![]() ![]() "Oh, and the next two hours tripped by on rosy wings. Henry makes fun of himself and his writing "Perhaps you have seen a pier-glass in an $8 Bat." Henry effectively employs a literary technique of creating intimacy with his reader, addressing us directly so we feel like we are in the same room with the main characters. We want to know how they'll react when they find out. That's what makes for an engaging storyline that keeps us hooked. We wish we could stop Della from selling her hair, or Jim from selling his watch, but we can't. Without the other knowing, both traded their most valuable possessions (priceless) for a gift that could no longer be used by the other because that person gave up their own possession. While The Gift of the Magi certainly falls in the fictional short story genre, it employs what could be called a sub-genre of "dramatic irony."ĭramatic irony is where the reader learns a secret that the main character(s) don't know about yet. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |