Author's Note~ This is my analysis piece that I want to score a 9 in text analysis. I inserted a quote as well to improve my score.
The sacrifice
that someone can do for someone can be unbelievable at some times. In The
Gift of the Magi, by O. Henry a couple sacrifice their own favorite
possessions for each other. In the short
story Della had her hair cut off to buy a gift for her husband watch, while her
husband Jim sold his watch away to buy her a really nice comb set. O. Henry was able to show a perfect example
of how people sacrifice things for each
other.
The tone from
this story is evident from the beginning.
The tone was sacrificing for others.
As a nice person I myself try to sacrifice time for others. I believe that even though I have a better
life than the poor I should still designate time to help them out and sacrifice
myself. People think that sacrificing
your time can be a hard thing. It really isn't with the charities today you can even sacrifice an old teddy bear or a
used coat you don’t want anymore. Like
the say one man’s trash is another man’s treasure. Della could have kept her hair and not got
her husband anything but she sacrificed
her hair because she cares for her husband. "If Jim doesn't kill me," she said
to herself, "before he takes a second look at me, he'll say I look like a
Coney Island chorus girl. But what could I do--oh! what could I do with a
dollar and eighty- seven cents?" pg.2
Sacrificing things for loved ones happens all
the time, like The Hunger Games. Katniss sacrificed herself to help save Peeta
in the cave. In the Hunger Games you can
see how much the games made them care about each other and then it caused
Katniss to save Peeta's life. Also just
like in the story it is clear that Della and Jim sacrifice a possession for
each others love. As the tone changes
you can tell that when they revealed their gifts they were awestruck. Both of them were surprised but knew that
they had given up something for each other.
Being awestruck at first sight I believe this
also taught you a lesson and at the end the tone was clear. As you read the last paragraph you saw that
all though these people may have been considered foolish, they are considered
the wisest because they gave and received.
When you think about sacrificing something sometimes it is worth
thinking if they would sacrifice something from you. That is what I learned from this piece. From Jim giving up his biggest possession and
same with Della they both thought that there plan would be perfect, well it
turned out that they were wrong but sacrificed a lot.
The whole tone of the story is the thought of
sacrificing something that you may not want to do. Evident through the story the tone changed
towards the end and the characters learned a lesson and that they should always
think before they sacrifice their most prized possessions. Showing how people sacrifice things for
others O. Henry showed a perfect example of how people were able to learn a
lesson while doing something right.
