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
Exposition
Inciting Incident
Dénouement
Resolution
Exposition/Inciting Incident
• Introduction of characters & setting
• Sets tone and mood
• Provides background info
•
•
•
•
Introduced Jim and Della
Tomorrow is Christmas
They are poor
Jim & Della love each other
Exposition
Inciting Incident
Event that
introduces the
central conflict
Della wants to give Jim
a Christmas present,
but doesn’t have one.
Rising Action/Climax
Climax
High point of interest or
suspense/turning point
Rising Action
• Development of conflict &
complications
2 most valued things: Jim’s
heirloom watch and Della’s
hair
Della has saved
every extra
penny, but after
expenses she
only has $1.87.
Della makes the decision to cut
her hair for money.
Falling Action/Resolution
Falling Action
Events that follow
the climax
Central conflict is ended
•
•
•
•
Resolution
Got $20 for hair
Searches for present
Buys chain for watch/cost $21
Della fixes/curls hair before Jim
comes home
Della gives Jim the chain & Jim
gives Della combs for her hair.
Dénouement
Dénouement
What follows the
resolution & ties up
loose ends
• Jim sold the watch for
money to buy Della’s
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 3rd 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 2nd person narration. Despite the few
exceptions of 2nd person narration, I was still able to determine the narrator is using 3rd
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.