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So now, rather than them both having something they value, what they have materially is worthless and all they are left with is their relationship. For her, the main obstacle that poverty poses to her happiness is its limitation of her expression of love. Start your 48-hour free trial to get access to more than 30,000 additional guides and more than 350,000 Homework Help questions answered by our experts. Get answers from Weegy and a team of really smart live experts. All essays and papers are to be used as a research aid to assist students in the preparation of their own original paper. The documents downloaded from eCheat.com or its affiliates are not to be plagiarized.
An off-Broadway musical version entitled The Gifts of the Magi premiered at Lamb's Theatre in New York City in 1984. Written by Mark St. Germain and Randy Courts, the play is regularly produced in schools and regional theaters. Explain the element of irony, surprise and the power of love in The Gift of the Magi.
Material versus Spiritual
However, they are very poor and don’t have the money to buy the gifts that they want to give. I’m not sure how much Jim has, but it’s not much. They want to buy each other really nice gifts, but as you know, it’s hard to buy really nice gifts for a $1.87 or less. Jim has this really nice watch that Della thinks would look really good on a brand new chain. Della has really nice hair that Jim thinks would look great adorned with brand new combs.
The sentimentality and personal value of these possessions is greater than any monetary value that could be ascribed to them. Start an Essay Della scours every store in town for two hours before finding the perfect gift for Jim. She notes the similarities between the simple yet valuable watch chain and her understated but loving husband. The watch chain is not merely a shiny trinket; instead, it represents Della’s regard for Jim, and the inherent value she sees in him. Similarly, the combs are not merely an extravagant bauble meant to impress Della; instead, they represent Jim’s commitment to Della and to their relationship.
What is the theme of the story “The Gift of the Magi” by O. Henry?
"The Gift of the Magi" is one of the best-known and most-adapted short stories in modern American literature. Henry, the pen name used by William Sydney Porter, it tells the story of a poor, young married couple, Jim and Della, who want to buy Christmas gifts for each other but don't have enough money. Originally published in The New York Sunday World newspaper, "The Gift of the Magi" also appeared in the 1906 O. In the “Gift of the Magi,” dramatic irony occurs when Della opens the gift from Jim, a set of tortoise shell combs, and briefly forgets that her hair isn’t long enough to wear them. Dramatic irony may also occur if a reader guesses in advance that Jim sold his watch to buy the coveted combs.
Students who utilize any model paper from eCheat.com or its affiliates are REQUIRED to cite all of the sources properly when writing their own paper. In the recent past, the literature has been emphasizing including gifted children in the regular classroom rather than placing the... The story, the couple acts on impulse as each strives to please their spouse. Esther Lombardi, M.A., is a journalist who has covered books and literature for over twenty years. Tone words are specialized terms that assist an author describe their feelings about a topic. Positive, negative, or neutral connotations are common in words.
'The Gift of the Magi' Discussion Questions
Both Jim and Della give selflessly, without expectation of reciprocity. Their sole motivation is to make the other person happy. This, combined with the personal meaning imbued in each of the gifts, conveys the story’s moral that true generosity is both selfless and thoughtful. Della sells her hair to a wig maker to buy a chain for Jim's watch for Christmas. Unbeknownst to her, however, Jim sells the watch to buy her a set of prized hair combs. Each gave up their most valued possession to get a gift for the other.
The mood ranges from happy to sad and everything in between. In The Gift of the Magi, what does the chain represent? The watch chain, like the combs, is a sign of the wife’s devotion to her husband. Her hair has the same emotional value for her as his watch had for him.
They both feel really stupid, but the narrator calls them wise. Unbeknownst to Della, Jim sold his watch in order to buy her the beautiful combs that she’s been wanting. These actions show that Jim and Della’s love is a sacrificial love. Each person is willing to sacrifice and give up their most prized possession in order to make the other person happy.
The beginning moments of the 2002 special It's a Very Merry Muppet Christmas Movie feature gags based on the story. For example, while Rizzo the Rat sells his collection of rare cheese to buy Gonzo a dish for his mold collection, Gonzo reveals he sold his mold collection to buy Rizzo a cheese slicer. In 1993, an episode of Mystery Science Theater 3000 had TV's Frank selling his hair and buying Dr. Forrester a watch fob. However, Dr. Forrester did not sell his watch to buy Frank a comb, merely thanking Frank for the watch fob for his still-owned watch.
The concepts of wealth and poverty are important themes in the story as well. While financially poor, Della and Jim prove to be emotionally rich. The love they have for each other overshadows their poverty. But in the final analysis, none of this matters.
Authors use tone words to convey whether they are feeling positively, negatively, or neutrally about the subject of their writing. The fundamental tension in “The Present of the Magi” is that Della does not have enough money saved to purchase the gift that she believes Jim deserves. The speaker has a sentimental and tranquil attitude toward his recollections. As a result, the poem’s overall tone is casual and sweet.
The main idea of "The Gift of the Magi" is that the value of a gift is in the giver, rather than the gift itself. Jim and Della, out of their love for each other, purchased a gift that required them to sacrifice something that was precious to them. Though that sacrifice thus made the gifts impractical, nevertheless they showed themselves to be understanding of true giving, true sacrifice, and true love. As Henry says, "Of all who give and receive gifts, tsuch as they are wises. Everywhere they are wisest. They are the magi." Jim and Della sell their most prized possessions in order to buy the other a special Christmas gift, but the gift each buys is specifically designed for the prized possession each one sold.
W.9-10.3d Use precise words and phrases, telling details, and sensory language to convey a vivid picture of the experiences, events, setting, and/or characters. Instruct students to write a story about a time they got a really crappy gift for Christmas. Then the Internet was invented and “Gift of the Magi” activities and lesson plans became easy to find. Which instigates the moral reflection that teaching is made up of sobs, sniffles, and smiles, with smiles predominating. They know the words “positive” and “negative,” but identifying a specific tone is a feat for most students.
While the gifts that Jim and Della gave each other cannot be used, they know how far they went to show each other their love and how invaluable their love truly is. The story ends with the narrator comparing these sacrificial gifts of love with those of the biblical Magi. The story concerns James and Della Dillingham Young, a young couple who, despite their poverty, individually resolve to give each other an elegant gift on Christmas Eve. Della sells her beautiful long hair in order to buy a platinum fob chain for Jim’s antique gold watch. Meanwhile, Jim pawns his treasured watch to purchase jeweled tortoiseshell combs for Della’s precious tresses. Both show they value their relationship more than material things.
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