Setting in “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow”睡谷传奇的背景分析
睡谷的传说
睡谷的传说作者：来源：《阅读与作文（英语高中版）》2005年第11期The spooky Legend of Sleepy Hollow睡谷的传说Motto（箴言真谛）“so, on this Halloween ,be careful if you go out alone at night……Maybe you should stay at home with a good book.”所以，万圣节你独自外出时一定要小心……或许你应该呆在家里读本好书。
)Questions(边想边读)·When you were a kid, did you hear of any legnds?·Who is the hero of the story and where does he works?·Why do you think he disappears?Reading(阅读欣赏)The Legend1 of Sleepy Hollow is an old short story by WashingtonIrving. It is about a schoolteacher whose name is Ichabod Crane .He goes to teach at a small school in a quiet2 little town called Sleepy Hollow.《睡谷的传说》是华盛顿·欧文（Washington Irving ）的一篇古老的短篇故事。
这是一个关于老师的故事，老师的名字叫伊卡博德·克雷恩（Ichabod Crane）。
他在一个名为“睡谷”的宁静小镇上教书。
In the story，Ichabod is funny -looking and strange. He reads a lot about ghosts and wiches3bus is still scared of them. When he walks home alone at night, he feels scared. He thinks that they might be trying to get him .To keep himself from beingsecared , he sings songs.故事中，伊卡博德是一个长相滑稽、举止怪异的人。
washington irving's the legend of sleepy hollow
The Legend of Sleepy Hollow“The Legend of Sleepy Hollow” was based on a German folktale, but it was in Irving’s decision to give the story a uniquely American flavor through its characters and setting that made it into such a classic.SummaryThe story takes place in a small town near New York in the days shortly after the American Revolution. The townspeople are descendants of the early Dutch settlers. They often tell fireside tales of ghosts and evil spirits. The most frightening ghost story of this neighborhood is about a headless horseman on a powerful black charger, which at midnight rides forth from the church graveyard. The most superstitious soul throughout the valley is the country schoolmaster, Ichabod Crane. Ichabod is tall, slim, long-limbed, and a native Connecticut. He is a strange person, yet not lacking in conceit. As he was an outsider, he boarded with the farmers whose children he taught. He also loves to tell ghost stories, but he suffers a lot for this enjoyment. When he is out alone at night, he feels that every snow-covered bush stands a specter in his way. Any sound will make him frightened. As a schoolmaster in Sleepy Hollow, Ichabod secretly falls in love with a girl in his weekly singing class. She is Katrina, the only child of the richest farmer. He tries very hard to win the heart of Katrina to get his hands on her fortune! Of course, Ichabod has many rivals, and among them is Brom Bones. Brom is well known throughout the neighborhood for his strength and hardihood. He is a reckless horseman and always ready for a fight.Finally, after much effort, Ichabod's flattery and wit wins him an invitation to the barn party held by Katrina’s father. During the party, townspeople once again talk about the legend of the headless horseman. Brom Bones testifies that once, overtaken by the midnight horseman, he has raced with him to the church bridge, where the horseman vanished in a flash of fire. As the party winds down, Ichabod talks with Katrina. Nobody knows what they have talked about, but Ichabod leaves the party, broken-hearted and hurt. On his way home, suddenly, he hears snorting, hoof-like sounds. In great terror Ichabod dashes ahead, but the unknown follows close. Then the moonlight reveals that it is the headless horseman! More frightening still, his head rests on his saddle! Soon Ichabod reaches the church bridge, where in Brom Bones's tale the headless horseman vanished. Ichabod thinks he will be safe if he can cross the bridge. When Ichabod is on the bridge, he looks back, and sees the headless horseman is throwing his head at him. It crashes against Ichabod's head and he falls off his horse and the headless horseman moves on. The next morning the old horse is found, but no Ichabod! In the road by the church is found the trampled hat of Ichabod’s, and close beside it is a shattered pumpkin! The whole neighborhood is aroused. Brom Bones's story is called to mind. They conclude that Ichabod has been carried off by the headless horseman. Soon the school is removed to a less haunted section. Another teacher is assigned, and Ichabod becomes only a legend. Several years later, an old farmer returning from New York brings news that Ichabod is still alive; that fear of the headless horseman and his dismissal by the Katrina has caused him to leave; that in another part of the country he has studied law, and become a justice.Brom Bones marries Katrina shortly after his rival's disappearance. Every time when people talk about the story of Ichabod and the pumpkin, Brom will laugh heartily. This leads some people to suspect that he knows more about the matter than he chooses to tell others.Analysis of the themesIn this story, the Sleepy Hollow is described as “little nooks of still