Fiction Parody

The Legend of Ira in Sleepy Hollow

     Ira, a tall and lanky man with a quiet demeanor had just moved to the area.. He began to frequent the local bar down the road, Sleepy Hollow. As time past, he was struck by the beauty and outgoing personality of the bartender, Kat. She was popular, funny, all of the things Ira had longed to have in his life. If he were able to court a girl like Kat, he could have all of the friends, fun, and excitement he longed for. The only problem that was standing in the way was a man named Butch, a local mechanic. Being highly attractive with a big muscular stocky build, Butch was able to bully people and get what he wanted, which was Kat.

One weekend, a well known band was to play at Sleepy Hollow called The Headless Horsemen. Everyone in town was looking forward to the show including Ira, who was more so looking forward to hanging out with Kat who had the night off. He couldn't wait to have an opportunity to sway her, because he knew he had lots to offer her, and wanted it to be known.

     Friday night came, and when he got there, the bar was already packed with people. The Headless Horsemen began to play, and the crowd moved closer to the front where the band was which opened up the view for Kat to notice Ira was sitting alone. Anxiously, she waved at him and ran over to his table. They sat and talked for a good hour enjoying the music, drinks, and good conversation. Ira even danced a little even though his awkward height and build made it highly comical to Kat, as well as the rest of the bar patrons. All was well until Butch showed up.

     Inviting himself to sit with them, Butch began ordering shots; Ira reluctantly obliged. Being an experienced drinker, Butch quickly got Ira drunk, in which Ira began to make of fool of himself. Kat began to get annoyed and requested Butch's assistance and he piled him into a cab that was waiting by the back door near the band equipment loading area. This cab, being a little suspicious that no one was able to recognize the dark shadow of the driver, took off into the night. It was said that some people noticed a strange symbol on the cab, one they had seen on the base drum of the band, the grim reaper. Neither the cab nor Ira was to ever have been seen again. After that night, people speculated Ira's disappearance was due to Butch, or that maybe he had wandered off drunk once he got home. And yet, who was the driver of the cab?

     The following night, the Headless Horsemen "check-check-checked" as they always did, but no one would ever see Ira approach the bar again. His disappearance remained a mystery.

Meta-commentary:

     I chose to write a parody about Rip Van Winkle's “Legend of Sleepy Hollow”. I used the name “Ira” to represent the main character, Ichabod Crane, the name “Kat” to represent Katrina, and “Butch” to represent Brom. The motivation in this parody was to keep the similar characterization as a modern day setting, using a bar atmosphere for courting versus the old fashioned way in which the original version was to try and win the father over, as well as the family. In this modernized parody, the bar patrons are considered Kat's family. As Ira tried to win Kat over I tried to portray his appearance similar to the original story as the description as“He was tall, but exceedingly lank, with narrow shoulders...” (Irving 9), keeping his awkward stature. Butch's appearance was still attractive, strong, and cocky as the original description being that he “would fain have carried matters to open warfare” (Irving 33). Both trying to win over Kat (Katrina).

     I tried to keep the feel as an intrusive narrator by adding my own commentary to add to the story. As quoted “Imagination is the primary faculty for creating all art” (Melani). By trying to have to reader visualize the tall, lanky Ira embarrassingly trying to cut some rug on the dance floor. Or the fact that Ira drank so much, due to his skinny frame he had to be poured into a cab early in the night after irritating Kat as well as the bar patrons. This part of the story partially mimics the fact that Butch eventually wins Kat's heart, and Ira is sent away, just like when Brom wins over Katrina and Ichabon leaves upset.

     I also tried to tie together The Headless Horsemen with the disappearance. The mysterious cab near the loading dock and the drummer of the band shared the same symbol of the Grim Reaper, aka symbol of death. Only the town's people could speculate what had happened to poor Ira but after seeing the mysterious cab with the same symbol, some people believe there may have been a connection between the two. Which leaves the reader to believe that The Headless Horsemen may have actually been responsible for the disappearance. But then again, the fact that Ira had been made a fool of maybe he left humiliated, and decided after being bullied by Butch, and acting obnoxiously, that he would just rather leave than having to face anyone in the small town again. Ultimately the story plot remains the same; poor Ira (Ichabon) gets humiliated by Butch (Brom). After one fateful night, just when Ira thinks he found love he is never to be seen again. As the old country wives had thought in the original version “Ichabod was spirited away by supernatural means” (Irving 73). Was he? Like I concluded my parody which easily “Appeals to imagination” (Reuben), his disappearance remains a mystery.

Poetry Parody

I Felt a Turn in my Stomach

I felt a turn in my stomach,

As my car would not shift into gear,

It kept revving, revving,until it jolted

Then reluctantly shifted, destination near.

As I finally moved forward

Car idling loudly, RPMs spiking,

My thoughts racing, racing until

The ultimate realization came striking.

The awkward shifting, delay in reaction

The frustration flooding, profanities flying,

With the transmission slipping,

I now have a new, unwanted distraction.

Meta-commentary:

     I chose the poem “I Felt a Funeral in my Brain” written by Emily Dickinson, because it drew a parallel to an issue in my life, which is the dying transmission in my car. The allusion that she portrays in this poem is about her personal struggle, “Dickinson uses the metaphor of a funeral to represent the speaker's sense that a part of her dying, that is, her reason it being overwhelmed by the irrationality of the unconscious” (Melani). Recognizing the metaphor, I connected it with an important aspect of my life that is dying, and when it does, it will effect my life tremendously, although more in a physical sense. The allusion of this parody I chose to write about was to mimic my thoughts and feelings while driving, knowing that my transmission is slowly beginning to go.

     While I am driving, my frustrations intensify, and that is when I feel like my emotions take over, causing myself to feel irrational. I also used imagery in my poem to comically express how I deal with those frustrations, which is a normal reaction most people have while dealing with car troubles. In the same sense, Dickinson's confessional poetry digs deeper into her own thoughts. Although the funeral represents death, this poem also represents her personal feeling of sanity, or lack of it. She had written this to express her frustrations and feelings, which seems to express her life spiraling out of control. Throughout the short poem, her depression deepens, and the raw emotions of anger and depression become more noticeable. The statement in the poem that really struck me and added to her darker aspect of this writing was“And I dropped down and down--/ And hit a world at every plunge” (Dickinson ll 18-19). It seems that this could be a metaphor for hitting rock bottom, or possibly that things couldn't get worse. It was interpreted as “Her descent is described as "plunges," suggesting the speed and force of her fall into psychological chaos” (Melani). I feel I relate well to Dickinson's emotions due to the lack of control I have over my transmission, which causes added stress and frustration to my life.

     Using my own version of confessional poetry, this parody mimics Dickinson's poem by sharing my personal frustration and lack of control with my car. While not as extreme as Dickinson, my current situation increases my stress level on a daily basis, affecting my own mental state. I also added a brief comical reaction to my poem, I feel the motivation of my car acting up lead to my reaction of aggressively lashing out verbally at the situation. Being the parody it is, it takes away a little of the dark aspect Dickinson had portrayed in the original poem.