Notes on 5 Different Short Story
Notes on Short Story
THE GIFT OF THE MAGI
By O. Henry
Date: 26 September 2012
Title: The Gift of the Magi
Author: William Sydney Porter also known as O. Henry
Background of the O. Henry:
O. Henry was born on September 11, 1862, in Greensboro, North Carolina. Both his mother and father died before O. Henry turned 20. As a teenager, he worked as a pharmacist’s assistant in his uncle’s drugstore to help support his family. At age 19, he moved to Texas to take advantage of its warmth and dry climate. There he worked at a farm that belonged to a friend of his family’s.
Vocabulary:
* Instigates: To cause by incitement * Subsiding: To sink to a low or lower level * Coax: To attempt to influence by gentle persuasion * Faltered: To hesitate or waver in action, purpose, intent, etc. * Ravages: To work havoc upon * Assertion: A positive statement or declaration, often without reason or support * Tresses: A plait or braid of hair * Ardent: Having, expressive of, or characterized by intense feeling * Dandy: A man who is excessively concerned about his clothes and appearance * Manger: A box or trough in a stable or barn from which horses or cattle eat
Setting: Christmas Eve, New York City
Characters:
* Delia Young * James Dillingham Young * Madame Sofronie
Literary Devices: * Allusion: “The magi, as you know, were wise men—wonderfully wise men—who brought gifts to the Babe in the manger.” * Anadiplosis: “And sixty cents of it was in pennies. Pennies saved one and two………” * Polysyndeton: “…… a time by bulldozing the grocer and the vegetable man and the butcher.” * Personification: “The dull precious metal seemed to flash with a reflection of her bright and ardent soul.” * Repetition: “…… looked out dully at a gray cat walking a gray fence in a gray backyard.” * Simile: “…… about her rippling and shining like a cascade of brown waters.” * Metaphor: “Oh, and the next two hours tripped
THE GIFT OF THE MAGI
By O. Henry
Date: 26 September 2012
Title: The Gift of the Magi
Author: William Sydney Porter also known as O. Henry
Background of the O. Henry:
O. Henry was born on September 11, 1862, in Greensboro, North Carolina. Both his mother and father died before O. Henry turned 20. As a teenager, he worked as a pharmacist’s assistant in his uncle’s drugstore to help support his family. At age 19, he moved to Texas to take advantage of its warmth and dry climate. There he worked at a farm that belonged to a friend of his family’s.
Vocabulary:
* Instigates: To cause by incitement * Subsiding: To sink to a low or lower level * Coax: To attempt to influence by gentle persuasion * Faltered: To hesitate or waver in action, purpose, intent, etc. * Ravages: To work havoc upon * Assertion: A positive statement or declaration, often without reason or support * Tresses: A plait or braid of hair * Ardent: Having, expressive of, or characterized by intense feeling * Dandy: A man who is excessively concerned about his clothes and appearance * Manger: A box or trough in a stable or barn from which horses or cattle eat
Setting: Christmas Eve, New York City
Characters:
* Delia Young * James Dillingham Young * Madame Sofronie
Literary Devices: * Allusion: “The magi, as you know, were wise men—wonderfully wise men—who brought gifts to the Babe in the manger.” * Anadiplosis: “And sixty cents of it was in pennies. Pennies saved one and two………” * Polysyndeton: “…… a time by bulldozing the grocer and the vegetable man and the butcher.” * Personification: “The dull precious metal seemed to flash with a reflection of her bright and ardent soul.” * Repetition: “…… looked out dully at a gray cat walking a gray fence in a gray backyard.” * Simile: “…… about her rippling and shining like a cascade of brown waters.” * Metaphor: “Oh, and the next two hours tripped