water which border a rapid stream.”Living in such a place, Brom Bones certainly represents the old, the traditional, or thelocal. Ichabod is from Connecticut, “a State which supplies the Nation with pioneer for the mind as well as for the forest, and sends froth yearly its legions of frontier woodsmen and country schoolmaster.” Therefore, Ichabod is a representative of the new or the foreign. Although Ichabod is not the self-made, wilderness hero, yet he is a typical Connecticut man in his longing for status and his focus on material possessions as a measure of worth. When Brom Bones drives Ichabod away from the Sleepy Hollow, it represents the victory of the old or the local over the new or the foreign.Some experts maintain that the conflict between Ichabod Crane and Brom Bones symbolically represents a nation trying to establish and to secure an identity at home and abroad. Ichabod is a bookworm and has the supposed bookworm traits such as frailty and cowardice. He symbolizes the old world. Brom is brute and rustic but not without his cleverness and mischief. He symbolizes the New World. Therefore, the struggle between the two main characters represents the struggle between the Old World and the New World, with the New World as the final winner.Some other experts think that Ichabod Crane represents imagination. Brom Bones, on the other hand, is the representative of reason and rational thinking. When Irving wrote the novel, America was still a new country. Hurrying to reach the highly set developmental goals, America needed no maturity process but thought of itself already as an adult nation. Irving disapproved of this idea, stating that America was "a grown-up child". He believed that by being in the middle, mixing reason and imagination, double success could be achieved. Describing imagination (Ichabod) and reason (Brom) as very unlike, he seems to agree with the prevailing thought that they are each other’s opposites. However, to show the possi bility and the benefits of mixing these two, Irving lets Ichabod and Brom fight for a woman. Brom succeeds to capture Katrina’s heart, leaving Ichabod out in the cold; yet, as the novel run towards the end, the reader realizes that Ichabod, as he gets a job as a justice, is the one succeeding in other areas of life. Thus, Irving comes through with his point. If choosing to stay on one foot or the other, only partial victory is won, but if taking a step into the middle, a complete victory can be attained.Still some other experts think that the theme of this story is that greed is a major threat to an American dream of rural abundance and simple contentedness. The community of Sleepy Hollow is described as a veritable paradise: simple, pleasant, drowsy, and untouched. The destroyer of this paradise is Ichabod Crane, with his insatiable appetite and his constant pursuit of means to feed this appetite. Crane’s eventual defeat by Brom Bones demonstrates the victory of the peaceful rural community over the greed of the potential exploiter.Sleepy Hollow, the setting of Irving’s story, is a small Dutch settlement near the Hudson River in New York. A "drowsy, dreamy influence" ("Legend" 651) hangs over the place, giving it its name. As an opening to the story and an introduction to the town, Irving uses a quote from James Thomson’s "Castle of Indolence," which describes the place as "[a] pleasing land of drowsy head … / Of dreams that wave before the half-shut eye" ("Legend" 650). This sleepy atmosphere is seen in the natural surroundings of the town. Irving’s narrator relates a childhood incident in which he went hunting, and when he shot his gun, the "roar" of his gun was"prolonged and reverberated by … angry echoes" as it interrupts the peaceful silence ("Legend" 651). Irving himself actually spent time hunting in the area as a boy, and it is from these excursions that he was able to create the "enchanted realm" of his stories (Warner 10). The inhabitants of this "sequestered glen" also show the spirit of tranquility of the place; they aredepicted as "walk[ing] in a continual reverie" ("Legend" 651). Indeed, Irving’s portrayal of the Dutch in his stories oftenis that of a "simple, empty-headed lot … leading an utterly static existence" (Bellman 2). They are hardworking farm folk, relaxed, slow-moving, slowthinking. The author sees them "as much a part of the landscape as the natural growth of the valley" (Rubin-Dorsky 9), growing peacefully in the solitude of their community. Irving’s narrator states that if he should ever wish to escape from the rest of the world and dream away the rest of his life, he knows of "[no] more promising [place] than this little valley" ("Legend" 651). Its peace and calm take on an almost mythic dimension in his descriptions. In other writings as well, Irving presents the same idyllic scene of the old Dutch community. In "Rip Van Winkle," for