Unit 10 American literature A Sacrifice For Love Written by O Henry

The literary works we have learned The Merchant of Venice Harry Potter

Literary works of America Gone With the Wind Catch 22 The Gift of the Magi The Scarlet letter The Adventures of Tom Sawyer Sister Carrier 《嘉莉妹妹》 《二十二条军规》 《红字》 《飘》 《汤姆.索亚历险记》 《麦琪的礼物》

Lead-in: A sacrifice for love is written by O Henry, a famous American short story writer in the twentieth century. His stories are well noted for their unexpected endings. This reading passage is entitled “A sacrifice for love”.

Skimming Find the five elements of a novel. (Go through the passage very quickly and try to find the general information about the story) Find the five elements of a novel.

Five elements of a novel Place Time Five elements of a novel Person End Event

Event: What is the story about? The story is about a couple who wanted to surprise each other with a beautiful Christmas gift.

Who： When: What： How： Main Characters（人物） Della & Jim-------the couple Setting（背景） The day before Christmas want: give the other a special Christmas gift Life: poor Della’s most precious possession: Her hair Plot 情节 Jim’s most precious possession: His gold watch Della’s present: A gold watch chain (21 dollars) Jim’s present: A set of combs Save money: Della sells her long, beautiful hair for 20 dollars. Get enough money to buy Jim the present: Get money to buy Della the present: Jim sells his gold watch

End: They both sold their valuable things for the gift to the other but both of the gifts had no use any longer because of the losing of their possessions.

Della Jim sell sell Love chain hair watch comb

True or False : 1.Jim was a rich young man. 2.Della lived in a house 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. 6.Della was very happy when she opened the package. 7.Both the Christmas presents were useful for Jim and Della. 8.This story is a moving story. F T T F T T F T

Questions: 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. How did Della expect Jim to react when he saw her? 4. What was Jim’s reaction? Describe his feelings. 5. Why did Della burst into tears when she opened the package? 6. Explain the title of this short story. What does it mean? 7. Is the story humorous or not? How would you describe the story?

1. Why did Della cry after counting the money she had been saving? She felt miserable, because she was poor and because the money was not enough to buy Jim a nice present.

2. Why did tears fall from her eyes while Della was standing in front of the mirror? She had a good idea to make money, which was to sell her hair, but she was so proud of her long hair that the idea, which she had not yet spoken out, to have it cut and sold made her cry.

3. How did Della expect Jim to react when he saw her? Della thought he would either be very angry or disappointed (or both) and not love her any more.

4. What was Jim’s reaction? Describe his feelings. Jim was shocked when he saw Della, and he didn’t know what to say.

5. Why did Della burst into tears when she opened the package? She cried because she was reminded of her beautiful hair, and the combs which she wanted so much were now of no use to her.

Both Della and Jim tolerated the shortcomings of the other side. 6. Explain the title of this short story. What does it mean? Both Della and Jim tolerated the shortcomings of the other side. Both Della and Jim gave up their most precious possession for the love of each other. C.Both Della and Jim were selfish. A deep love is based on mutual（相互的） “give and take”

7. Is the story humorous or not? How would you describe the story? I think the story is humorous in a way, but also with some irony（讽刺的）. It is hard to say the story is funny, but the story is surprising.

Della, poor, bargained when buying necessities in daily life to save money for the present for Jim.

She was proud of her beautiful hair; she fought with her own mind before she finally decided to sell it to get some money.

Jim sold the watch to get the money to buy the combs for Della.

Both of the presents couldn’t be used, but they got real love.

What is Love Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast. It is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking(自私）, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices(快乐) with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres(坚忍).Love never fails. -------from The Bible《圣经》

Homework Analyse Della’s tears: 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. Why did Della burst into tears when she opened the package and saw the present that Jim gave her?

Thank you!