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Essay / Research Paper Abstract
A 5 page essay that discusses the career of William Sydney Porter, who is better known by his pseudonym of “O. Henry,” a man who is one of America’s most prolific writers of the short story genre (O. Henry, Writer). Over the course of his career, O. Henry wrote roughly 600 short stories, which were published in 14 volumes (William Sydney Porter). A master of suspense, O. Henry portrayed the lives of ordinary people, but would typically use a plot twist that gave his stories a characteristic sense of irony (O. Henry). It is O. Henry’s trademark sense of irony that gives one of his best known stories, “The Gift of the Magi,” its grace and meaning. The paper focuses on discusses this story. Bibliography lists 5 sources.
Page Count:
5 pages (~225 words per page)
File: D0_khoheng.rtf
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Unformatted sample text from the term paper:
Henry, Writer). Over the course of his career, O. Henry wrote roughly 600 short stories, which were published in 14 volumes (William Sydney Porter). A master of suspense, O. Henry
portrayed the lives of ordinary people, but would typically use a plot twist that gave his stories a characteristic sense of irony (O. Henry). It is O. Henrys trademark sense
of irony that gives one of his best known stories, "The Gift of the Magi," its grace and meaning. O. Henry begins this story by first picturing Della, a
young wife, Mrs. James Dillingham Young, who is distraught and in tears over the fact that she has only $1.87 with which to buy her beloved husband a Christmas gift.
The details that O. Henry then provides show that the couple, while not destitute are definitely at the stage of their marriage where they must pinch pennies, as Jims income
was cut from $30 to just $20 per week. Della has been saving "every penny she could for months," but, even in the early twentieth century, "Twenty dollars a week
doesnt go far" (Porter). The authors choice of words show the depth and breadth of this young wifes devotion to her husband, as she longs to buy something "worthy" of
being owned by "Her Jim" (Porter). As Della contemplates her options, she considers her reflection and O. Henry introduces the factor on which the irony of the story will
be based, which is that within their household, there are two possession in which Della and Jim "took a mighty pride" (Porter). One of these possessions is Jims watch, which
was handed down to him from his father and his grandfather. Dellas most prideful possession is her hair, which hung to her knees. It is obvious that Della has
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