example, he speaks of the "magical hues and shapes" of the Kaatskill mountains and later calls them "fairy mountains" ("Rip" 638). Even when the seemingly supernatural or at least inexplicable happens in these places, neither the inhabitants nor the reader of the story is troubled by it (Rubin-Dorsky 10). Not only this, but Sleepy Hollow is seen additionally as a land of plenty. Katrina’s father, Baltus Van Tassel, representative of the area, is a "thriving, contented, liberal hearted farmer" ("Legend" 656). Rubin-Dorsky notes that he "does not seek to extend his domain" (9) because within his boundaries "every thing [is] snug, happy, and well conditioned" ("Legend" 656). Van Tassel simply enjoys nature’s abundance and does not ask from it more than he needs (Rubin-Dorsky 9). The trouble in paradise, so to speak, begins with Ichabod Crane. At first glance, he seems to be merely a sort of bumbling, gangling, mostly loveable fellow; but with deeper scrutiny one can detect the true nature of his character, and what effect this has on the community of Sleepy Hollow. In contrast to the contented, peaceful residents of Sleepy Hollow, Crane is not quite content with what he has at the moment. His heart becomes set on marrying Katrina Van Tassel, and for somewhat mixed motives. On one hand, he is struck by her beauty—indeed, she is "universally famed" for her loveliness ("Legend" 656). An opposing point, however, and arguably a stronger point, is his desire is for the inheritance of the exquisite Katrina—the land, the fields, the livestock, even the house ("Legend" 657). His greed is evidenced throughout the story in a variety of descriptions of Crane. From the beginning he is pictured as "the genius of famine descending upon the earth" ("Legend" 653). Irving uses this particular diction in his description of Crane’s physical characteristics to paint into the image a negative aspect of Crane’s character.Crane is a "huge feeder, and […has]the dilating powers of an Anaconda" ("Legend" 653). He is always thinking about food. In one humorous passage, his imagination of marrying Katrina and inheriting the Van Tassel estate transforms every animal he sees there into a meal. He pictures the pigs with apples in their mouths and pudding in their bellies, ducks in onion sauce, and a bevy of other dishes ("Legend" 657). It is as if he "yearns to swallow the world" (Martin 3). Food is not the only motivation of his greed. He looks at the lands owned by the Van Tassels and is filled with schemes of turning them into cash, by various means. One critic observes that "[g]iven the opportunity, he would neither husband the resources nor conserve the riches of Sleepy Hollow but exploit them by turning the self-sustaining farm of Van Tassel into a capitalistic enterprise" (Rubin-Dorsky 11). He imagines how he will be able to act once he gains ownership of the property, how he will be able to treat those who snub him as the schoolmaster without any property or money ("Legend" 663). In competition with Crane for Katrina’s attentions is Brom Bones (as he is popularly called). He is a boisterous and fun-loving young man, something of a prankster, and known fondly throughout Sleepy Hollow. Strong and somewhat arrogant, he is looked upon "with a mixture of awe, admiration, and good will" ("Legend" 659).He can also be seen from a different perspective as something of a village bully, a vandal (Bellman 1). Either way, he is representative of the local people and their traditions and attitudes. Push comes to shove in the competition between Katrina’s two suitors. Eventu ally, she and Ichabod have a falling out, and he leaves her house in disgrace. Bones seizes the opportunity to prank Crane, playing on Crane’s sensitivity to supernatural by acting out the role of the Headless Horseman, the most notorious of the local legends. Crane is so frightened, and it may be assumed that he was extremely embarrassed or upset by the issues with Katrina, that he leaves immediately, running away without any of his belongings. In this, one clearly sees the victory of the local over the foreign, of the traditional over the new and the evil. The value placed on tradition here is evident. Though Bones may not be the perfect hero of the story as some present him, being flawed himself in his bullying and pranks, he is nonetheless the representative of "the triumph of the pastoral community over the potential exploiter" (Rubin-Dorsky 10). It is later learned that Crane made his way to New York City, perhaps the best place for such an ambitious man (Rubin-Dorsky 10). His dream is not only to live in the peaceful bounty of the hollow but to "be lord of all this…unimaginable luxury" ("Legend" 663), but it is not to be. The nearly rapacious desire with which he longs for material possessions and comfort is incompatible with the self-sustaining, self-contained approach of the denizens of Sleepy Hollow. He is a destroyer of nature and has no place in that setting (Rubin-Dorsky 10). Irving’s story demonstrates the offensiveness of the greed in Crane’s nature to the American dream that is represented by Sleepy Hollow. The peace-loving, settled contentedness of the citizens there is what Irving sees as the ideal, and it is directly opposed by Crane’s attitude of greed, manifested most strongly in his gluttony and fortune-hunting.。
