Reading Comprehension Questions of “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow” (Andrea Minango, Santiago Chávez)

4. What do the villagers think he is doing out at night? Why is he said to be in such a hurry?

The villagers thought that the horseman was a trooper and he was searching his head that he’d lost in a battle. That the reason why he’d been at night in the churchyard.

8. Why do the women in the countryside think he is an important person? How do the mothers treat him as a result? How do the younger girls respond to him?

The women in the countryside though he was very gentlemanlike, cultured. They saw him as someone very different from all the other men out there. They saw him like their “man of letters”; someone very studied, worthy of admiration for what his company was something liked to women. As result they invited him to stay with them for a while, they invited him to dinner. And the teacher took the opportunity to eat because the salary as a teacher wasn’t enough to live as he wanted to live. So he used to stay with them and he used to rotate from family to family from farm to farm.

12. The author, Washington Irving says, “When he entered the house, the conquest of his heart was complete.” What does the rest of that paragraph on page 18 tell us about why Ichabod liked Katrina?

The teacher liked Katrina first, because she was so beautiful but mainly because she was heiress. Katrina’s father (Van Tassel) was the richest farmer out there. He had the bigger, luxury and most beautiful house the whole town. So, to Ichabod Katrina was an opportunity to have the live that he believed he deserved. He actually fell in love with the banquet served there. He thought only devour all the food that was served.

16. What are two things Brom Bones does to get back at Ichabod for trying to steal Katrina?

Brom Bones basically resorted to playing pranks on Ichabod in hopes of making him look foolish so he could win Katrina back.  Brom broke into the school house and messed everything up, he stopped up the school house chimney, and he trained his dog to croon and then introduced it to neighbors as Ichabod.

20. What story is told about Brouwer’s encounter with the headless horseman?

Brouwer said had competed against the Headless Horseman in a race, who won would take a punch bowl. And of course Brouwer won but suddenly (according to him) when they came to the bridge near to the church the headless horseman vanished in a flash of fire.

24. What happens when Ichabod tries to get across the bridge?

On his ride home in Ichabod Crane's mount, Gunpowder comes to an abrupt stop at a bridge. The horse jumps sidewise when kicked; kicked again, he jumps the other way into bushes. Then, Ichabod sees the dark, ominous figure. Ichabod asks, "Who are you?' and, after no answer, the figure appears, looking like a large horseman mounted on a powerful black horse. He jogs along the blindside of old Gunpowder, who has overcome his fright. When the mysterious companion runs upon a rise in the ground, Ichabod sees against the lighted sky that the horseman had no head. Instead, the head is carried on the pommel of the saddle. Ichabod takes off, but the other keeps pace. Suddenly, Gunpowder turns, plunging down the hill on the left, the saddle girth breaks and Ichabod clings to the horse's neck as it bounces him in its flight. As Ichabod crosses the church bridge, the goblin rises in the stirrups and hurls his head at him. It hits Ichabod, sending him into the dust. Gunpowder, the black steed, and the goblin pass by like a whirlwind.

28. Instead of following the road to Sleepy Hollow, where does Gunpowder go? What makes it even harder for Ichabod to hold onto his run-away horse?

Gunpowder went out of his way and turned left, that road led through a sandy hollow to the famous bridge of goblin's story, which was near of the church. As Gunpowder was running too fast the horse saddle began to drop (until lose it) so it was even harder for Ichabod to hold onto his horse.

32. What did the people of the town believe about what happened that night?

They believed Ichabod disappeared because he didn’t want to see anymore to headless horseman, so he ran away in panic. And also, they said that being rejected by Katrina he hadn’t a reason to return.