October 15, 2014
Analysis Essay
4th Hour
“The Legend of Sleepy Hollow” Theme Analysis Essay
Ichabod’s incredible imagination can be seen and found throughout the text of Sleepy
Hollow. Throughout this story, the author conveys his argument and messages in the form of many literary elements that supports his argument with the development of the text. The author uses elements such as irony, symbolism, and imagery to express his views. A theme that
Washington Irving conveys through his work in The Legend of Sleepy Hollow is how the power of imagination can create negative ramifications to one’s life. Ichabod’s development is a prime supporting example of Irving’s argument.
“A pleasing land of drowsy head it was,
Of dreams that wave before the half-shut eye;
And of gay castles in the clouds that pass, Forever flushing round a summer sky.”
CASTLE OF INDOLENCE.
This quote is from the Castle of Indolence. It utilizes the element of imagery to enforce
Irving’s argument over how the power of imagination can be. It is clear that imagination is a very powerful tool to escape from reality. The quote gives a description of a land where one is always halfway in a daydream. It is in Ichabod’s powerful imagination that he finds much of his happiness and excitement in life; indeed, he spends almost all of his time daydreaming, and this allows him to escape from the more awful aspects of his daily life. It becomes dangerous, however, when he fails to distinguish clearly between his imagination and reality, thus sacrificing his hopes because of his inability to act appropriately to achieve them. From this quote, you can
Megan Ma
October 15, 2014
Analysis Essay
4th Hour see why imagination can lead to cause negative effects to manifest upon your life with the author’s use of imagery.
Another literary element that Washington Irving uses to imply his argument is
symbolism. Ichabod’s stories are strong symbols in