Love is the greatest gift of all.

Unit10 Unit10 A Sacrifice For Love （ 1 ） O. Henry

“A sacrifice for love ” is part of the story The Gift of the Magi,which is written by O Henry, a famous American short story writer in the 20th century.

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Best noted for his short stories with surprise endings,O. Henry was the pen name of William Sydney Porter, who was regarded as one of the most popular American writers in the 20 th century. As a young man, he once worked as a bank teller, a newspaper columnist and so on. In 1898, he was accused of having taken money from the bank where he had worked, and later was put in prison for five years. While in prison, he began writing short stories and it is there that he took the pen-name O Henry for his writings..

Five elements of a novel Time Place Person Even t End

when where who what how the day before Christmas home-barbershop-home Della to buy … to sell her hair Fast reading Main idea: The story tells that a woman called Della ____her beautiful ____to buy ___________ a Christmas gift —__________ _____. sold hair her husband a gold watch chain

Careful reading 1.Why did Della cry after counting the money she had been saving? 2.Why did tears fall from her eyes while Della was standing in front of the mirror? 3.What did Della look like after cutting off and doing her hair?

1. Why did Della cry after counting the money she had been saving? She wanted to buy his husband a good present on Christmas Day, but the money she had saved hard was not enough. She was worried and helpless.

2.Why did tears fall from her eyes while Della was standing in front of the mirror?

Della’s beautiful and long hair

Jim’s gold watch

2.Why did tears fall from her eyes while Della was standing in front of the mirror? Because her hair was valuable to her family. She had been always taking great pride in it. But there was no other choice. She must sell it to buy a present for her husband.

3. What did Della look like after cutting off and doing her hair? Her head was covered with tiny curls that made her look like a little school girl.

Find the detailed information 1 What are Jim’s wages? 2 How much is the rent of the flat per week? 3 What price does Della pay to buy her present? 4 What are the couple’s two most precious possessions?

Decide whether the following sentences are True or False. 1.James Dillingham Young was a rich young man. 2. Della lived in a neighborhood with many trees and flowers. 3. Jim and Della were a married couple. 4. Della thought having a haircut will make Jim happy. 5. Della decided to have her hair cut out of her love for Jim.

Read the passage again and try to find the feelings Della was changing. Use the words to express her feeling. —A grey cat a grey fence — a grey backyard Sad and sorry Eyes shining Get an idea happy

Lost its color within twenty seconds Sad and sorry again Pulled down her hair did it up again Was hesitating

Put on her old jacket Ran out of determined Give it me quick Hurried home with the 87 cents Excited Reached home calm

Discussion 1.Describe Della. What do you think of her? Was she foolish to sell her favourite possession? 2.If you were Della, what would you do?

O Henry wanted to tell us that she was not foolish. She was wise because she had sacrificed her most valuable possession for the person she loved. She knew that Jim received the most precious present—the true heart and unfading love from her.she made sacrifice for love without regretting. Was she foolish to sell her favourite possession?

love hair sell ? gold watch chain ? A Sacrifice For Love Della Jim Summary

1.Predict what will happen in the second part of the story. 2.Write a short description of Della. Homework