1. O. Henry (1862-1905) short story page 246
“The Gift of the Magi”
O. Henry ( )
short story
page 246

2. Quickwrite
“If you could save one item (not a person) from a disaster—a fire, a flood, an earthquake—what would it be? In a few sentences, describe your most cherished possession, and tell why you treasure it. Was it a gift? If so, how does that make it especially important to you?”
Create a middle name for yourself that you believe represents stability, prominent lineage, and wealth. Look up the meaning of your created name. Does the definition sound appropriate for its name?

3. HW assignment
Bring in information about “the wise men” which are referred to in “The Gift of the Magi.” What three gifts were brought to the newborn king? Make sure you cite where you found your information (Book of the Bible, chapter, and verse) GO BEYOND! Why were these three gifts brought instead of something else?
Bring in information about King Solomon and Queen of Sheba who are allusions in “The Gift of the Magi.” Make sure you cite where you found this information.

4. Vocabulary (“The Gift of the Magi”) Record the following vocabulary, find the word in the story and copy the sentence that contains the word:
1. Imputation: p. 247
2. Parsimony: p. 247
3. Instigates: p. 247
4. Agile: p. 247
5. Depreciate: p. 248
6. Cascade: p. 248
7. Ransacking: p. 248
8. Prudence: p. 249
9. Ravages: p. 249
10. Discreet: p. 250
11. Scrutiny: p. 250
12. Inconsequential: p. 250
13. Nimble: p. 251
14. Coveted: p. 251
15. Singed: p. 251

5. Vocabulary (“The Gift of the Magi”)
1. Imputation: n. an accusation
2. Parsimony: n. stinginess
3. Instigates: v. gives rise to
4. Agile: adj. moving with ease
5. Depreciate: v. lower the value of
6. Cascade: n. waterfall
7. Ransacking: v. searching thoroughly
8.Prudence: n. cautious, good judgment; wisdom
9. Ravages: n. destructive actions; results from destructive actions
10. Discreet: adj. especially being silent or careful
11. Scrutiny: n. close inspection
12. Inconsequential: adj. unimportant; irrelevant
13. Nimble: adj. quickly moving
14. Coveted: adj. longed-for
15. Singed: adj. lightly burned

6. HW: Vocabulary Activity
You will create the following “vocab. word box” for each vocabulary word:
definition
part of word illustration
speech
ORIGINAL sentence

7. Apply these literary terms in the work:
Situational irony
Surprise ending
Theme
Allusion
Simile
Third-person omniscient point of view
Setting
*The definitions for these terms should be in your notebook in the literary terms section for the Short Story Unit.

8. Reading and Predicting
Read the work and make predictions during your reading on what will happen later in the story. Make sure you provide textual evidence as to why you believe this will happen.

9. After reading activities
Answer questions on page
“What They Did for Love”
You must create a PowerPoint presentation after you have researched at least two stories about people who have made the greatest sacrifices for love. This research may come from interviews, Internet-based sources, newspapers, or magazines. Your presentation must include what sacrifices were made and why they were made, and you must compare/contrast the sacrifices to that of Jim and Della. Which sacrifice was greater in your opinion? Were the sacrifices worth it? Make sure you include evidence from “The Gift of the Magi” to support your writing.

10. Background on O. Henry
Now let’s look at the author of “The Gift of the Magi.”
After learning about O. Henry, why do you believe he writes using so much irony?