What answer did Katrina give Ichabod at the party in "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow"?

In “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow,” by Washington Irving, the party at Van Tassel’s mansion serves as a turning point. Ichabod Crane is a schoolteacher in love with Katrina Van Tassel, the daughter of a wealthy farmer. Brom Bones is his rival for Katrina’s love and has been antagonizing him since he began to take an interest in Katrina.

The conversation between Ichabod and Katrina is not recounted in the story but the change in mood and tone of the story make it clear that Ichabod did not get what he hoped from the exchange. On his way to the party, Ichabod notices the abundant apples growing on the farmer’s trees, the field of buckwheat, and the singing of birds. At the party, he is struck by the vast array of cakes and other fine food. Ichabod dances and has a wonderful time, then joins a group of men who are telling scary stories they claim to be true about the town of Sleepy Hollow. The stories “sank deep” in Ichabod’s mind, and the mood in the story begins to change from jubilant to something darker.

As the party breaks up, Ichabod seeks out Katrina and they talk. The narrator does not recount their conversation but says, “something, however, I fear me, must have gone wrong” and describes Ichabod hurrying out of the house, roughly waking his horse and riding off into the night. Whatever Katrina said to him, it is clear that the dreamy, romantic feelings that filled his heart on the way to the party have been replaced with disappointment and dismay.

How does Ichabod prepare for the Van Tassels's party in "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow"?

In Irving's classic short story "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow," Ichabod Crane is excited to receive an invitation to a “quilting frolic” at the Van Tassel home, where he will have the opportunity to dance and impress the beautiful Katrina Van Tassel.

Ichabod Crane proceeds to hurry his students through their lessons and lets them out an hour before their usual time in order prepare for the evening festivities. Irving writes that Ichabod spent at least a half an hour longer at his toilet brushing his hair, cleaning his face, and furbishing his only suit. Ichabod looked at his reflection in a broken mirror during his procedures and tried his best to freshen up his rusty black suit.

In order to make his appearance cavalier and impressive, Ichabod borrows Hans Van Ripper's broken-down plough-horse named Gunpowder. When Ichabod climbs onto the horse, he resembles a grasshopper, with his pointing elbows sticking out and knees bent at sharp angles as he rides to the Van Tassel residence. Despite Ichabod’s preparations, he looks absolutely ridiculous when he arrives at the party.

In "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow," what does Ichabod do with his students after receiving the Van Tassel party invitation?

After Ichabod Crane receives the invitation to the Van Tassel party in Washington Irving's "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow," he gives his students one of the best gifts that a teacher can give--an early release! Crane obviously valued his chance to solidify a fantastic future over his teaching duties for the day. He had to spruce himself up as best as possible before the party, of course. "Books were flung aside without being put away on the shelves," Irving narrates, "inkstands were overturned, benches thrown down, and the whole school was turned loos an hour before the usual time." For such a rigid teacher, he never would have allowed his students to scatter off without any responsibility to the cleanliness of his schoolhouse; it was his realm of responsibility! But he must have figured that this was the pivitol moment for his opportunity with Katrina because after the party, he seemed to have given her a proposition which, by his rejected body language afterwards, she ultimately refused.

What happened when Ichabod entered Katrina's house in "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow?"

Upon Ichabod's approach to the estate to teacher Katrina music, he is more than delightfully surprised at what he sees. He is in awe of the richness of the land and can hardly contain himself as he approaches Katrina's door. He sees the land and its beauty, he eyes the animals and imagines the feasts they would bring. He even imagines the very dishes that would be made. The pigs would be roasted, the porkers would be bacon, the ducks would be side dishes, the geese would be gravy. As he makes his way up to the porch he realizes how much he wants this place to be his own and the only way to get it is to marry Katrina. As he enters the house his amazement is enriched even more when he sees all that the house has to offer. He admires the pewter pieces, the furniture, the parlor, even the ceilings.

"From the moment Ichabod laid his eyes upon these regions of delight, the peace of his mind was at an end . . ."

Ichabod was now consumed with how to win the heart of Katrina, the country coquette. He begins to realize how impossibly difficult it was going to be to win the heart of the lass which every man in the countryside wanted for his own. He even thinks how much easier it would be to win the heart of a princess by slaying a dragon. It is inside this house that Ichabod's life begins to drastically change.