The Legend of Sleepy Hollow (Cyclopedia of Literary Places)
At a glance:
- Author: Washington Irving
- First Published: 1819
- Type of Work: Short fiction
- Type of Plot: Tall tale
- Time of Work: Eighteenth century
- Genres: Short fiction, Folklore
- Subjects: Teaching or teachers, New York, North America or North Americans, Northeast, U.S., United States or Americans, Class conflict, Love or romance, Superstition, Ghosts or apparitions, Poverty or poor people, Jealousy, envy, or resentment, Fear, Eighteenth century, Inheritance or succession, Legends, Folklore, Hallucinations or illusions, Bridges
- Locales: New York, Tarry Town, NY
Places Discussed
Sleepy Hollow. Small Dutch community in New York, near Tarry Town (now commonly known as Tarrytown) and the Hudson River. Sleepy Hollow has two main characteristics. The first is a sense of “listless repose” that settles over the land and the inhabitants. This drowsiness fosters the other characteristic, the enhanced imaginations and superstitions of its inhabitants. For example, its inhabitants speculate that an Indian chief’s powwows or a German doctor’s enchantments might be the causes of the strangeness in the area.
Residents of Sleepy Hollow...
[The entire page is 938 words long]
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