"The Gift of the Magi" #4 Questions

“Pennies saved one and two at a time by bulldozing the grocer and the vegetable man and the butcher until one’s cheeks burned with the silent imputation of parsimony that such close dealing implied.”

What adjective best describes Della’s behavior based off the word bulldozing?

• rude

• sincere

• ruthless

• fake

“There was clearly nothing to do but flop down on the shabby little couch and howl. So Della did it. Which instigates the moral reflection that life is made up of sobs, sniffles, and smiles, with sniffles predominating.”

Based on how it is used in the sentence above, the word predominating most closely means:

• to stop from occurring

• to be the least important

• to cause the most pain

• to be the most powerful

1. “So now Della’s beautiful hair fell about her rippling and shining like a cascade of brown waters.”

This quote contains a simile that creates an image of a ________ because of the word cascade.

• waterfall

• tree

• river

• hair

Use the quote to answer questions for part 1 and 2:

“When Della reached home her intoxication gave way a little to prudence and reason. She got out her curling irons and lighted the gas and went to work repairing the ravages made by generosity added to love. Which was always a tremendous task, dear friends—a mammoth task.”

Part 1: This quote is expressing Della’s feelings as she came home from cutting her hair and buying Jim’s gift. A synonym to replace the word prudence could be:

• caution

• curiosity

• hurt

• time

“When Della reached home her intoxication gave way a little to prudence and reason. She got out her curling irons and lighted the gas and went to work repairing the ravages made by generosity added to love. Which was always a tremendous task, dear friends—a mammoth task.”

Part 2: The word mammoth used in this sentence is used to express _________.

• The tricky journey that it is going to be fixing her hair

• The huge regret she has for cutting her hair

• The large task that used to be curling her long hair

• The difficulty of hunting mammoths

When Jim first saw Della’s new hair, “he stared at her with a peculiar expression.” What kind of connotation does the word peculiar have in this instance?

• positive

• negative

• neutral

• none of the above

What does the author mean in the sentence, “He enfolded his Della.”

• Jim gave Della a jacket

• Jim gave Della an envelope

• Jim walked away from Della

• Jim hugged Della

“Oh, and the next two hours tripped by on rosy wings. Forget the hashed metaphor. She was ransacking the stores for Jim's present.”

The narrator begins to say that Della’s shopping adventure for Jim’s gift was fun and pleasant based off the expression, “tripped by on rosy wings.” However, the narrator quickly says to “forget the hashed metaphor” because Della was really “ransacking the stores” for Jim’s gift. Which word would be the best to describe Della’s shopping adventure?

• chaotic

• rewarding

• productive

• quick

“There was nothing to do but flop down on the shabby little couch and howl.”

Which word in this quote indicates the couple’s poverty?

• flop

• shabby

• little

• howl

"They were expensive combs, she knew, and her heart had simply craved and yearned over them without the least hope of possession. And now, they were hers, but the tresses that should have adorned the coveted adornments were gone.”

What point is the narrator making in this statement?

• The combs Jim picked out were ugly

• Jim loved Della’s hair and wanted the best for it

• Della has wanted those combs for a long time

• The combs were too expensive and Della did not want them