Sunday, October 27, 2013
The Gift of the Magi
To continue with the theme of the last 2 posts I will talk to you about the third and last short story that I enjoyed growing up. Any guesses? The answer is of course The Gift of the Magi by O. Henry. What about this story appealed to young Kyle you might ask? Well I've always been the loyal type to my friends and the romantic type to those that I'm interested in even back when I was younger. *Spoiler Alert* but the fact a couple sacrificed things they held so dear to them for the other one was very touching to me. The man sold his watch that was passed down thru his family to buy a set of combs for his wife while the woman sold her hair for a chain for the husband's watch. Not only does this tell you how well they know each other but also shows you the love they have for each other to willingly give up something to show how much that person means to them not to mention the fact they weren't even mad at each other once they found out what happened. The knowledge they gained that day was the true gift and that is priceless.
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This short story was always one of my favorites to teach in December. Too often my high school students were too focused on material things--give me more. There were always a few who sat on the sidelines of the discussions who I knew were going to receive very little for Christmas gifts because of financial circumstances with their families. Reading this story and talking about the true meaning of gift-giving plus the feelings of deep meaningful love and sacrifices made by the couple for each other usually put everything into perspective for those young minds and hearts. Well, not always, but there was hope!
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