1. By William Sydney Porter (a.k.a. O. Henry)

2. Summary : Della and Jim are a poor couple in a small flat in New York City during the Great Depression. Della only has a $1.87 with which to buy a Christmas present for her husband. To get the money she needs to buy a good gift she needs to sell her most prized possession, her hair, to Mme. Sofronie. After shopping around for a while, she decides to buy a platinum fob (chain) to go with her husband’s most prized possession, his watch. She eagerly waits for him to return home so she can give him his gift. When Jim comes home he is not only shocked to see that Della had cut her hair, but dismayed to find that she had bought a chain for the very watch he had sold to buy a set of combs for her beautiful, long hair. After realizing they had sold away their most prized possessions to purchase gifts for each other, they set their gifts to the side and continued their lives with a new respect for each other. They realized that their love for each other was unconditional and would conquer all difficulties.

3. Basics: Protagonist- Della Antagonist- Poverty Conflict- Man vs. Society because poverty is based on the wealth of the society you live in, and during the Depression no one had any money, so the whole story Della was fighting poverty when trying to afford a present for Jim.

4. Plot: Rising Action: When Della was shopping for a present for Jim, cut off her hair, and bought the pocket watch chain. Climax: When Jim and Della exchange presents and realize the irony in the fact that they bought each other presents neither of them could use! Falling Action: Jim laughs, Della put pork chops on the stove, happy celebrating Christmas together even after the present fiasco. Denouement: They realize that they both love each other very much and would do anything for each other.

5. Literature Devices: Irony- when the result of an event in a story is the opposite of what the characters though would happen In the story Jim sold his pocket watch for a set of combs for Della’s long hair which she sold to buy a chain for his watch.

6. Thanks for watching (Don’t fail your tests!) By: Meagan, Erika, Coleman, Harrison, and Assad