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This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. The men's conversation at the party move from one type of stories to what kind of stories?

2. Where does the Horseman stop pursuits?

3. What does Ichabod Crane do for a living?

4. What is Ichabod's favorite thing to do?

5. Neighbors usually dismiss the antics and disturbances of whom?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why is Ichabod's one-room school compared to an eelpot?

2. Why is it important that the reader knows the action part of the tale takes place thirty years previous to the time of the telling of the story?

3. What is the significance of Ichabod leading others in psalms and proudly standing in church singing?

4. How does the telling of the ghost stories set up the mood for the story's climax?

5. Why does the narrator go into details about how Sleepy Hollow came to be so mythical?

6. Why does the narrator describe the day he happened upon Sleepy Hollow?

7. How do the descendants of Sleepy Hollow play into the story's atmosphere and mood?

8. Why does the narrator refer to Ichabod's desire to win Katrina's hand in marriage a "holy" quest?

9. When the speaker says, "authentic historians of those parts, who have been careful in collecting and collating the floating facts concerning this spectre...", whom are the authentic historians?

10. In what ways does Washington Irving lend credibility to his story?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

How does the reader utilize historic life and integrate it into the story? The reader learns about varied aspects of a Hudson River community during the turn of the nineteenth century. What information does the author convey to the reader about this time period?

Part 1) What are the aspects of a school and teachers?

Part 2) How are marriages arranged and conducted?

Part 3) How does church impact the community?

Essay Topic 2

In The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, the narrator describes Ichabod as a scarecrow. At the end of the story, a smashed pumpkin is found, but Ichabod has vanished. What is the significance of using the scarecrow and pumpkin for Ichabod? Why did the author want to convey about Ichabod's character?

Essay Topic 3

What is the significance of a birch tree growing near the school house cabin and why is it ironic? The narrator refers to Ichabod's use of discipline and his type of discipline often allowed the weak to escape but the strong were severely punished.

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