The Legend of Sleepy Hollow

Short Story: Group: 14

Luisa Herazo and Yarima Hoyos

Universidad del Atlántico

 The Legend of Sleepy Hollow

Vocab and Question Set #1

1. Where is Sleepy Hollow located, what is the physical geography and atmosphere of

Sleepy Hollow?

2. What year does the story take place and how is that different than the year it was

published?

3. The residents of Sleepy Hollow are descendants from what country?

4. What is the townspeople´s predominant viewpoint of the supernatural at the start of the

story?

5. What rumors exist about the history of Sleepy Hollow?

6. What is the most popular ghost story in Sleepy Hollow?

7. Who is the Headless Horseman?

8. Are the townspeople described by the narrator as ahead of the times or behind the times?

9. List as many details as possible about Ichabod Crane

10. What is Ichabod Crane´s main job, and what else does he do to make money?

11. What kind of relationship does Crane have with the community?

12. Where does Ichabod Crane live, and why does he need to be able to have all of his

belongings in a small bundle?

13. How does Ichabod help both farmers and their wives? What information does he provide

them?
 14. What subject does Ichabod like to read about, and what has increased his interest in this

subject?

15. What would happen to Ichabod when he would walk home at night after spending the

afternoon reading?

Answers:

1. Sleepy Hollow is located in a Valley, among high hills, two miles away from Tarry

town in the State of New York, close to the eastern shore of the Hudson River. There

is a forest, where a grove of tall walnut-trees shades one side of the valley and the

nature is peculiarly quiet. The Valley of sleepy Hollow is under a drowsy and

witching power sway. There are a lot of legends that state about being the area

haunting, specially this one of the Headless Horseman.

2. The story was published in 1820 by Irving Washington, but it takes place in 1790.

After some research, it can be said that both the story and publication happens after

the revolutionary war. In the decade of 1790, was the time when the United States of

America started to being an independent country, creating their own constitutions,

electoral system, politics, federal states etc. In contrast in 1820 was held the

presidential elections whose winner was James Monroe. It was a pacific era, better

known as the Era of good feelings, because among the society existed the desire of

unification among the Americans after a period of several civil wars.

3. The residents of Sleepy Hollow are descendent from the original Dutch settlers

(Netherlands)

4. At the beginning of the story the people was aware of the witching sway that was

above Sleepy Hollow, because there were a lot of rumors about it and people was

afraid of being there. Moreover, people of the village enjoy listening terrifying

stories. For instance, at the party offered by Van Tassel everybody was concentrating

and fascinating while they were listening to them.

5. People in town rumored that Sleepy Hollow is a bewitched place. The inhabitants of

the vicinity used to affirm different reasons why the glen is haunted. The following

fragment of the story illustrates the former statement: “Some say that the place was

bewitched by a high German doctor, during the early days of the settlement; others,

that an old Indian chief, the prophet or wizard of his tribe, held his powwows there

before the country was discovered by Master Hendrick Hudson. 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 beliefs; are subject to trances and visions; and

frequently see strange sights, and hear music and voices in the air”.

6. The most popular ghost story in the Sleepy Hollow is the one of the Headless

Horseman.
7. First of all, the character of the Headless Horseman, according to the legend is a

Hessian trooper whose head was carried away by a cannon ball. His haunt is always

riding a fast horse and he does not only ride in the valley, but also in the vicinity of

the church. It is important to remark that during the revolutionary time, the British

government hired about 30.000 German troops to help fight during the American

Revolution.

8. The narrator describes that the inhabitants of the town are behind the times. He

affirms that their manner and customs remain fixed despite the changes in the other

areas of the country due to the unceasing torrent of migrations and constant changes.

9. Ichabod Crane can be describe by the following adjectives and statements:

• Teacher in the school town

• Singing teacher
• He is an intelligent man.
• Sly
• Tall
• Skinny
• Thin
• Miser
• He loves food.
• He plans everything that he will carry out
• Fan of horror stories and witchcraft

10. The main job of Ichabod Crane was being the main teacher in the school of the

vicinity of Sleepy Hollow. He was a very authoritarian teacher and used to punish all

the students who did not fulfill their duties or behave properly during the classes.

Moreover, he was also the singing master, which was another way to earn some

money. During his classes he used to teach psalmody.

11. In general, it can be told that Crane had a good relationship with the community. Due

to his status of teacher, he was a welcomed guest in the community and was a good

husband prospectus for the ladies. Specially, with Mr. Van Tassel, he could gain the

family confidence, but that was not enough to marry Katrina. However, there was a

man named Brom Van Brunt, who was Katrina’s suitor. Therefore, the relationship

between them was complicated because it existed a competition for Katrina’s love.

12. Ichabod Crane does not have a real home. As he was a schoolmaster in the small town

of Sleepy Hollow, the contributions that he receives, a part of the poor salary he had,

were rooms and food from the parents of his students. The fact that he had all his

belongings in a small bungle reflect that he was not able to buy many things but the

ones he already had and as he moved out constantly, he never know where he was

going to sleep.

13. Ichabod helps the farmers and wives by teaching their children since the prices of

education at that time were high. Also, he was a great listener when it comes to horror

tales and the wives used to tell him a lot of this stories about ghost and goblins while

he help them with some chores. As well, he assisted the farmers in light labors of their

farm. He also tell them stories of witchcrafts and Connecticut.

14. He likes to read about witchcraft. He increased his interest in this subject with the

book “Cotton Mather’s History of New England Witchcraft” that he strongly

believed.
15. When he walk home after spending the afternoon reading, he used to let his

imagination goes with the sound of the trees, birds and owls. He got so frightened that

he imagined that a curse had been laid upon him.

The Legend of Sleepy Hollow

Vocab and Question Set #2

1. What are the two main things Katrina Von Tassel is known for?

2. What two things make it difficult for Ichabod to fulfill his goal of marrying Katrina?

3. What gives Ichabod an excuse to visit Katrina at her house?

4. How is Brom Bones (Brom Van Brunt) different from Ichabod?

5. What does Brom Bones do once he finds out Ichabod also has a crush on Katrina?

6. How does Irving use Ichabod’s and Brom’s horses as extensions and symbols of their

characters?
Answers:

1. She was known because she was the only daughter of a substantial Dutch farmer as

well as her strongly beauty.

2. She was so beautiful that she had a lot of admires who wanted to win her heart like

Brom Bones. Furthermore, she didn’t find Ichabod attractive.

3. As he was a singing teacher, he would go to Katrina’s house using the singing lessons

as an excuse.

4. Ichabod is described as a tall, bony boy who looks always ill. He is always frightened

and believes all the legends of the town. Brom Bones is the opposite. He is described

as the town hero and strong man. In the story, Ichabod is described as a feminist since

he helped the wives in their chores while Brom was the opposite, a chauvinist.

5. When he finds out he has a crush on Katrina, he always humiliate and fool Ichabod in

front of her as well as he messes with the school where Ichabod teaches

6. The horses were a clear representation of each of them. In the case of Ichabod, his

horse was always frighten and look alike to his physical appearance of ill. In contrast,

Broom’s horse was physical strong and egocentric.