O. Henry

O. Henry  Born William Sidney Porter  Master of short stories  Much better known under his pen name “O. Henry”  Born September 11, 1862 in North Carolina, where he spent his childhood.

 His only formal education helped him develop a lifelong love of books.  In his uncle's pharmacy, he became a licensed pharmacist.

At the age of 20:  came to Texas primarily for health reasons  worked on a sheep ranch  gained a knowledge for ranch life that he later described in many of his short stories.

 In 1884, Porter moved to Austin.  For the next three years, he held several jobs.  It was during this time that Porter first used his pen name, O. Henry, said to be derived from his frequent calling of “Oh, ‘Henry’” a family cat.

 After a few years, however, he left the bank and founded the Rolling Stone, an unsuccessful humor weekly.  Starting in 1895 he wrote a column for the Houston Daily Post.

 Meanwhile, Porter was accused of embezzling funds dating back to his employment at the First National Bank.  Leaving his wife and young daughter in Austin, Porter fled to New Orleans, then to Honduras, but soon returned due to his wife's deteriorating health.

 She died soon afterward, and in early 1898 Porter was found guilty of the banking charges and sentenced to five years in an Ohio prison.  From this low point in Porter's life, he began a remarkable comeback.

 Three years and about a dozen short stories later, he emerged from prison as "O. Henry" to help shield his true identity.  He moved to New York City, where over the next ten years before his death in 1910, he published over 300 stories and gained worldwide acclaim as America's favorite short story writer.

 O. Henry wrote with realistic detail based on his first hand experiences both in Texas and in New York City.

 Porter died on June 5, 1910 in New York City at the age of forty seven.  An alcoholic, he died virtually penniless.

Style  settings: most laid in either New York or Texas  characters: include shop girls and millionaires, policemen and burglars, cowboys and tramps, confidence men and southern gentlemen, and other assorted types.

 manner: usually that of the garrulous taleteller, and his style is almost invariably breezy, flippant, and slangy, with puns, malapropisms, and big words used for humorous effect.  stories: liberally sprinkled with asides in which he addresses the reader in a familiar and chatty tone.

 Literary allusions, often made facetiously, are common, and there are many references to other writers....  Although he usually used stock story formulas, O. Henry had an undoubted gift for devising ingenious variations on them.

 Coincidence figures largely in his stories, and they often have a surprise twist, or "snapper," as O. Henry called it.  Unabashed sentiment and the broadest kind of comedy and burlesque are other conspicuous ingredients.  In addition, O. Henry usually made his contrived stories illustrate some more or less serious theme

Works  The Four Million,1906  Heart of the West, 1907  The Trimmed Lamp, 1907  The Gentle Grafter, 1908  The Voice of the City, 1908  Options, 1909  Strictly Business, 1910

 Sixes and Sevens, 1911  Rolling Stones, 1912  Waifs and Strays, 1917  O. Henryana, 1920  Letters to Lithopolis, 1922  Postscripts, 1923  O. Henry Encore, 1939

 O. Henry's most representative collection was probably The Four Million.  The title and the stories answered the snobbish claim of socialite Ward McAllister that only 400 people in New York "were really worth noticing" by detailing events in the lives of everyday Manhattanites.

The Gift of the Magi Jim and Della Dillingham Young  a couple who are very much in love with each other  can barely afford their one-room apartment opposite the elevated train due to their very bad economic condition.

 For Christmas, Della decides to buy Jim a chain for his prized pocket watch given to him by his father.  To raise the funds, she has her prized long hair cut off and sold to make a wig.  Meanwhile, Jim decides to sell his watch to buy Della a beautiful set of combs for her lovely, knee-length hair.

 The moral of the story is that physical possessions, however valuable they may be, are of little value in the grand scheme of things.  The true unselfish love that the characters, Jim and Della, share is greater than their possessions.

Stephen Crane ( )

Primary Works  Maggie, A Girl of the Streets, 1893, 《街头女郎麦琪》  The Red Badge of Courage, 1895, 《红色英勇勋章》  The Black Riders, 1895, 《黑骑士》

Brief Introduction  Stephen Crane was born in New Jersey in  If Protestant ministers do tend to have gifted children, it seems most likely that this is because of the schooling that these children underwent, but this doesn’t explain Stephen Crane.

 He entered school a year late, but in just a few weeks jumped ahead two grade levels because he was already fully literate.  He dropped out of more than one school.

 He was shy, and taciturn, which drove away possible friendships, and this in turn made him even more withdrawn.  Even at a young age he had no close friends.

 His father died in 1880, leaving the young man in the care of his mother.  She was strongly religious, and young Stephen rebelled against that by taking up cussing and smoking.

 But careful observers noted that he lit cigarettes and let them burn to ashes in his stained fingers, that he slid a drink around on a bar and left it unconsumed.  He never attended church with his mother except for once, half-drunk on red wine.

 finally gave up on formal education  began writing for money  moved to New York to study and live among the poverty stricken  tried to get a major written work published, he fell into deeper and deeper poverty himself, and refusing the aid of his family, he grew sick.

 Living with her in England, he became friends with Joseph Conrad, H.G. Wells and Henry James.  He wrote extensively to pay off the mounting debts that Cora was running up, but couldn’t keep up.

 Finally his tuberculosis got the better of him,  In 1900 he died after multiple attacks of hemorrhaging from the lungs.  He was 28 years old hemorrhage [ l hemərid ʒ ] n. 出血

Common themes and issues  Nature’s indifference to humanity  fallen humanity  effects of colors on the human mind  harsh realities of war  father/son relationships

 betrayal  guilt  rebellion  the physical, emotional, and intellectual responses of people under extreme pressure

Literary techniques  Tough-minded irony  allusions to war and fighting  comparisons and contradictions  dramatic personification  intertwined themes of sin and virtue  a vision of a demand for courage

 With all the attention to The Red Badge of Courage, not many people pay attention to Stephen Cranes works of poetry.  His poetry does not seem to be taught in high schools, even though it seems like a natural there, with its clear language and varied themes.