The Legend of Sleepy Hollow Group

Question:

cujo
cujo
Student
College - Freshman

Why is "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" considered a legend?

The story by Washington Irving.

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Posted by cujo on Monday February 9, 2009 at 6:36 PM and tagged with ichabod, irving, legend, sleepy hollow, the legend of sleepy hollow.

Answers:

  1. parkerlee
    parkerlee Teacher

    eNotes Editor

    What a good question! I think Irving was making a parody when he called his short story this. (A parody is a kind of satire when a literary work mimics another one in form but is something quite else in sustance!)

    A legend is a story usually ethnically identifiable, and the protagonist is a hero type, often "bigger-than-life" (if not quite,though, of "epic" or mythical proportions). Gangly Icabod Crane is certainly not the movie star type and quite something less than a legendary hero. If anything, the story could rather be classified as a tall tale with tongue-in-cheek humour achieved through diminishment of both characterization (Icabod's) and events in the story line.

    Sources:
    http://www.enotes.com/legend-sleepy/

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    Posted by parkerlee on Tuesday February 10, 2009 at 10:45 AM