Ichabod Crane is the schoolmaster for the children in the vicinity of Sleepy Hollow. Sometimes he is referred to as a "pedagogue," which is just a fancy way of saying "teacher." He presides over the one-room schoolhouse where he runs a tight ship. Someone listening outside the schoolhouse would hear Crane's menacing or commanding voice as he taught or might hear the "birch" being applied to the body of a non-compliant student. Crane is not...
Ichabod Crane is the schoolmaster for the children in the vicinity of Sleepy Hollow. Sometimes he is referred to as a "pedagogue," which is just a fancy way of saying "teacher." He presides over the one-room schoolhouse where he runs a tight ship. Someone listening outside the schoolhouse would hear Crane's menacing or commanding voice as he taught or might hear the "birch" being applied to the body of a non-compliant student. Crane is not averse to using the rod on his pupils, following that old proverb, "Spare the rod and spoil the child." However, he is not overly mean to his charges; he befriends some of the older boys, especially if they have good-looking older sisters. He ingratiates himself with the parents of the schoolchildren so that he will be invited to dinner, thereby saving himself the expense of having to purchase his own food.
Crane's other source of income is providing singing lessons for the community. He gives group choir lessons to the young people who then sing during services at the church. His role as singing master gives him the opportunity to meet Katrina Van Tassel, the only daughter of the wealthiest landowner in the region. Katrina attends the music lessons one evening a week with the others, but soon Crane contrives to give her private lessons at her home, allowing him to survey the domain that he intends to inherit via marriage to Katrina.
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