Final Review - The Gift of the Magi and Those Winter Sundays

1. Beginning with paragraph 8, the author’s tone shifts from...

• Hopeless to cautiously optimistic
• Doubtful to hopeless
• Fanciful to realistic
• Joyful to regret

2. The simile 'Jim stopped inside the door. He was as quiet as a hunting dog when it is near a bird.' implies that...

• Jim is anticipating seeing Della
• Jim wants to hurt Della
• Jim is dirty
• Jim is having trouble finding Della

3. This selection explores the theme of...

• Getting gifts is more important than giving gifts.
• Giving gifts is more important than receiving gifts
• Unrequited love.
• Conditional love.

4. The author’s intrusion on page 5 serves as...

• Foreshadowing
• Analogy
• Anecdote
• Figurative language

5. In which line does the author reference the allusion in the title?

• Its value was in its rich and pure material.
• There was no other like it in any of the shops…
• Of all who give gifts, these two were the most wise.
• Love and large-hearted giving, when added together, can leave deep marks.

6. The author’s purpose for writing the selection was most likely to...

• To criticize the failure of gift giving
• To argue that more practical gifts should be given
• To accurately describe the sacrifice required for true love
• To persuade the reader to spend money on gifts

7. Which answer provides the best summary for The Gift of the Magi?

• The author portrays a couple who have found that even through disappointment they can find love. Jim and Della, both set out to buy each other a gift at Christmas. Unfortunately, their gifts came up short when Jim sold his watch and Della cut her hair making this a difficult lesson of a sacrifice.

• Della and Jim, a young married couple sell their most valuable possessions in order to purchase the perfect gift for each other. While opening their gifts, they realize that the gift that they received, was in fact sold to purchase the gift for the other. In the end, both of them realize what true love really is: love is not measured by items, but instead by thought of putting others before yourself.

• The author tells the story of Della and Jim, a young, poor couple who want to give each other the most perfect gift. In order to get the perfect gift, each has to sell their most valuable possession. The author uses the characters' sacrifices to depict the true meaning of love.

8. Why is the multiple meaning of the word 'offices' in line 14 important to the poem?

• It indicates the size of the speaker’s house.
• It conveys the father’s mixed emotions.
• It refers to both a place and an executive position.
• It refers to both a duty and a service done for others.

9. The photograph reinforces the poem’s tone of...

• Indifference
• Desperation
• Melancholy
• Whimsy

10. In line 5, the sentence 'no one ever thanked him' suggests the poem explores the theme of...

• Belated gratitude
• Domestic strife
• Suppressed excitement
• Uninformed judgment