About_The_Legend_of_Sleepy_Hollow1
The Legend of Sleepy Hollow1.Setting: what is the location of this story? The atmosphere and the history of thisarea?The story is set 1790 in the Dutch settlement of Tarry Town, Post-Revolutionary War in New York State, in a secluded glen called Sleepy Hollow. Due to circulating many ghost stories, this place was terrible. Among the ghost stories, the most terrible was the story of the Headless Horseman who is supposedly the ghost of a Hessian trooper who had his head shot off by a stray cannonball during "some nameless battle" of the American Revolutionary War, and who "rides forth to the scene of battle in nightly quest of his head".2.Who is the protagonist of the story? Describe his physical features and themeaning of his name. Where did he come from? What was he doing there to makea living? Draw a picture of him after reading the original lines in the novel.The protagonist is Ichabod Crane. He was tall, but exceedingly lank, with narrow shoulders, long arms and legs, hands that dangled a mile out of his sleeves, feet that might have served for shovels, and his whole frame most loosely hung together. His head was small, and flat at top, with huge ears, large green glassy eyes, and a long snipe nose, perched upon his spindle neck. “Crane” means a tall bird with long thin legs and a long neck which was vivid to describe his physical features. In addition, “crane” also refers to a tall metal structure with a long horizontal part which is used for lifting and moving heavy objects which was contrasted with his position in the country. He came from Connecticut. And he was a teacher there to make a living.3.Describe the plot of the story.The story is set 1790 in the Dutch settlement of Tarry Town, in a secluded glen called Sleepy Hollow. It tells the story of Ichabod Crane, a sycophantic, lean, lanky, and extremely superstitious schoolmaster from Connecticut, who competes with Abraham "Brom Bones" Van Brunt, the town rowdy, for the hand of 18-year-old Katrina Van Tassel, the daughter and sole child of a wealthy farmer, Baltus Van Tassel. As Crane leaves a party he attended at the Van Tassel home on an autumn night, he is pursued by the Headless Horseman, who is supposedly the ghost of a Hessian trooper who had his head shot off by a stray cannonball during "some nameless battle" of the American Revolutionary War, and who "rides forth to the scene of battle in nightly quest of his head". Ichabod mysteriously disappears from town, leaving Katrina to marry Brom Bones, who was "to look exceedingly knowing whenever the story of Ichabod was related". Although the nature of the Headless Horseman is left open to interpretation, the story implies that the Horseman was really Brom Bones in disguise.4.Differences between the story and film.In the story, Ichabod Crane, the protagonist, was a sycophantic, lean, lanky, and extremely superstitious schoolmaster from Connecticut, who competes with Abraham "Brom Bones" Van Brunt for the hand of 18-year-old Katrina Van Tassel. Finally, he mysteriously disappears from town, leaving Katrina to marry Brom Bones, who was "to look exceedingly knowing whenever the story of Ichabod was related". However, in the film, Ichabod Crane, a police constable, sent from New York City to investigate a series of murders in the village Sleepy Hollow by a mysterious Headless Horseman. In the end, his job in Sleepy Hollow over, Crane, Katrina and Young Masbeth returned to New York, in time for the new century.。
睡谷的传说
《睡谷的传说》
Background
• The characteristics of Romanticism • Moral enthusiasm • Faith in value of individualism and intuitive perception
• One day Ichabod was invited to a big party at the Van Tassel’s home. After the party, he alone to ride to home, then meet the rseman picked up his head and threw it to Ichabod. It hit Ichabod’s face and knocked he off his horse.
• Katrina Van Tassel • She is the daughter of the Dutch farmer. Her image shows a negative image. She loves to show off. Superficially, she and Ichabod are in love with each other. In fact, she just dallies with Ichabod’s affections. Just as the narrators said,” This is a trick”. Katrina is not a simple girl, but a scheming girl.
• One of the students was Katrina Van Tassel. She was the only daughter of a rich Dutch farmer. Ichabod soon found he is interested in Katrina. But there was also another strong young man named Brom Bones loved Katrina.
