simultaneously. If our
group offers a rating for this book, we will give it four out of five; though we needed help
comprehending the words used, we could still get what the book’s message wanted us to
share. The plot is very well written, and we got what the author wanted us to see.

This short story is very enticing for readers who love gothic fiction, and aside from
that, the book also has a bit of mystery. This book is in the third person point of view since it
is narrated by DK or Diedrich Knickerbocker, who is the person who’s all-knowing in the
story. This short story also gives us a glimpse of life in the 1700-the 1800s since the Imagery
and the way the author narrates the story’s settings are very vivid, to the point that, as a
reader, we felt that we were also in that time. You can also feel the thrill and feelings of the
people in the story. Since Washington Irving uses old English, the words used are so
profound that I do not recommend this book for beginners. This book is very complex to read
if you are a beginner because there’s much vocabulary that is very complex to understand and
needs a proper understanding. However, if you are a beginner and want to learn new difficult
words, this is for you, but make sure you have your dictionary to comprehend the story's deep
vocabulary. Suppose you want to avoid reading but want to know the story of “The Legend
of Sleepy Hollow.” In that case, you can watch the movie adaptation by Tim Burton, which is
easier to comprehend since you are only watching and it is a screenplay. However, you must
note that there is a vast difference between the movie and the book since it is just an
adaptation, and there is a big difference in the plot.

References:
Baena, V. (2015, June 17). The Legend of Sleepy Hollow. Litcharts Retrieved March 4,
2023, from https://www.litcharts.com/lit/the-legend-of-sleepy-hollow/characters
Lombardi, E. (2020, January 30). Biography of Washington Irving, Father of the American
Short Story. ThoughtCo. Retrieved March 4, 2023, from
https://www.thoughtco.com/washington-irving-biography-735849
The Legend of Sleepy Hollow. (n.d.). Lerner Publishing Group.

https://lernerbooks.com/shop/show/14364

The Legend of Sleepy Hollow. (n.d.-b). Goodreads.

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/93261.The_Legend_of_Sleepy_Hollow