American Literature / Unit 6 AML 0509 short lesson, about 20 seconds
"The Legend of Sleepy Hollow"
Captions available
The idea
Ichabod Crane, a lanky, superstitious Connecticut schoolmaster, courts the heiress Katrina Van Tassel and is driven from the valley by a headless horseman who is probably his rival Brom Bones with a pumpkin. The tale keeps both explanations open, and Irving's comedy lives in the gap.
In practice
A ghost, a rival, and a pumpkin.
Where people slip
The supernatural is offered and never confirmed.
Your place on the trail
Every lesson rests on earlier ones and opens later ones. Tap any to jump.
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