1.Expand your vocabulary

2.Expand your knowledge of English grammar

3.Understand the structure and the general idea of the story

4.Learn to analyze characters in the story

5.Learn about O. Henry and his writing

6.Learn to discuss friendship

7.Solve your own questions about the story

O. Henry 1862-1910

uone of the greatest short storywriters of America and the world

u little formal educationu various job experiences: pharmacist, ranch hand, land draftsman, bank teller, etc.

u alleged embezzlement 

u panic flee to Honduras in 1896 

u conviction & imprisonment(1898-1901)

u successful career as a writer in NY

u the “O. Henry conclusion/ending”

u representative works: “The Gift of the Magi”,“The Cop and the Anthem”,“The Ransom of the Red Chief”

The O. Henry Ending

•O. Henry's most famous stories make simple yet effective use of paradoxical coincidences to produce ironic endings. For example, in “TheGift of the Magi”a husband sells his watch to buy his wife a Christmas present of a pair of haircombs; unknown to him, she cuts and sells her long hair to buy him a Christmas present of a new chain for his watch. His style of storytelling became a model not only for short fiction, but also for American motion pictures and television programs. This kind of ending to a story is called an ironic ending, a surprise ending, or an O. Henry ending.

• In our story, we don’t know what happened twenty years ago that made them so special to each other. But it was clear that Jim was a good honest man andalways true to his friends and Bob admired and trusted him. Slipping along this way, we would expect a very touching story. But the ending is very dramatic,surprising, and even ironic.