THESIS: Ichabod Crane, and His Insatiable American Appetite Expresses Itself Through His

THESIS: Ichabod Crane expresses his insatiable American appetite through his boundless (and undisciplined) imagination.

-  The sound imagery shows this boundless imagination

-  This boundless imagination is doomed to fail

WHY? HOW SO?

1)  In the day, Ichabod’s appetite dominates his psyche.

a.  This appetite is for food and money.

b.  This appetite directs his romantic desires.

c.  His appetite makes him industrious.

2)  Irving’s sound imagery shows this boundless appetite.

a.  These sounds reveal the town.

b.  These sounds reveal the river valley itself.

c.  These sounds show the transition between day and night.

3)  In the night, Ichabod’s appetite inspires his imagination.

a.  This imagination is revealed in his habits.

b.  Sleepy Hollow lends itself to his obsessions.

4)  When his appetite inspires his imagination, it prevents Ichabod from being industrious.

a.  The sounds of the night are mysterious and prompt his imagination.

b.  The sounds at Sleepy Hollow’s landmarks also prompt his imagination.

c.  Ichabod’s psalms represent his struggle to control his imagination.

5)  Ichabod faces his ultimate test of balance in Katrina Van Tassel.

a.  Irving shows this balance through horsemanship.

b.  Ichabod has no balance and must yield to the superior balance of Brom Bones.

c.