William Sydney Porter (September 11, 1862 - June 5, 1910), known by his pen name O. Henry, was an American writer. O. Henry's short stories are known for their wit, wordplay, warm characterization and clever twist endings. William Sidney Porter was born on September 11, 1862, in Greensboro, North Carolina. His middle name at birth was Sidney; he changed the spelling to Sydney in 1898. His parents were Dr. Algernon Sidney Porter (1825-1888), a physician, and Mary Jane Virginia Swaim Porter (1833-1865). They were married on ...
Read More
William Sydney Porter (September 11, 1862 - June 5, 1910), known by his pen name O. Henry, was an American writer. O. Henry's short stories are known for their wit, wordplay, warm characterization and clever twist endings. William Sidney Porter was born on September 11, 1862, in Greensboro, North Carolina. His middle name at birth was Sidney; he changed the spelling to Sydney in 1898. His parents were Dr. Algernon Sidney Porter (1825-1888), a physician, and Mary Jane Virginia Swaim Porter (1833-1865). They were married on April 20, 1858. When William was three, his mother died from tuberculosis, and he and his father moved into the home of his maternal grandmother. As a child, Porter was always reading, everything from classics to dime novels; his favorite works were Lane's translation of One Thousand and One Nights, and Burton's Anatomy of Melancholy. -wikipedia
Read Less
The Gift of the Magi is one of many short stories written by O. Henry (1862-1910). Love and sacrifice are the dominant themes in this story. It concludes with an ironic twist. In fact, I use this story to teach my eighth graders the literary term of irony. Despite a few challenging vocabulary words, it can be easily understood, read aloud, and discussed in about thirty minutes. Again, this is a great story to teach not only about love and sacrifice but irony as well. Highly recommended.
KatieReads
Jan 31, 2008
Not the original version
The story has been changed from the original O. Henry version. Instead of a husband and wife, the characters are a brother and sister. I wish I had known this before I bought it for my husband for Christmas.