Thursday, April 1, 2010
Sleepy Hollow
Just finished reading Irving's "Sleepy Hollow" and thoroughly enjoyed it all. What a great piece to use to help students to visualize during reading. He uses beautiful language and descriptions. However, I must question, in the building of the character of Ichabod and his superstitious nature, was Irving poking fun at Cotton Mather and his book on witchcraft. I can't wait to read this aloud to my students so they have exposure to the whole story with its remarkable portrayal of the time and language, and not just the Disney version I am sure they all know.
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I too loved the descriptive nature of the story. I thought it would be fun to use the end part of the story where Crane is being chased as a lesson on adjectives or exact verbs. Since I teach fifth grade I would talk about the story first, then watch that part of the video, and then read Irving's writing. As a class we could then discuss words than Irving had used to make it such a interesting, descriptive piece of writing.
ReplyDeleteI love the idea of using this piece with a lesson on descriptive language, adjectives, etc. It has been years since I read the original version of this story, and I really enjoyed it. Parts of it made me laugh, especially the bits on women and their coquettishness.
ReplyDeleteI have only used a READ magazine version of the story with my 8th graders before now, and I show the Jeff Goldblum version of the movie - a little hokey in parts but it gives a fun version to the story. I had forgotten as well how descriptive the language in the story is. I am excited to go to Sleepy Hollow and show my students pictures of where Icabod 'lived'. All of the readings and the upcoming visit will certainly give me a new perspective to this lesson. If only my students could write as eloquently.... :)
ReplyDeleteI didn't think about reading this section out loud to the students, but it would be a good idea to do. I am very excited to go to Sleepy Hollow, show students pictures as well, and read them this paragraph.
ReplyDeleteI loved the descriptive style of Irving's narrative writing. It's almost as though he's poking fun at all the witchcraftaphobes by saying, "You want to hear a really scary story? I'll give you something to keep you awake for months!" He even mentions Cotton Mather as part of Ichabod's library. Coincidence? I think not.
ReplyDeleteI like that Irving wrote with such description that all generations since he wrote Sleepy Hollow have relished it. It is classic. I think classics only become classics if the authors mix creative story telling with a creative plot. Irving does that it many of his stories.
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