The historical settings of these stories is made apparent by the use of elements common to the revolutionary era. In The Devil and Tom Walker when Irving is describing the setting he gives an impression that it took place in America. In describing the setting he says, "It had been the stronghold of the Indians during their war with the colonists." Since the war took place in America this is one evidence of his love for America. Another is when Irving is describing the devil and he makes the point that he a particularly American devil. When the devil first meets Tom and the devil is telling him about himself he says, "I amuse myself by presiding at the persecutions of Quakers and Anabaptists; I am the great pat

Another trait not necessarily flattering to American people apparent in these stories is greed. Irving makes a strong commentary about a major character flaw of the American people. The main greed of the characters in both the stories is of wealth. It is apparent in The Legend of Sleepy Hollow that Ichabod Crane cares more about food than Katrina. In the long descriptive passages of Ichabod's daydreaming of the food he would get Irving writes, "In his devouring minds eye, he pictured to himself every roasting-pig running about with a pudding in his belly, and an apple in his mouth; the pigeons were snugly put to bed in a comfortable pie, and tucked in with a coverlet of crust;." And he goes on for a full paragraph daydreaming of the wonderful food he would get. Also while Ichabod is dreaming of his life if he were to marry Katrina he thought of all the wealth he could have. As the enraptured Ichabod fancied all this, and as he rolled his great green eyes over the fat meadow-lands, the rich fields of wheat, of rye, of buckwheat, and indian corn, and the orchards burthened with ruddy fruit which surrounded the warm tenement of Van Tassel, his heart yearned after the damsel

Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 798
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)