THE GIFT OF MAGI By: O. Henry

WHAT ARE THE ELEMENTS OF a SHORT STORY?

Characters: o DELLA YOUNG: A girl who cut her hair to buy a watch chain as a Christmas gift for her husband. o James DILLINGHAM YOUNG (JIM): He sold his watch which was passed on from his ancestors to buy a comb as a Christmas gift for Della. o MADAME SOFRONIE: An owner of a salon shop that brought Della’s hair.

Setting o In a cheap apartment, during Christmas time o Shabby little couch o Broken letter box o Broken door bell

Plot EXPOSITION: This story takes place during Christmas eve. This story is about Della (a young girl) and Jim (her husband). Della and Jim don’t have a lot of money. Della wants to buy Christmas gift for Jim, but she couldn’t really afford it. She save up a lot lately. RISING ACTION: She sold her hair to Madame Sofronie to earn money. RISING ACTION: Della's hair is very important to her. Della hesitates to cut her hair, however, she thought about selling her hair. RISING ACTION: She brought a watch chain for Jim to wear with his watch. She went back to the apartment to prepare food. CLIMAX: Jim brought Della a comb, but Della cut her hair. Della brought Jim a watch chain, but Jim sold the watch to buy a comb for Della. FALLING ACTION: Della realizes that Jim still loves her even though she cut her hair. FALLING ACTION: They realized that the gift they bought doesn’t mean a lot. RESOLUTION: Della and Jim still love one another no matter what has happened.

Theme o Love  In this story, it shows how much Della and Jim love one another and how powerful and valuable their love is. o sacrifice  In this story, it shows that both of them are willing to sacrifice their most precious things to make their love ones happy. o Wealth  In this story, it shows that it doesn’t matter how much something worth, but it depends on the effort of the person giving it.

Point of View o Third person point of view

What is the Conflict? o Della and Jim are poor, they do not have enough money to buy gifts for one another.  It is resolved by Della sold her hair to buy a watch chain and Jim sold his watch to buy Della a comb. o Della’s long hair is very important to her and she hesitates to cut it.  In the end, she was glad that Jim still love her even if she had a short hair. o Jim’s watch is very important to him and he hesitates to sell it.  He realizes that it is worth it to sell because Della also sacrifices for him.

What does the conflict teach us about ourselves?

Did you learn about history and/or culture from reading this story? o Yes!!!!!

o I learned that during Christmas, it is a tradition that people give each other gifts. o Moreover, I learned that the tradition of giving gifts on Christmas came from the story of the three wise man which is from the Christian religion. o This story taught me that the valuable of something does not come from the price, but it comes from the effort and the willingness of the person giving it to you. o I also learned that when you sacrifice for someone without hoping anything in return, you will receive something that is worth much more than what you have sacrifice. What did you learn?

Research the story

When was the story written? o It was written between 1903 and Where and when was it published? o It was published in New York City newspaper in 1905 and in a collection, The Four Million, in 1906.

The author

Where does the author come from? o O. Henry is the pen name of William Sydney porter. o O. Henry was born in Greensborough, North Carolina. o He was born on September 11, o He found fame as a writer in New York city. o He died at June 5, 1910.

Childhood and Family o His mother died when he was three years old. o His mother and grandmother died of tuberculosis. o He lived with aunt Lina, who ran a small private school. o He was raised by aunt Lina which was probably what influenced him to like literature. o He likes to spend his time in his uncle's drugstore and gained a reputation as a prankster.

Education o He left school at 15 and trained to be a pharmacist. o By the age of 19, he had a license to be a pharmacist. o He had a racking cough that worried him since his mother and grandmother died of tuberculosis. o He decided to move to Texas because it has a dry and healthy climate. o He carries a small dictionary in a pocket and a book of poems in the other everywhere he goes.

Personal life o In 1887, he married Athol Estes, which had connections and helped him find work as bank teller in Austin. o In 1894, he worked for the bank and started The Rolling Stone, a humorous weekly newspaper. o In 1896, he was arrested and charged with stealing funds, he fled to Honduras, but returned to Texas several months later to take care of his wife that was dying of tuberculosis. o While awaiting trail, he had his first short story published. o In 1898, he was convicted and sentenced to five years in federal prison.

Personal life o When he was released 3 years early, he changed his name to O. Henry. o He spent the rest of his life in New York city. o Most of his stories come from his real life situations. o Some of his famous stories were “After Twenty Years”, Cabbages and Kings, The Four Million. o In 1907, he remarried and he had an unhappy life because he has a bad health and he had no money. o He still continue to wrote more short stories (7 0f them) until he died in 1910.

Has learning about the author changed the way that you understand the story? How? Why? o I learned that this story is somehow related to O. Henry’s life. He was poor and he had a wife. This story is based on what people during this time in history had to face, because they didn’t have a lot of money. It was probably how love was for people that struggled to buy something for their loved ones.

Bibliography: O. Henry. ( ). (J. Welsh, Producer, & The Florida Center for Instructional Technology, College of Education, University of South Florida) Retrieved October 25, 2015, from Lit2Go: O. Henry Collection. (2015, October 20). (The University of North Texas Libraries' Digital Projects Unit) Retrieved October 25, 2015, from Portal to Texas History: Henry, O. (1984). After Twenty Years. Davis Publications. Bilal, H. A. (2012). DISCOURSE ANALYSIS OF THE GIFT OF THE MAGI.