Eng125: Assignment Week 2

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ENG125: Journey into Literature Instructor: Linda O’Conner Laurie Smith July 23, 2012 The overall theme to a story is a more, broader scope of what happens in the story. The plot tells you what is happening in the story, but the theme tells what the story is about. You are also required to ask yourself questions, such as how is the author using the setting for his or her ideas, (Clugston, R. Wayne, 2010)? The other aspect that may vary from different people is the characters themselves and conflict with either strength or worth of the ideas of the author. I chose the story,” The Gift of Magi”, by William Sidney Porter. His pen name was known as O. Henry. The theme of this story was about a young couple that reflected self-less, Un-sacrificed love. You can’t simply state that the story is about love. It has to be more specific, in order to make the story more concrete, (Clugston, R. Wayne, 2010). The contribution to the theme of this story is the characters themselves. The author gives enough information about Jim and Della, that you can visualize how they are in personality and the way they felt for each other and I could make the connection with them. The description of the home was the setting, even though Della did have to go out into town. Symbolism was used, because the author clearly stated that it was Christmas time and this was the plot of the story, for it was the financial situation of the couple and the sacrifice they both made for each other, to purchase the perfect gift for each other. This for me made me realize that both Jim and Della, at the end of the story were both considered to be Protagonists. The Protagonist is considered to be the main character of the literary work, (Clugston, R. Wayne, 2010). The irony of the story is they both were considered to be the hero or heroine, which possesses the noble or positive values. I loved after
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