Criticism

May, Charles E. “Metaphoric Motivation in Short Fiction: ‘In the Beginning Was the Story.’” In Short Story Theory at a Crossroads, edited by Susan Lohafer and Jo Ellyn Clarey, pp. 62-73. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1989.

Examines “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow” as part of an assessment of the early development of the short story in American literature.

Piacentino, Ed. “‘Sleepy Hollow’ Comes South: Washington Irving's Influence on Old Southwestern Humor.” The Southern Literary Journal XXX, No. 1 (Fall 1997): 27-42.

Considers the impact of “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow” on subsequent works of nineteenth-century southern frontier humor.

Pryse, Marjorie. “Origins of American Literary Regionalism: Gender in Irving, Stowe, and Longstreet.” In Breaking Boundaries: New Perspectives on Women's Regional Writing, edited by Sherrie A. Inness and Diana Royer, pp. 17-37. Iowa City: University of Iowa Press, 1997.

Considers Irving's construction of the American storyteller and American literary hero as male in “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow” within a discussion of women regionalist writers.

Stone, Edward. “William Faulkner.” In A Certain Morbidness: A View of American Literature, pp. 85-120. Carbondale: Southern Illinois University Press, 1969.

Traces the influence of “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow” on William Faulkner's fiction, particularly The Hamlet.

Additional coverage of Irving's life and career is contained in the following sources published by the Gale Group: Concise Dictionary of American Literary Biography, 1640–1865; Dictionary of Literary Biography, Vols. 3, 11, 30, 59, 73, 74, 186; DISCovering Authors; DISCovering Authors: British; DISCovering Authors: Canadian; DISCovering Authors: Most-Studied Authors Module; Nineteenth-Century Literature Criticism, Vols. 2, 19; Short Story Criticism, Vol. 2; and Yesterday's Authors of Books for Children, Vol. 2.