helegendofsleeyhollow睡谷的传说PPT课件
PLOT
PLOT I
1790 Tarry Town Sleepy Hollow
Headless Horseman
PLOT II
Ichabod Crane: lean, lanky and extremely superstitious teacher Katrina Van Tassel: the only child of a wealthy farmer Brom Bones: loves Katrina
The Legend of Sleepy Hollow Washington Irving
the first American Man of Letters
“catered to British sensibilities” "of and for England, rather than his own
Romanticism
Signature
"Rip Van Winkle" (1819) "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" (1820)
The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent
George Washington Christopher Columbus
• Completed a five-volume biography of George Washington
Writing skill
• Imitative, but highly skillful • His writing with great humor • Avoid moralizing as much as possible • Vivid and true characters
TheLegendofSleepyHollow
Washington Irving and His Novel------The Legend of Sleepy Hollow Abstract:The Legend of Sleepy Hollow is one of Washington Irving’s representatives. Although the novel has been published nearly two centuries, it is still a popular novel. In his most acclaimed achievement, The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent(1819–1820), he created charming sketches, tales, and travel reminiscences. Widely read in its time, the book is remembered for the short story “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow.” In the novel，the author details the run-in of a Connecticut schoolmaster, Ichabod Crane, with a headless horseman—Irving wove elements of myth, legend, folklore, and drama into a narrative that achieved almost immediate classic status. Critics generally agree tha t “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow” provided a model for the modern short story and introduced imagery and archetypes that enriched national literature. While Irving's other historical writings are valued for their graceful prose style and historical interest, critics generally agree that “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow” is—along with “Rip Van Winkle”—his most lasting artistic achievement.Key words:Ichabod Crane;Brom Van Brunt; Imagery; Myth; Legend; Typical characters.IntroductionⅠ.The Author’s IntroductionWashington Irving (1783-04-03 – 1859-11-28) was an American author, essayist, biographer and historian of the early 19th century. He was born into a small merchant class family. In his childhood, Irving was not interested in the study but in the adventure stories and drama. He studied law but did not give up the writing. In the mid-1815, he left for England for his family business and remained in Europe in the next 17 years. In 1842, Irving was appointed as the minister to Span. And on the evening of November 28, 1859, Washington Irving died of the heart attack at the age of 76.Ⅱ. Brief Introduction of “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow”“The Legend of Sleepy Hollow” opens with a description of the Dutch New York community of Sleepy Hollow, located in a rural valley near the Hudson River. Irving introduces the tall, lanky schoolmaster Ichabod Crane as a figure of mild derision, a hard-nosed itinerant Yankee from Connecticut who takes himself too seriously and possesses an enormous appetite despite his slight build. Proud of his erudition, at least in comparison to the rustics he encounters in Sleepy Hollow, Crane is described as “an odd mixture of small shrew dness and simple credulity.” He quickly discovers Katrina Van Tassel, the lovely daughter of a well-to-do Dutch farmer, Baltus Van Tassel, and resolves to win her heart. His principal rival, Brom Van Brunt, nicknamed BromBones, is a burly outdoorsman, strong and somewhat arrogant but with a well-developed sense of humor. Realizing that he cannot best Bones in feats of physical prowess, Crane sets out to woo Katrina by making regular visits to the Van Tassel farmhouse as a singing-master. Over time the competition between Crane and Bones intensifies.At an autumn party at the Van Tassel home, Crane endeavors to impress Katrina with his singing and dancing. As he seems to gain the upper hand over Bones the conversation turns to local ghost tales—principally that of the Headless Horseman, an apparition of a decapitated Hessian soldier that haunts the area. Bones entertains the crowd by telling of his own adventure with the Horseman; later Crane recites extracts from the works of his favorite author, Cotton Mather. As the party winds down, Crane speaks with Katrina, but his advances are rebuked. Crestfallen, he departs on his horse. Shortly thereafter, while traveling through the darkness, Crane encounters the ghostly Hessian soldier who chases the schoolmaster until the frightened man is thrown from his steed. The following morning, the horse is found without its saddle or rider near the smashed remains of a pumpkin. Crane is never seen again in Sleepy Hollow, though a rumor spreads that he has become a lawyer and a judge in another town. The tale is retold of his harrowing confrontation with the Headless Horseman, which produces a spirited laugh from Brom Bones wheneverthe pumpkin is mentioned. Irving closes the tale with a postscript describing the original na rrator of the story, “one tall, dry-looking old gentleman” who draws some conclusions from the extravagant yarn, but finally claims, “I don't believe one-half of it myself.”Typical characters①Ichabod CraneIn the “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow”, Many critics maintain that Ichabod Crane represents the outcast artist-intellectual in American society; although he has been considered, conversely, as a caricature of the acquisitive, scheming Yankee Puritan, a type that Irving lampooned regularly in his early satirical writings. Other commentators have suggested that Crane represents a morally corrupt capitalist figure.