Final Project By: Tristen Mosier The Elements of

Exposition/Inciting Incident Exposition Introduction of characters & setting
Sets tone and mood
Provides background info Inciting Incident Introduced Jim and Della
Tomorrow is Christmas
They are poor
Jim & Della love each other Della wants to give Jim a Christmas present, but doesn’t have one. Event that introduces the central conflict<br>

Rising Action/Climax Rising Action Development of conflict & complications Della has saved every extra penny, but after expenses she only has $1.87. 2 most valued things: Jim’s heirloom watch and Della’s hair Climax High point of interest or suspense/turning point Della makes the decision to cut her hair for money.<br>

Falling Action/Resolution Falling Action Resolution Events that follow the climax Got $20 for hair
Searches for present
Buys chain for watch/cost $21
Della fixes/curls hair before Jim comes home Central conflict is ended Della gives Jim the chain & Jim gives Della combs for her hair.<br>

Dénouement What follows the resolution & ties up loose ends Jim sold the watch for money to buy Della’s combs
Della sold hair to buy Jims chain for his watch It is stated that these two were wise like the magi, because each sacrificed their most valued treasure for the other. Dénouement<br>

To find the climax of this story was a great challenge. It was difficult to pin point what the turning point of the story was along with what the point of suspense was. I chose when Della cut her hair for the climax, because of many reasons. One reason is that Della needed money, and the only way she thought she could get it quickly was by cutting her hair. Also her decision to cut her hair was suspenseful, since that was one of the two things they valued most. Cutting her hair led into the falling action, during which she was able to find a gift for Jim, and eventually led to the exchange of gifts resolving the conflict. Plot Elements/ Climax<br>

The Dénouement in this story is very important. The Dénouement ties up loose ends and helps the reader fully understand the end of the story. In the Dénouement it explains that Jim sold his watch (which was one of the things they valued most), to buy Della’s combs for her hair. And since Della cut and sold her hair she could not use the combs she was given. Jim could then not use the chain for his watch since he sold it. In the end the theme is revealed, because even though their most prized possessions were gone, Della and Jim were wise for putting each other first. Plot elements/Dénouement<br>

Characterization- allows the reader to feel and empathize with the character
In “The Gift of the Magi” O. Henry did a good job developing Della as a major character through indirect characterization. From reading the story I learned Della is a poor, intelligent wife of Jim(another major character), and will do anything for him because she loves him. She also has long, beautiful hair. We assume Della is an attractive lady based on looks, in the category of indirect characterization. The author tells us that Della was crying while trying to decide whether or not to cut off her hair, indicating she valued her hair and she didn’t want to get rid of it. In the end she did cut it because she loved Jim that much. I also determined she is wise for thinking of cutting off her hair for money. The more we read and learn about the characters, the more we feel sympathy for Della and Jim and their difficult predicament. Characterization<br>

The setting of a story is very important. Time, place and the details that make up time and place are what contribute to the setting. “The Gift of the Magi” takes place in a furnished flat in New York City, the day before Christmas. The time of this story is important because it explains why Della and Jim need a present for each other. The furnished flat held a shabby couch and below was the letter box and door bell that sat broken and unused, indicating to the reader that Della and Jim are poor and have had some money issues. The location of the story changes depending on where Della is. When Della goes to Madame Sofronie’s hair shop, the reader follows her and learns what she does there. At the end of the story Della and Jim both exchange gifts back in the shabby apartment, which concludes the story. Setting<br>

The story is told by an outside Narrator, not a character from the story. This story is written in 3rd Person Limited point of view. The reason I chose this point of view was the narrator focused on Della throughout the whole story and the reader moved along with Della. This allowed the reader to know what she was doing throughout the story. Examples of 3rd person are “Suddenly she whirled from the window and stood before the glass” and “Now, there were two possessions of the James Dillingham Youngs in which they both took a mighty pride” and “Jim had not yet seen his beautiful present.” Some exceptions to the 3rd person narration are, “introduced to you as Della” and “perhaps you have seen a pier-glass” which are both examples of 2nd person narration. Despite the few exceptions of 2nd person narration, I was still able to determine the narrator is using 3rd Person Limited. The tone of this story could be described as compassionate and sympathetic. One example to show this would be when the narrator directs the reader away from Della to let her gradually subside from her crying. This is a compassionate act by the narrator to allow Della to regain her composure, and this shows the narrator has sympathy for her. The narrator can be considered reliable based on the fact that the information is not biased. Point of View/Narrator/Voice<br>

Wisest are those who put others first & are willing to sacrifice for someone else.

To uncover what the theme was for this story I used clues the author provided in the text.
The title of the story “The Gift of the Magi” makes me think of presents and wise magi.
Throughout the story the two most valued things(hair and watch) were repeated symbols.
Della and Jim learned that they would each give up their most valued treasure for the other. Theme<br>

In conclusion I have explained the five elements of literature in the “The Gift of the Magi”. Throughout this presentation I have demonstrated how the elements of literature are important in understanding a story. Without these elements understanding a story would be a lot more difficult and challenging. Conclusion<br>