A Literary Halloween
A Headless Horseman, Ladies, Tigers, Lotteries, and other spooky short stories.
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If you recognize some of the references in this edition’s title, chances are you had an English or literature teacher who shared some of the greatest short stories that have spooked readers for generations. I fondly remember an ordinary high school day, walking into my English class—when, to my surprise, upon entering the classroom students were instructed to set aside backpacks, slide chairs out of the way, and settle on the floor underneath the large conference-style table. The lights remained off, but a flashlight came on. The room was quiet, but there were whispers amongst students wondering what was happening. Once everyone was settled safely and quietly under the table, our seasoned teacher held up her flashlight and began reading aloud one such spooky short story.
I will never forget this educational experience. I have loved short stories ever since.
Short stories are a delightful part of the literary repertoire. They often pack a punch and deliver thought provoking lessons in just a short set of pages, and as such, they often utilize dynamic writing techniques that help to leave an impression. Sometimes it is the shock of the content—The Lady of the Tiger, The Lottery, or how about Poe’s The Tell-Tale Heart. Other times, it is highly descriptive passages that help the reader to quickly call to mind the scene of the story.
Today, we are going to remain in the spirit of this spooky season by looking at some excerpts from the American classic short story, The Legend of Sleepy Hollow by Washington Irving (1783-1859). You may like to go explore the author’s story, or even the history of the short story form. However, today, we want to share a few excerpts to highlight the use of specific literary elements that make this gem of a story so memorable.
So – be sure to go and pick up your copy of this short story and enjoy the full version! Here are three elements that make The Legend of Sleepy Hollow a charming read and a true short story masterpiece.
As you enjoy the excerpts below, take note of the use of the following elements:
The Use of Descriptive Passages: Irving’s elaborate use of descriptive passages is quite delightful, quickly bringing each character and scene to life in the reader’s mind. In fact, these passages make up the bulk of the story. In contrast to a novel, where characters develop throughout the course of a much longer narrative, short stories must depict immediate, illustrative images. Here are a few favorite examples of this:
The Use of Humor: In the midst of these descriptive passages, Irving also infuses some truly humorous lines that keep the story lighthearted. As the reader, I find myself chuckling at some of these moments.
The Use of Pacing: Lastly, one of the most effective writing elements that Irving utilizes in this short story is his mastery of pacing. He uses lengthy passages to describe his characters as demonstrated above. Yet, when it’s time for the story’s action to move forward, he speeds up the pacing considerably. There are some hints woven throughout the descriptive passages that become important pieces of the faster-moving sections. Take, for example, the mention of Gunpowder below as Crane’s horse. The horse’s “lurking devil” within becomes important when Crane is frantically fleeing the headless horseman. You will have to read the story from start to finish to truly grasp Irving’s use of pacing. Suffice it to say, the primary action of the story occurs within the last few pages. However, the time he takes in the preceding passages to thoroughly evoke his characters and setting so vividly makes the final scene all the more engaging.
And now, to the story itself—perhaps this, or one of the other haunting stories noted above, will become a fall tradition as the leaves get crunchier, the days get darker, and the weather gets colder.
Enjoy!
Introducing the character of Ichabod Crane, we read:
“The cognomen of Crane was not inapplicable to his person. 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, so that it looked like a weather-cock, perched upon his spindle neck, to tell which way the wind blew.”
After describing Ichabod’s interest in ghost stories, tolerating the scariest ones the Dutch wives could conjure, we then read:
“All these, however, were mere terrors of the night, phantoms of the mind that walk in darkness; and though he had seen many specters in his time, and been more than once beset by Satan in divers shapes, in his lonely perambulations, yet daylight put an end to all these evils; and he would have passes a pleasant life of it, in despite of the devil and all his works, if his path had not been crossed by a being that causes more perplexity to mortal man than ghosts, goblins, and the whole race of witches put together and that was—a woman.”
Juxtaposing Crane’s “gallant” attempts to look his best for the lovely Katrina Van Tassel, we read this humorous counter image about his noble steed:
“The gallant Ichabod now spent at least an extra half hour at his toilet, brushing and furbishing up his best, and indeed only suit of rusty black, and arranging his locks by a bit of broken looking-glass, that hung up in the school-house. That he might make his appearance before his mistress in the true style of a cavalier, he borrowed a horse from the farmer with whom he was domiciliated, a choleric old Dutchman, of the name Hans Van Ripper, and, thus gallantly mounted, issued forth, like a knight-errant in quest of adventures. But it is meet I should, in the true spirit of romantic story, give some account of the looks and equipment of my hero and his steed. The animal he bestrode was a broken-down plough-horse, that had outlived almost every thing but his viciousness. He was gaunt and shagged, with a ewe neck and a head like a hammer; his rusty mane and tail were tangled and knotted with burs; one eye had lost its pupil, and was glaring and spectral; but the other had the gleam of a genuine devil in it. Still he must have had fire and mettle in his day, if we may judge from the name he bore of Gunpowder. He had, in fact, been a favorite steed of his master’s, the choleric Van Ripper, who was a furious rider, and had infused, very probably, some of his own spirit into the animal; for, old and broken-down as he looked, there was more of the lurking devil in him than in any young filly in the country.
Ichabod was a suitable figure for such a steed. He rode with short stirrups, which brought his knees nearly up to the pommel of the saddle; his sharp elbows stuck out like grasshoppers’; he carried his whip perpendicularly in his hand, like a scepter, and, as his horse jogged on, the motion of his arms was not unlike the flapping of a pair of wings… Such was the appearance of Ichabod and his steed, as they shambled out of the gate of Hans Van Ripper, and it was altogether such an apparition as is seldom to be met with in broad daylight.”
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