② Brom Van BruntIn the novel, Brom Van Brunt is a rude, energetic man. However, he is also a kindhearted, self-reliant person. The critics said,”Brom represents ‘a pioneer of frontier settlers’.”Brom has a mixed temperament, indulging in merry-making. His shoulders are big and his back was wide. He is a hero to all young ladies. He frightens Ichabod away with a scheme. The victory of Brom shows the failure of Ichabod.③ Katrina Van TasselKatrina who is the daughter of the Dutch farmer is on behalf of the women in the Sleeping valley. Her image shows a negative image. She loves to show off. Superficially, she and Ichabod are in love with each other. In fact, she just dallies with Ichabod’s affections. Just as the narrators said, “This is a trick”. Katrina is not a simple girl, but a scheming girl.StyleIrving’s style can only be described as beautiful. It is imitative, it is true, but he was a highly skillful writer. Never shocking and a bit sentimental at times, his manner seems more important than his matter. The gentility, urbanity, and pleasantness of the man all seem to have found adequate expression in his style. The adage, “The style is the man,” applies to no one else so well. Responsive to sensuous experience, Irving is in fact recording his impression in his writings. The reader sees, hears, smells, tastes and touches while reading him, and enjoys the lucid style probably as much as the stories. There are quite a few striking features which characterize Irving’s writings. First, Irving avoids moralizing as much as possible, he writes to amuse and entertain, which departs to no small extent from the basic principles of his Puritan forebears. Then he is good at enveloping his stories in an atmosphere, the richness of which is often more than compensation for the slimnessof plot. His characters are vivid and true so that they tend to linger in the mind of the reader. The humor which has built itself into the very texture of his writings is much that reading him, it is difficult not to smile and occasionally even chuckle. And the finished and musical language (indeed, some people read Irving just for the music of his language and patent workmanship) have been among the point of critical attention for a long time. There is a good deal of craft and skill in the man.Washington Irving‘s ContributionsWashington Irving makes great contribution to American literature. Firstly, he is the first American writer to gain international fame because of his imaginative literature. At that time many Americans think that the rising of Irving in the international literature world marks the independence of the American literature. It is not exaggerated to say that Irving is the father of American literature. Secondly, he starts the genre of short story in American with the publishing of” The Sketch Book”. The later short story writers like Hawthorne and Poe definitely gain some merits from him. Many of the subjects in his stories are very romantic, such as supernatural, the gothic style and the beautiful old days. ConclusionThematic analyses of “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow” generally focus on the character of Ichabod Crane and the satirical implications of his rivalry with Brom Bones. “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow” includes the integration of folklore, myth, and fable into narrative fiction; setting and landscape as a reflection of theme and mood; and the expression of the supernatural and use of Gothic elements. Additionally, the work is seen as a regional contrast between Yankee Connecticut and Dutch New York, the latter personified in the figure of the backwoodsman Brom Bones. The tension between imagination and creativity versus materialism and productivity in nineteenth-century America is considered a significant theme in the story. References:[1].Hoffman, Daniel. Prefigurations: "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" 1993.[2]. Roth Martin Comedy and America: The Lost World of Washington Irving 1976.[3].Piacentino "Sleepy Hollow" Comes South: Washington Irving's Influence on Old Southwestern Humor 1997.。
沉睡谷的传奇 英文读后感
沉睡谷的传奇英文读后感"The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" A Reflection"The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" by Washington Irving is a classic American short story that has captured the imaginations of readers for generations. Set in a small village known as Sleepy Hollow, the story follows the adventures of Ichabod Crane, a superstitious and somewhat comical schoolteacher, and his encounters with the mysterious Headless Horseman.One of the most striking aspects of the story is Irving's skillful blending of humor and horror. The character of Ichabod Crane, with his exaggerated reactions to the local legends and his comical mishaps, provides comic relief throughout the narrative. At the same time, Irving creates a palpable sense of tension and dread with the descriptions of the ghostly Headless Horseman and the eerie atmosphere of Sleepy Hollow.Another key