The Gift Of The Magi

"The Necklace," "A Monkey's Paw," and "The Gift of Magi" all have a distinctive technique that leads to a deeper meaning of the story. The technique of "The Necklace" is represented by symbolism of the necklace. In "A Monkey's Paw," the technique that is seen is foreshadowing. In "The Gift of Magi," irony is the technique that is noticed throughout the story. All three short stories deal with the irony of consequence. Each story involved a major decision and in each case the result of the decision was incredibly unexpected. Through symbolism, foreshadowing, and irony the authors conclude that what's inside the heart is far more important than material wealth.

One of the most popular short stories of all time is a prime example of American Realism. I am talking of course about “Gift of the Magi.” Written by O. Henry in 1905, the story follows the troubles a young couple goes through in order to scrape enough money together to get each other gifts for Christmas. The young lady sells her hair so that she can buy her husband a watch chain, but to her dismay when he arrives home, he informed her that he sold his watch in order to get her an assortment of combs. Both gifts are useless because of what they did to get the present for one another. The struggle of middle class is apparent in the story, the young couple has yet to establish themselves in society and find it difficult just to enjoy themselves. The one time they try to splurge and buy a gift, it backfires. This really rings true to the majority of people who are not rich, and do not live extravagant lifestyles. The trials and tribulations that most have to go through at some point in their life is represented in “Gift of the Magi.” Although it seems that everything went wrong, in reality the gifts were much more meaningful; The gift that the couple gives to one another is not a watch band or a set of combs, but rather the gift of sacrifice. The gift that is not always what people imagine as “the perfect present” but is really the most important and realistic

It was one week from Della's 30th birthday and Jim didn't have enough money to

The Gift of the Magi Argumentative Research Paper: Did Jim and Della perform an act of Selfless Love?

The short story I read was “A Christmas Memory” by Truman Capote. The book was mainly about two characters, Buddy and his friend, and a memorable Christmas that they spent together a couple of years back before Buddy’s friend passed away. Basically the whole story is a memoir, his own memories and experiences , because Buddy is reminiscing on the past and is speaking upon the memories that he remembers from that Christmas spent with his friend. Even though it was a short story, Capote did a well enough job of describing not only the characters, but also their relationship with literary devices such as figurative language, symbolism, theme, and many more.

Christmas is recognized by the general public as a time to celebrate family and give gifts. Which it is, but gifts can go way deeper than physical objects. This is exhibited in a book, The Greatest Gift, and a movie, It’s a Wonderful Life. In 1943, Philip Van Doren Stern wrote the Greatest Gift. It tells the tale of George, a person who is about to kill himself but is then shown what the world would be like without him and realizes he shouldn’t kill himself. Unable to find a publisher for it, Philip put the story on his Christmas cards and mailed them to friends. A couple of his publisher friends thoroughly enjoyed it and made the move to publish it in a newspaper. This caught the attention of film director Frank Capra. He decided to fill in

Short stories everywhere all have exceptional ideas, and deep plots. They are able to share plots of murder and irony, or even love and romance. The stories The Gift of the Magi,by O.Henry, and Lamb to the Slaughter, by Roald Dahl, both have great plots, author's craft, and symbolism. One, about two lovers who cannot afford a Christmas gift, and will sacrifice it all for love, and another, about a murder, and its cover up. While both stories are compelling to readers, The Gift of the Magi is the better story when compared to each other because of its symbolism, imagery and is able to identify with readers.

Did you know that you can use only three literary elements to get your point across? Edgar Allan Poe, James Hurst and O. Henry all used conflict, foreshadowing, and irony in their stories to send the reader different meanings. In Edgar Allan Poe’s story, The Cask of Amontillado, he uses three main literary elements: conflict, irony, and foreshadowing to convey his message of humility. Poe wrote, “The thousand injuries of Fortunato I borne as best I could, but when he ventured upon insult, I vowed revenge.

