"The Legend of Sleep Hollow"

Paper Summary:

This paper discusses how Washington Irving's "The Legend of Sleep Hollow" appears to subscribe to the aspect of the supernatural not only in its plot, but in the setting and characters, as well. It also looks at how superstition, a belief in something that results from ignorance of its true meaning, and is usually associated with the magical, or out-of-the-ordinary, is also employed in the "Sleepy Hollow" text. In addition, the paper looks at how critic Wilton Eckley uses his formalist theory to develop the supernatural theme in Irving's "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" to entertain readers and how critic Samuel Bellman projects an unconvincing analysis of bad humor in his use of reader-response.

From the Paper:

"One may ask why Irving chooses the supernatural theme to utilize in the first place. Well, according to Eckley, Irving's choice was precipitated by the people's lifestyles in the United States in the beginning of the 18th century, amidst changing economic and social times. Most of them were uprooted from some quieter, rural lifestyle, into an industrialized and noisy metropolis, so they did not share a connection with a "past." Also, during Irving's era, society was concentrating on new ideals in newly found lifestyles. The old was definitely out, and people had to be entertained in fresh, different ways in the literary sense. The tension that Irving feels in the 18th century in trying to discover a new literary topic, while battling the changes of the newly formed cultural influence, led him to utilize the supernatural and discover a very interested audience (Eckley). "

Sample of Sources Used:

• Bellman, Samuel. "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow." Reference Guide to American Literature, 3rd ed. Editor Jim Kamp. St. James Press, 1994. John B. Coleman Library, Prairie View. TX. 15 Oct. 2008 http://galenet.com/serlet/LitRC?>
• Eckley, Wilton. "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow." Reference Guide to Short Fiction, 1st ed. Editor Noelle Watson. St. James Press, 1994. John B. Coleman Library, Prairie View, TX. 15 Oct. 2008 <http://www.galenet.com/servlet/LitRC?>
• Irving, Washington. "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow." The Norton Anthology of American Literature. Ed. Nina Baym. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 2007. 965-985.

More papers on "The Legend of Sleep Hollow":

• Book Review # 102632 : "Washington Irving's "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow"
• Book Review # 132703 : "Case Study of "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow"
• Analytical Essay # 29059 : "Folktale and "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow"

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