theme in the story is the contrast between rationality and superstition. Ichabod Crane, with his skepticism and reliance on logic, represents the rational mindset of the Enlightenment era. In contrast, the villagers of Sleepy Hollow are steeped in superstition and folklore, believing in the supernatural forces that supposedly haunt their town. This clash of worldviews adds depth to the narrative and raises thoughtprovoking questions about the nature of belief and fear.Ultimately, "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" is a timeless tale that continues to resonate with readers today. Through its vivid characters, vibrant setting, and masterful storytelling, Irving crafts a narrative that is both entertaining and thoughtprovoking. Whether read as a chilling ghost story or a sly commentary on human nature, this classic tale remains a compelling and enduring work of American literature.。
爱伦·坡恐怖小说创作动机新探
爱伦·坡恐怖小说创作动机新探[摘要] 美国作家埃德加·爱伦·坡以其恐怖小说闻名于世，并对后世文学创作产生了广泛而深远的影响。
探究其创作的时代背景及其作品显著的风格手法和思想主题，爱伦·坡恐怖小说的创作动机可以归纳为三个方面，一是他的恐怖小说创作受到了欧美哥特文学传统的影响，二是受到了其自身创作理念的支配，而最为重要的，爱伦·坡是以恐怖小说这一文学形式来彰显人性的危机。
[关键词] 埃德加·爱伦·坡；恐怖小说；创作动机[中图分类号] I712.074 [文献标识码] A [文章编号] 1671—6639（2012）02—0046—05 美国19世纪杰出的诗人、短篇小说家和文学评论家埃德加·爱伦·坡（Edgar Allan Poe，1809—1849），在其短暂的一生中创作了55首诗歌，66篇短篇小说和1部长篇小说[1]，并发表了大量的文学评论，被冠以“科幻小说的先驱”、“推理侦探小说的鼻祖”[2]，及“现代心理小说的开拓者”[3]等众多美誉。
《英国百科全书》第15版第10卷中称爱伦·坡是“美国哥特式小说和整个侦探小说的创造者，他把神秘和恐怖的文学发展到了一种前所未有的程度”[4]。
的确，爱伦·坡以恐怖小说的创作著称，给世人留下了诸多经典篇章。
关于爱伦·坡热衷于恐怖小说创作的原因和动机，学术界历来众说纷纭，见仁见智。
综合而论，评论者除了论及爱伦·坡自我创作理论的影响之外，大多过分强调了他的身世和当时社会的阅读市场等客观因素的作用。
事实上，深入探究他所处的时代文化背景及其作品显著的风格手法和思想主题，爱伦·坡一生致力于恐怖小说创作的真正原因在于三个方面，即他的恐怖小说创作一是受到了当时的欧美哥特文学传统的影响，二是受到了自身创作理念的支配，而最为重要的，爱伦·坡是以恐怖小说这一独特形式来彰显人性的危机。
The Lengend of Sleepy Hollow
"The Legend of Sleepy Hollow"Washington IrvingThe valley known as Sleepy Hollow hides from the world in the high hills of New York state. There are many stories told about the quiet valley. But the story that people believe most is about a man who rides a horse at night. The story says the man died many years ago during the American revolutionary war. His head was shot off. Every night he rises from his burial place, jumps on his horse and rides through the valley looking for his lost head.Near Sleepy Hollow is a village called Tarry Town. It was settled many years ago by people from Holland. The village had a small school. And one teacher, named Ichabod Crane. Ichabod Crane was a good name for him, because he looked like a tall bird, a crane. He was tall and thin like a crane. His shoulders were small, joined two long arms. His head was small, too, and flat on top. He had big ears, large glassy green eyes and a long nose.Ichabod did not make much money as a teacher. And although he was tall and thin, he ate like a fat man. To help himpay for his food he earned extra money teaching young people to sing. Every Sunday after church Ichabod taught singing.Among the ladies Ichabod taught was one Katrina Van Tassel. She was the only daughter of a rich Dutch farmer. She was a girl in bloom…much like a round red, rosy apple. Ichabod had a soft and foolish heart for the ladies, and soon found himself interested in Miss Van Tassel.Ichabod's eyes opened wide when he saw the riches of Katrina's farm: the miles of apple trees and wheat fields, and hundreds of fat farm animals. He saw himself as master of the Van Tassel farm with Katrina as his wife.But there were many problems blocking the road to Katrina's heart. One was a strong young man named Brom Van Brunt. Brom was a hero to all the young ladies. His shoulders were big. His back was wide. And his hair was short and curly. He always won the horse races in Tarry Town and earned many prizes. Brom was never seen without a horse.Sometimes late at night Brom and his friends would rush through town shouting loudly from the backs of their horses.Tired old ladies would awaken from their sleep and say: "Why, there goes Brom Van Brunt leading his wild group again!"Such was the enemy Ichabod had to defeat for Katrina's heart.Stronger and wiser men would not have tried. But Ichabod had a plan. He could not fight his enemy in the open. So he did it silently and secretly. He made many visits to Katrina's farm and made her think he was helping her to sing better.Time passed, and the town people thought Ichabod was winning. Brom's horse was never seen at Katrina's house on Sunday nights anymore.One day in autumn Ichabod was asked to come to a big party at the Van Tassel home. He dressed in his best clothes. A farmer loaned him an old horse for the long trip to the party.The house was filled with farmers and their wives,red-faced daughters and clean, washed sons. The tables were filled with different things to eat. Wine filled many glasses.Brom Van Brunt rode to the party on his fastest horse called Daredevil. All the young ladies smiled happily when theysaw him. Soon music filled the rooms and everyone began to dance and sing.Ichabod was happy dancing with Katrina as Brom looked at them with a jealous heart. The night passed. The music stopped, and the young people sat together to tell stories about the revolutionary war.Soon stories about Sleepy Hollow were told. The most feared story was about the rider looking for his lost head. One farmer told how he raced the headless man on a horse. The farmer ran his horse faster and faster. The horseman followed over bush and stone until they came to the end of the valley. There