Situational irony was a key factor in The Gift of The Magi. Without the irony‚ the story would have been less interesting to readers and have a lesser meaning. The irony connects the story together fully and catches the reader’s eye. Della and Jim‚ the two main characters‚ are married and live in a small flat together. They are poor and only have 2 items that they see to have great value‚ Della’s hair and Jim’s watch. Della’s hair is long‚ curly‚ and beautiful. Jim’s watch is gold and has been passed
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short story‚ “The Gift of Magi” by O.Henry‚ Jim and Della make sacrifices for each other that show their love. Jim and Della have many financial troubles‚ but they still show their strong love for each other. Also‚ the watch that Jim carries around with him is one of his most‚ valued‚ prized possessions. Lastly‚ the irony shown throughout the story comes with a big twist. O.Henry projects the idea that love is shown through selfless actions by Della not having enough money to buy Jim a gift‚ a symbolic
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In each of the stories stated there is quite a predicament. In O.Henry’s “The Gift of the Magi” Della and Jim are both faced with a contradiction: they need to buy each other a Christmas present but do not have the money to do so. Both end up making sacrifices and it turns out that the presents that they got each other were for the sacrifices that they made. In Guy de Maupassant’s “The Necklace” Mathilde and Loisel also faced with a contradiction: they have lost a necklace that Mathilde borrowed
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O.Henry‚ whose short stories had built up his great reputation. And the story “The gift of the Magi” was one of those short stories. Anyone who reads this story for the first time may mistake it for a fairy tale because of its title. However there are underlying meanings behind this name‚ which substantially contribute to the value of this story. They are the author’s emphasis on the value of the gifts and his deep appreciation and admiration for the love of two main characters Jim and Della.
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“The Gift of the Magi” September 29‚ 2008 Prompt: O. Henry makes a statement about gift giving in his short story “The Gift of the Magi.” State what he says about gift giving and [discuss two ways he uses the story to make his statement.] In “The Gift of the Magi” O. Henry makes the statement that the wisest gift are those from the heart. He makes this point by [creating admirable characters] and by [using an allusion to the Magi.] [O. Henry’s statement that the wisest gift are
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Both “The Necklace” and “The Gift of the Magi” have plots that depend in large measure on the use of situational irony to create a surprise ending. “The Necklace” tells the story of Madame Mathilde Loise‚ a lowly clerk’s wife‚ who‚ in an effort to appear more debonaire than she is‚ borrows expensive jewels from Madame Jeanne Forestier‚ a wealthy friend. After the inevitable loss of the jewels‚ Madame Loisel and her husband secretly replace the jewels. Years later‚ Madame Loise‚ now impoverished
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The Gift of the Magi by William Sydney Porter Xinyan Zhu September 2‚ 2012 Comp1102 /Fall Mrs. Chambers The Gift of the Magi by William Sidney Porter William Sidney Porter‚ better known under his pen name “O. Henry”‚ born September 11 1862 in Greensboro North Carolina. Accused of embezzling bank fund‚ Henry was arrested and sentenced to three years in prison. During this dark period in his life‚ he begin his literary career with his stories that were to be collected in his first book
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The two stories‚ “The gift of the Magi” by O Henry and “The Necklace” by Guy de Maupassant shared similar themes and ironies. In the story “The gift of the Magi” both of the characters‚ Della and James‚ sacrifice the most important things they had (Della’s hair and James’s watch) to give the other happiness to find out the gifts were useless in the end while in “The Necklace”‚ Madame Loisel sacrifices both her own and her husband’s youth to pay for her friend’s necklace that she lost just to find
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“The Necklace” & “The Gift of the Magi” Share Common Theme Wanting more and better is one of the quality that we all have. In the stories “The Necklace” and “The Gift of the Magi”‚ both writers illustrate the consequences of greed. One would wonder if people do fine much happiness through their search for material? Perhaps greed does make one’s happy at times‚ but because of greed people bury themselves in the bottomless pit of pain and suffering. A dust material such
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Love Story by Taylor Swift. The lyrics of this song contain a reference to Romeo and Juliet‚ creating an allusion which once again‚ makes this song more memorable. In most stories‚ movies‚ and songs‚ the creator of said work‚ uses figurative language to help create description that he would be unable to when using just regular language. The stories The Scarlet Ibis by James Hurst‚ Harrison Bergeron by Kurt Vonnegut‚ and The Gift of the Magi
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