The Gift of Magi free essay sample

Country Lovers Alyssa Helm English 125 Instructor: David Makhanlall November 7, 2011 Themes: The Gift of Magi It is always great to read stories where the author is able to show love between two characters. â€Å"The Gift of Magi† was a great example of this. This story showed how a couple’s love was so strong between the two, that they were able to give up their most prize possessions for one another. â€Å"The Gift of Magi† allows the reader to be able to relate to this love story with a heartwarming theme of love vs. material things. As a reader reading this story there were a lot of themes or meanings that this story has. A theme: â€Å"it is not a statement about a dominant impression or mood; it is not a moral or proposition; it is not the attitude of the writer. Theme is more complex than any of these elements of fiction; it cant be defined in a single word† (Clugston, R. We will write a custom essay sample on The Gift of Magi or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page W. (2010). The most important would be showing the limits a person would go for someone that they love, even if it means giving up the most important thing to them. Della, with only $1. 7, wanted to make sure that she was able to provide her husband with what she felt would be the best Christmas gift. Della considered her long, brown hair as one of her most prized possessions. But, when it came down to her hair or getting her husband Jim a Christmas gift she did not think twice about cutting it. The twenty dollars that the woman offered her at the hair shop seemed to be just enough for her to be able to purchase the perfect gift. There were many literary elements that contributed to the theme of this story. The first one would be symbols. There are two main symbols that are represented in this story. This would be Della’s long brown hair and her husband Jim’s gold watch. . Had the queen of Sheba lived in the flat across the airshaft, Della would have let her hair hang out the window some day to dry just to depreciate Her Majestys jewels and gifts. Had King Solomon been the janitor, with all his treasures piled up in the basement, Jim would have pulled out his watch every time he passed, just to see him pluck at his beard from envy(Clugston, R. W. (2010). These two things are focused on the most in this story. The end result in this story has a twist on it. Della and Jim both bought things to compliment each other’s prized possessions. The focus was mainly put on Della’s hair however at the end of the story it reveals how her husband Jim had sold his watch so that he was able to purchase the hair barrettes that she couldn’t use now because she cut her hair. Della didn’t know what reaction she would get from her husband, she even went home to style her now short hair so that it maybe her husband would accept her drastic cut. The couple did this only to find out at the end of the story that they both got rid of what was most important so they could buy each other a gift for the holidays. The second literary element that would contribute to this them would be the point of view. This story was told in third person. This means that the story contained a narrator. â€Å"Its important to remember that the narrator, whether a character inside the story or one looking on from outside the action, is a voice invented by the author for the purposes of the story. Clugston, R. W. (2010). I feel like with this story it helps set the mood and was able to allow the reader to sympathize with the couple. I say this because the narrator is able to describe in full detail the feelings of each character. We are able to see things that we would not if the character had been telling the story. The narrator is able to provide us with full detail about each facial expression, or feeling that is told. Although this couple was only trying to make sure they each had something for Christmas, I feel like if they had communication they would have been able to avoid losing items that meant the most to them. I totally understand how much it means to be able to buy your loved one something on a holiday, but it’s not always about materialistic things as you have each other. Reference Page 1) Clugston, R. W. (2010). Journey into Literature.

Quotes to Help You Celebrate Everyday Life

Quotes to Help You Celebrate Everyday Life You wake up every morning, wondering what the day has in store for you. It could be a fun day full of happy surprises, new friendships, and accomplishment, or it could be a lousy day with the boss yelling at you, your car breaking down, or your cat running off. Some days are good; some not so good. However, life is always good. Albert Einstein said, In the middle of difficulty lies opportunity. If you look at life positively, you may find that a hurdle is a stepping stone to success. Instead of making excuses, you find reasons to succeed. Each failure teaches us important lessons in life. Successes and failures are part of life. Recharge your soul with positive thinking. Start your day by affirming that life is good. Quotes that build positive energy are great stress busters. Quotes Helen Keller: So long as the memory of certain beloved friends lives in my heart, I shall say that life is good.Dan Brookoff: Pain does not have a moral value. Drugs do not have a moral value. Life is good; to be cherished, promoted and supported. We, as physicians, should not be moralizing about pain or its treatments.Euripides: There is just one life for each of us: our own.Boris Pasternak: The great majority of us are required to live a life of constant duplicity. Your health is bound to be affected if, day after day, you say the opposite of what you feel,  if you grovel before what you dislike, and rejoice at what brings you nothing but misfortune.Doug Horton: Life is good when we think its good. Life is bad when we dont think.Samuel Johnson: Almost every man wastes part of his life in attempts to display qualities which he does not possess  and to gain applause which he cannot keep.Bertrand Russell: The good life is one inspired by love and guided by knowledge.Jason Zebehazy : Three things are needed for a good life: good friends, good food, and good song. Winston Churchill: We make a living by what we get; we make a life by what we give.Ann Landers: Nobody gets to live life backward. Look ahead. That is where your future lies.Steven Coallier: Attack life; its going to kill you anyway.Claude Pepper: Life is like riding a bicycle. You dont fall off unless you plan to stop peddling.Ralph Waldo Emerson: It is not the length of life but the depth of life.Samuel Butler: All of the animals except for man know that the principle business of life is to enjoy it.Josh Billings: Life consists not in holding good cards but in playing those you hold well.Albert Schweitzer: A great secret of success is to go through life as a man who never gets used up.Abraham Lincoln: And in the end, its not the years in your life that count. Its the life in your years.Isak Dinesen: Difficult times have helped me to understand better than before, how infinitely rich and beautiful life is in every way, and that so many things that one goes worrying about are of no i mportance whatsoever. Albert Einstein: There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle.Karl Wallenda: Being on the tightrope is living; everything else is waiting.Buddha: On lifes journey, faith is nourishment, virtuous deeds are a shelter, wisdom is the light by day, and right mindfulness is the protection by night. If a man lives a pure life, nothing can destroy him.Sid Caesar: In between goals is a thing called life that has to be lived and enjoyed.Lou Holtz: Never tell your problems to anyone. 20 percent dont care and the other 80 percent are glad you have them.Dr. Seuss: Be who you are and say what you feel because those who mind dont matter and those who matter dont mind.Alexander Graham Bell: When one door closes, another opens, but we often look so long and so regretfully upon the closed door that we do not see the one that has opened for us.