1. The Legend of Sleepy Hollow
by Washington Irving

2. What is a legend?
Stories from that past that are believed to be historical. Usually about a king, hero, famous person, event, or war. It is associated with a particular time in history.
Examples:
Examples: Sleepy Hollow, Robin Hood, King Arthur, Beowulf, New Jersey Devil

3. What is a myth?
Myths are sacred stories from the past that usually explain the origin of life, a culture’s morals, or human behavior
Usually about someone/something great and can involve supernatural powers
Examples:
Zeus, Greek and Roman Mythology

4. What is a folktale?
Folktales are stories that are pure fiction and have no particular location in time or space.
Usually folktales are about people or animals who act like people
Examples:
Fairy tales, Tall tales, Aesop’s Fables

5. What’s the difference?
A legend is based on a true, historical event and twisted through the years
A myth was never true but created to explain an historical event or occurrence
A folktale is not true and has no real link to history

6. Washington Irving ( )
Youngest of 11 children, named after president George Washington
Born in NYC, spent much of his youth and adulthood in Tarry Town, NY near the Catskill Mountains
Wrote under the pseudonym “Diedrich Knickerbocker for a time and this name became quite famous among New Yorkers
Became a mentor for aspiring authors like Edgar Allan Poe and friends with established authors like Charles Dickens
Popularized the vision that St. Nicholas soared over rooftops In a wagon at Christmas, the nickname “Gotham City” for NYC, and is credited with the name of New York’s basketball team, the Knicks

7. Irving (continued)
Died of a heart attack at age 76 in his home, Sunnyside
Some famous works: The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, Rip Van Winkle, and The History of New York

8. The Real Sleepy Hollow
Located in New York next to the Hudson River – 25 miles north of NYC.
Old Dutch Cemetery

9. The Famous Bridge
Although the bridge has been lost throughout time, (it would be where the Sleepy Hollow Cemetery is) there is a bridge within the cemetery’s walls similar to the bridge from the legend.

10. Who was Ichabod Crane?
Washington Irving took the name, not the character, from a man he knew during the war of 1812

11. Ichabod Crane’s Character
Irving spent several months in Kinderhook, a town further north along the Hudson river where he met the local school master, Jesse Merwin.
It is believed that the character of Ichabod is based on this man.

12. Who was Katrina VanTassel?
The character of Katrina is thought to have been based upon Eleanor Van Tassel Brush.
The name comes from Eleanor's aunt Catriena Ecker Van Texel.
Both people were from the town of Sleepy Hollow

13. What/Who is the Headless Horseman?
Thought to be an old Hessian (German) soldier from the Revolutionary War who had his head taken off by a cannon

14. What do YOU think is true from the story?