77
Sleepy Hollow Video Link: https://youtu.be/8aMZoMuEEqE
1.) Washington Irving’s’ heritage comes from Germany. The German Folklore’s inspired him to write this piece as well as other religious events happening during the 1820s. Find examples from the text that show these connections.
2) Washington Irving largely influenced Nathaniel Hawthorne; make connections from Hawthorne’s Young Goodman Brown and The legend of Sleepy Hollow. How big of an influence can you see that Irving had on Hawthorne?
3) Like Rip Van Winkle, Irving makes his main character an antihero to the audience, someone who the audience would not normally like. Do you view Ichabod Crane as an immoral person or do you see him as an average person with their flaws? Find examples from the text to state your case.
4) This short story is defined as folklore for the American culture. Most folklore is defined as having a moral or a lesson to learn. What do you think the moral of the story is, what lesson is to be learned from Ichabod’s mistakes?
5) There are three main theories as to the ending of the Legend of Sleepy Hollow. a.) The ghost was real and actually killed Ichabod b.) That Ichabod’s imagination and superstition of the ghost got the best of him and caused him to die. c.) That the Brom Van Brunt was jealous of Ichabod for trying to marry Katrina and killed him pretending to be the ghost so that he could marry her. Which one of these endings seems like the most likely to happen? State your answer from clues from the text.