The Elements of Literature in

“The Gift of the Magi”

By: O. Henry
Final Project By: Tristen Mosier
 Introduction

 The elements of literature are important in

understanding a story. I use “The Gift of the Magi” to
explain these elements in this project. The five
elements of literature that I will be explaining are
plot, characterization, setting, point of
view/narrator/voice and theme. The plot diagram will
be described first to help the audience understand
the storyline.
 Plot Diagram
Climax

Fa
n

lli
it o

ng
Ac

Ac
g

tio
s in
Ri

n
Exposition Dénouement

Inciting Incident
Resolution
 Exposition/Inciting Incident

• Introduction of characters & setting

• Sets tone and mood
• Provides background info

Event that
• Introduced Jim and Della
introduces the
• Tomorrow is Christmas
central conflict
• They are poor Inciting Incident
• Jim & Della love each other

Exposition Della wants to give

Jim a Christmas
present, but doesn’t
have one.
 Rising Action/Climax
Climax
High point of interest or
Rising Action suspense/turning point

• Development of conflict &

complications
Della makes the decision to cut
2 most valued things: Jim’s her hair for money.
heirloom watch and Della’s
hair

Della has saved

every extra
penny, but after
expenses she
only has $1.87.
 Falling Action/Resolution
Falling Action

Events that follow

the climax

Central conflict is ended

Resolution
• Got $20 for hair Della gives Jim the chain & Jim
• Searches for present gives Della combs for her hair.
• Buys chain for watch/cost $21
• Della fixes/curls hair before Jim
comes home
 Dénouement

Dénouement

What follows the • Jim sold the watch for

resolution & ties up money to buy Della’s
loose ends 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.
 Plot Elements/ Climax

 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/Dénouement

 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.
 Characterization

 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.
 Setting

 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.
 Point of View/Narrator/Voice

 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 3 rd
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 2 nd person narration. Despite the few exceptions of
2nd person narration, I was still able to determine the narrator is using 3 rd 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.
 Theme

 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.
 Conclusion

 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.