GIFT OF THE MAGI

Short story elements

O. HENRY’S LIFE

O. Henry was born William Sydney Porter

on September 11, 1862 – and died on

June 5, 1910). He was born in Greensboro,

NC

(near my hometown!).

His stories were known for their twist endings, careful and intelligent word choice, and characterizations that seem very real. At one point, he wrote one story per week for publication!

IDENTIFY THE SETTING

How do they dress?

What are their family roles?

What are their values and physical clues that point to the time period and their surrounding?

O. Henry typically wrote about

working class characters in his own time period.

IRONYName an example of irony in the Gift

of the Magi. Situational irony is when what happens is opposite of what

is expected.

WHY WAS O. HENRY USING IRONY WHEN HE CALLED DELLA AND JIM “FOOLISH

CHILDREN”?

THEME

What do you think is the main point O. Henry was trying to get across in this story?

CHARACTERS

Would you call Della and Jim static characters or dynamic characters?

WHAT DOES THE WORD MAGI MEAN ANYHOW?

Why did O. Henry call the story by this

name? (Could it have been

foreshadowing?

Watch the following video trailer and think about how the video differs from the imagery you had in your head after

you read the story.Gift of the Magi Trailer