the headless horseman suddenly stopped. Gone were his clothes and his skin. All that was left was a man with white bones shining in the moonlight.The stories ended and time came to leave the party. Ichabod seemed very happy until he said goodnight to Katrina. Was she ending their romance? He left feeling very sad. Had Katrina been seeing Ichabod just to make Brom Van Brunt jealous so he would marry her?Well, Ichabod began his long ride home on the hills that surround Tarry Town. He had never felt so lonely in his life. He began to whistle as he came close to the tree where a man had been killed years ago by rebels.He thought he saw something white move in the tree. But no, it was only the moonlight shining and moving on the tree. Then he heard a noise. His body shook. He kicked his horse faster. The old horse tried to run, but almost fell in the river, instead. Ichabod hit the horse again. The horse ran fast and then suddenly stopped, almost throwing Ichabod forward to the ground.There, in the dark woods on the side of the river where the bushes grow low, stood an ugly thing. Big and black. It did not move, but seemed ready to jump like a giant monster.Ichabod's hair stood straight up. It was too late to run, and in his fear, he did the only thing he could. His shaking voice broke the silent valley."Who are you?" The thing did not answer. Ichabod asked again. Still no answer. Ichabod's old horse began to move forward. The black thing began to move along the side ofIchabod's horse in the dark. Ichabod made his horse run faster. The black thing moved with them. Side by side they moved, slowly at first. And not a word was said.Ichabod felt his heart sink. Up a hill they moved above the shadow of the trees. For a moment the moon shown down and to Ichabod's horror he saw it was a horse. And it had a rider. But the rider's head was not on his body. It was in front of the rider, resting on the horse.Ichabod kicked and hit his old horse with all his power. Away they rushed through bushes and trees across the valley of Sleepy Hollow. Up ahead was the old church bridge where the headless horseman stops and returns to his burial place."If only I can get there first, I am safe," thought Ichabod. He kicked his horse again. The horse jumped on to the bridge and raced over it like the sound of thunder. Ichabod looked back to see if the headless man had stopped. He saw the man pick up his head and throw it with a powerful force. The head hit Ichabod in the face and knocked him off his horse to the dirt below.They found Ichabod's horse the next day peacefully eating grass. They could not find Ichabod.They walked all across the valley. They saw the foot marks of Ichabod's horse as it had raced through the valley. They even found Ichabod's old hat in the dust near the bridge. But they did not find Ichabod. The only other thing they found was lying near Ichabod's hat.It was the broken pieces of a round orange pumpkin.The town people talked about Ichabod for many weeks. They remembered the frightening stories of the valley. And finally they came to believe that the headless horseman had carried Ichabod away.Much later an old farmer returned from a visit to New York City. He said he was sure he saw Ichabod there. He thought Ichabod silently left Sleepy Hollow because he had lost Katrina.As for Katrina, her mother and father gave her a big wedding when she married Brom Van Brunt. Many people who went to the wedding saw that Brom smiled whenever Ichabod's name was spoken. And they wondered why he laughed out loudwhen anyone talked about the broken orange pumpkin found lying near Ichabod's old dusty hat.。
The Legend of Sleepy Hollow 《睡谷传说》
THE PROTAGONIST’S PHYSICAL FEATURES:
CHARACTER PROFILE
HIS HEAD WAS SMALL
AND FLAT AT TOP
WITH HUGE EARS
LARGE GREEN GLASSY EYES
AND A LONG SNIP NOSE
SO THAT IT LOOKED LIKE A WEATHERCOCK PERCHED UPON HIS SPINDLE NECK TO TELL WHICH WAY THE WIND BLEW
03 The Headless Horseman
CHARACTER PROFILE
1. 2.
3.
ICHABOD CRANE
The protagonist’s of this story is Ichabod Crane.
THE MEANING OF HIS NAME:
Crane: A large bird with long legs and a long neck; In Chinese, it means
The only daughter of a rich farmer, the one Ichabod loves.
A strong young man, a hero to all the young ladies. Finally, he married Katrina.
CHARACTER PROFILE
WRITING STYLE
The dominant spirit, however, that haunts this enchanted region, and seems to be commander-in-chief of all the powers of the air, is the apparition of a figure on horseback, without a head. It is said by some to be the ghost of a Hessian trooper, whose head had been carried away by a cannon-ball, in some nameless battle during the Revolutionary War, and who is ever and anon seen by the country folk hurrying along in the gloom of night, as if on the wings of the wind. His haunts are not confined to the valley, but extend at times to the adjacent roads, and especially to the vicinity of a church at no great distance. Indeed, certain of the most authentic historians of those parts, who have been careful in collecting and collating the floating facts concerning this specter, allege that the body of the trooper having been buried in the churchyard, the ghost rides forth to the scene of battle in nightly quest of his head, and that the rushing speed with which he sometimes passes along the Hollow, like a midnight blast, is owing to his being belated, and in a hurry to get back to the churchyard before daybreak.