The End

 I have told you about the author of The Legend of Sleepy Hollow and how Washington Irving got his start. I have told you the background on the Legend. I have told you and given examples to you of how this famous headless horseman is still being used in today's Halloween world. Finally I have told you the real Legend of Sleepy Hollow, now it is your turn to make your decision on if there really is a headless horseman or if it was just good ol' Brom Bones playing tricks.

Legacy

 So the Legacy lives on. In today's society authors have retold the legend of the headless horseman. In 1949 Disney made a movie out of the sleepy hollow legend. To this day in 2011 around Halloween time you see candy wrappers, house decor, dog costumes, and Halloween cards have a picture or shadow figure of the headless horseman. Who ever knew that some short story in 1700 would still have as much in pack on our holiday today.

Images provided by: Google Images

The Real Legend

 Our story takes place in the little village of Sleepy Hollow, New York, back in the olden days. Ichabod Crane was from Connecticut and was now the new schoolmaster of the town. He had taken a liking towards one of the farmers 18 year old daughters' named Katrina Van Tassel and tried to start courting her. Ichabod  was not the only one trying to catch Katrina's eye.  Brom Bones was the villages romeo and he had his mind on Katrina as well. One night the Van Tassel family was throwing a party that the village was invited to. Ichabod had there shared his feelings with Katrina and she turned him down, he left in rush. On his way home he took the short cut, there he met a shadowy rider, Ichabod thought he looked headless. Terrified, Ichabod finally makes it to the bridge where the horseman is said to disappear, but instead the headless horseman throws his "head" at Ichabod, and it is Ichabod who vanishes, ridding off from the village for good. One reason the reader would think it was Brom Bones playing a trick on Ichabod would be because Brom was a prankster and another reason was because the laugh the horseman made resembled the laugh Bones makes. This is the Real Legend of Sleepy Hollow.

Washington Irving. "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow." American History Through Literature. Web. 12/5/11. http://www.gradesaver.com

Background

 The legend of Sleepy Hollow was just one of the stories written by Washington Irving (1783–1859) in  The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent. (1819–1820). The Sketch book of Geoffery Crayon is a  collection of tales, essays, and sketches that would soon to be the first internationally successful work by an American author. Irving Washington was the son of a successful hardware merchant, born on 3 April 1783 in New York. He was the eleventh child born to emigrants Sarah Sanders and William Irving. Irving had dabbled in writing before, most notably producing the satirical A History of New York by Diedrich Knickerbocker (1809). A few years later while in England,  Irving had an unsuccessful business venture with his brothers that caused him to turn to his pen in hopes of providing some income. Irving's short stories, first printed in America under his pseudonym Geoffrey Crayon. They contain two of Irvings' most famous tales: "Rip van Winkle" and "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow".  They were a hit in America and in England where Irving got to meet writers, actors, Kings and Queens because he too was now famous.

C. D. Merriman. " Washington Irving." The Literature Network.Web. 12/5/11. http://www.online-literature.com/irving.

Washington Irving. "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow." American History Through Literature. Web. 12/5/11. http://www.gradesaver.com/.

Proposal

 The legend of Sleepy Hollow is an old one. I enjoy reading about timeless folktales that happened in the early days and deciding if I believe them or not using today's technology. With this Legend of Sleepy Hollow I am interested in researching all the details that prove this old folktale really is just a story some Dutch people made up about a random unmarked grave. I wanted to know more about this story because of how old it is and how it still seems to have a roll around Halloween time. You always see pictures and hear references towards the sleepy hollow legend, but does anyone know the real legend?

photo curtisy of www.visitsleepyhollow.com