During the holiday season, everyone is reminded of how good it feels to give gifts to one another, and how it can almost feel better to give a gift than receive one. Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck, and The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald are two novels that help readers understand the satisfactory feeling connected with giving. In the story, Of Mice and Men, two men who travel together in an attempt to find work with an ultimate goal of buying land and living together in peace and harmony. The Great Gatsby is a novel about Nick Carraway, a man from the midwest moving eastward to New York. The novel focuses of Nick’s encounters with the man Jay Gatsby. Nick is surprised by the aristocratic nature of the upper class and the preposterous measures people will take to get what they want. In Of Mice and Men and The Great Gatsby, Steinbeck and Fitzgerald use the characters George Milton, and Jay Gatsby to portray how the desire for material possession is often driven by the pleasure of someone else.

Short stories have been written since the beginning of time, from drawings on cave walls to short stories by Edgar Allen Poe. Many people write these stories to explain their life experiences and feelings. “A Perfect Day for Bananafish” and “The Gift of the Magi” are two great examples of short stories that contain a lot of these feelings. They are explained through many literary elements. While both stories are well written, thoughtful, and contain many literary elements, “A Perfect Day for Bananafish” takes the reader deeper through symbolism, imagery, and tremendous details that impact them greatly.

Conflict is opposing actions, ideas, and decisions that hold a plot together. Clugston (2014) states “Conflict is the struggle that shapes the plot in a story” (4.1 Plot, para. 4). Conflicts are also encountered in most of the literature we read for pleasure. It can create personal connections and instill deeper meanings to our experiences as we read, especially if we can relate what is read to our personal life.

The twists and turns of the plot as it unfolds within O. Henry 's “The Gift of the Magi” are what simply captivate the reader in such a short amount of pages. The story of Jim and Della on a cold Christmas Eve at the turn of 20th century America is centered around what is remarkably relevant to what many readers have experienced in their own lives; the inevitable stresses, sacrifices, and joys of the holiday season.

Stories of love and sacrifice abound in literature. Perhaps one of the most well known stories among teens and adults is the tale of a poor, young couple struggling to find the perfect Christmas gifts for each other using their very limited means. They each manage to get what they think is the perfect gift for the other, but only accomplish this by selling a prized possession which effectively makes the new gifts impractical. This bittersweet narrative, “The Gift of the Magi” by O. Henry, illustrates the moral idea that a person, motivated by nothing but love for another, can possess a willingness to give in a self-denying way which necessitates that the reader consider that wealth be measured by something more than having money

“My purpose is to show that in every human heart there is an innate tendency towards a respectable life; that even those who have fallen to the lowest depths in the social scale would, if they could, get back to the higher life…”(Rollins 7-8 ). O`Henry came up with this philosophy when writing his many different, entertaining stories. “The Gift of the Magi” was initially published in 1906 in O`Henry`s second collection of stories. “The Gift of the Magi” is a perfect story to illustrate how people do anything for the ones they love. The main characters each sell their most valued possession in order to buy the other the perfect Christmas present. They each bought the other something to complement their prized possession. Ironically, they had both sold their prized possession to get the other a gift.However, they bought gifts that were now useless to one another. Themes have some aspect of life, general truth, or moral that is shown throughout the story by the author. The themes in this short story really stand out to the reader. The way in which the two main characters demonstrate their selflessness for each other helps to emphasize the three major themes: poverty, love, and sacrifice.

Authors use literary elements to enhance their writing through details to describe a scene in the author’s writing, or use language to elevate the story. “The Gift of the Magi” by O. Henry and “The Necklace” by Guy de Maupassant, both use many literary elements to give their writing more depth. “The Gift of the Magi” uses irony throughout the story when Della and her husband, Jim, both do not have enough money to buy each other gifts for Christmas. “The Necklace” uses a lot of detail to show what Madame (Mme.) Loisel dreams of at the beginning of the short story. “The Necklace” is one of the many short stories that use literary elements to elevate the story and keep the reader engaged in the author’s writing.