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,*,单击此处编辑母版文本样式,第二级,第三级,第四级,第五级,单击此处编辑母版标题样式,William Sydney Porter,(1862-1910),Facts on William Sydney Porter,He was born September 11, 1862 in North Carolina, where he spent his childhood.,An acclaimed master of short stories and tales.,Starting in 1895 he wrote a column for the Houston,Daily Post,.,In early 1898 Porter was found guilty of embezzlement charges and sentenced to five years in an Ohio prison.,Three years and about a dozen short stories later, he emerged from prison as O. Henry to help shield his true identity.,Facts on William Sydney Porter,O. Henry wrote with realistic detail based on his first-hand experiences both in Texas and in New York City.,In 1907, he published many of his Texas stories in,The Heart of the West,.,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 Americas favorite short story writer.,Porter died on June 5, 1910 in New York City at the age of forty seven. An alcoholic, he died virtually penniless.,O. Henry (1862-1910),was a prolific American short-story writer, a master of surprise endings, who wrote about the life of ordinary people in New York City. A twist of plot, which turns on an ironic or coincidental circumstance, is typical of O. Henrys stories.,His,pseudonym,It is believed that Porter found his pen name while in jail, where one of the guards was named Orrin Henry. Other sources say that the name was derived from his calling Oh Henry! after the family cat, Henry. Guy Davenport wrote that the name was a condensation of ,Oh,io P,en,itentia,ry,O. Henry stories are famous for their surprise endings, to the point that such an ending is often referred to as an “O. Henry ending”. His stories are also well known for witty narration.,Stories,Most of O. Henry s stories are set in his own time, the early years of the 20th century. Many take place in New York City, and deal for the most part with ordinary people: clerks, policemen, waitresses.,Fundamentally a product of his time, O. Henrys work provides one of the best English examples of catching the entire flavor of an age. O. Henry had an inimitable hand for isolating some element of society and describing it with an incredible economy and grace of language.,Major Works,The GiftOfTheMagi -,麦琪的礼物,AServiceOfLove-,爱的奉献,TheLastLeaf -,最后的常春藤叶,TheCopAndTheAnthem -,警察和赞美诗,LostonDressParade -,华而不实,AnUnfinishedStory -,没有完的故事,TheManHigherUp-,黄雀在后,AfterTwentyYears-,二十年以后,TwoThanksgivingDayGentlemen -,两位感恩节的绅士,AServiceofLove-,爱的牺牲,ShearingTheWolf-,虎口拔牙,TheUnknownQuantity -,未知数,WhileTheAutoWaits-,汽车等待的时候,TheWhirligigofLife -,生活的波折,WithesLoaves-,女巫的面包,HeartsandHands -,心与手,TheHypothesesofFailure-,失算,TheGreenDoor-,绿色门,TheHandbookofHymen -,婚姻手册,“,NextToReadingMatter” - “,醉翁之意”,AServiceofLove-,爱的牺牲,The Gift of the Magi,is the story of a young married couple. It is Christmas Eve and all the money that Della has saved for Jims gift totals one dollar and eight-seven cents. Della and Jim have two possessions that are the treasures of the household, Dellas hair, which is their pride and joy and Jims watch, which is an inheritance from his grandfather.,Summary,Della leaves the house and sells her glorious hair for $20. Then she races around town and spends $21 buying a platinum watch chain. She hurries home and tries to fix her hair so that Jim will not be too upset by her appearance.,Click this to read the whole story:,http:/www.auburn.edu/vestmon/Gift_of_the_Magi.html,When Jim comes home, he seems dumbstruck. Finally, Jim gives her the gift he bought for her. It is a pair of tortoise shell combs that Della has long coveted. Della is thrilled but her joy is quickly followed by sorrow as she realizes she has no hair to wear the combs in. She resolves her feelings by telling Jim that her hair grows fast. Suddenly, Della remembers her gift to Jim. Jims response is to smile and tell Della that he sold the watch to buy the combs and that perhaps they should put their gifts up and save them for a later time.,
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