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Age and build

Tall and extremely lank with narrow shoulders

“He was tall, but exceedingly lank, with narrow shoulders, long arms and legs” (Sketch Book, part 38)

Loosely hung frame with dangling extremities

“hands that dangled a mile out of his sleeves, feet that might have served for shovels, and his whole frame most loosely hung together” (Sketch Book, part 38)

Face and hair

Small flat head with huge ears and large green glassy eyes

“His head was small, and flat at top, with huge ears, large green glassy eyes” (Sketch Book, part 38)

Long pointed nose like a weathercock on a spindle neck

“a long snip nose, so that it looked like a weathercock perched upon his spindle neck to tell which way the wind blew” (Sketch Book, part 38)

Scanty strip of forehead

“A small wool hat rested on the top of his nose, for so his scanty strip of forehead might be called” (Sketch Book, part 40)

Dress

Best suit of rusty black, brushed and furbished for the occasion

“brushing and furbishing up his best, and indeed only, suit of rusty black” (Sketch Book, part 40)

Black coat with skirts that flutter to the horse's tail

“the skirts of his black coat fluttered out almost to his horse’s tail” (Sketch Book, part 40)

Small wool hat resting on top of his nose

“A small wool hat rested on the top of his nose” (Sketch Book, part 40)

Voice and speech

Voice resounds far above the congregation with peculiar quavers

“his voice resounded far above all the rest of the congregation, and there are peculiar quavers still to be heard in that church” (Sketch Book, part 39)

Parched tongue that cleaves to the roof of his mouth when frightened

“his parched tongue clove to the roof of his mouth and he could not utter a stave” (Sketch Book, part 41)

Signature words

The book is silent here, so we keep this plain and neutral.

Gait and mannerisms

Strides along the profile of a hill like the genius of Famine or a scarecrow

“To see him striding along the profile of a hill on a windy day, with his clothes bagging and fluttering about him, one might have mistaken him for the genius of Famine descending upon the earth, or some scarecrow eloped from a cornfield” (Sketch Book, part 38)

Rides with short stirrups, sharp elbows like grasshoppers, whip held perpendicularly

“He rode with short stirrups, which brought his knees nearly up to the pommel of the saddle; his sharp elbows stuck out like grasshoppers’; he carried his whip perpendicularly in his hand like a sceptre” (Sketch Book, part 40)

Arms flap like wings when riding

“as his horse jogged on the motion of his arms was not unlike the flapping of a pair of wings” (Sketch Book, part 40)

Dances with every limb and fibre in motion

“Not a limb, not a fibre about him was idle; and to have seen his loosely hung frame in full motion and clattering about the room you would have thought Saint Vitus himself, that blessed patron of the dance, was figuring before you in person” (Sketch Book, part 40)

Strengths

Conscientious schoolmaster who maintains discipline

“Truth to say, he was a conscientious man, and ever bore in mind the golden maxim, “Spare the rod and spoil the child” (Sketch Book, part 38)

Happy mixture of pliability and perseverance, yielding but tough

“He had, however, a happy mixture of pliability and perseverance in his nature; he was in form and spirit like a supple jack—yielding, but tough; though he bent, he never broke” (Sketch Book, part 40)

Skilled singer and dancing master

“he was the singing-master of the neighborhood, and picked up many bright shillings by instructing the young folks in psalmody” (Sketch Book, part 39)

Flaws

Soft and foolish heart towards women

“Ichabod Crane had a soft and foolish heart towards the sex” (Sketch Book, part 39)

Cowardly, unwilling to face his rival openly

“To have taken the field openly against his rival would have been madness for he was not a man to be thwarted in his amours” (Sketch Book, part 40)

Greedy and mercenary, fantasises about converting Van Tassel's wealth to cash

“his imagination expanded with the idea how they might be readily turned into cash and the money invested in immense tracts of wild land and shingle palaces in the wilderness” (Sketch Book, part 39)

Superstitious and credulous, believes in witches and ghosts

“the poor schoolmaster began to think all the witches in the country held their meetings there” (Sketch Book, part 40)

Traits

Vain about his singing voice and musical abilities

“It was a matter of no little vanity to him on Sundays to take his station in front of the church-gallery with a band of chosen singers, where, in his own mind, he completely carried away the palm from the parson” (Sketch Book, part 39)

Ingenious at making a living by various small means

“Thus, by divers little makeshifts in that ingenious way which is commonly denominated “by hook and by crook,” the worthy pedagogue got on tolerably enough” (Sketch Book, part 39)

Observant of culinary abundance and food

“his eye, ever open to every symptom of culinary abundance, ranged with delight over the treasures of jolly Autumn” (Sketch Book, part 40)

Knowledgeable about supernatural tales and Cotton Mather

“He repaid them in kind with large extracts from his invaluable author, Cotton Mather, and added many marvellous events that had taken place in his native state of Connecticut” (Sketch Book, part 41)

Lines in their own words

Expressing hope of safety at the church bridge

“If I can but reach that bridge,” thought Ichabod, “I am safe” (Sketch Book, part 41)

Attempting to resume singing when frightened

“he endeavored to resume his psalm tune, but his parched tongue clove to the roof of his mouth and he could not utter a stave” (Sketch Book, part 41)

Fantasising about Katrina and westward expansion

“he beheld himself bestriding a pacing mare, with a colt at her heels, setting out for Kentucky, Tennessee, or the Lord knows where” (Sketch Book, part 39)