Gift of the Magi-STAAR

The point of view the author uses gives insight to

• A. the actions and emotions of all characters

• B. the actions of the character in the scene

• C.the thoughts of Della

• D.the intentions of Jim

The author establishes conflict in paragraph one by-

• Discussing the importance of Christmas

• Expressing the idea that there is no money for rent

• Emphasizing that Della did not have enough money for Christmas

• Retelling Della's Christmas desire for hair combs.

"Della finished her cry and attended to her cheeks with the powder rag. She stood by the window and looked out dully at a gray cat walking a gray fence in a gray backyard. Tomorrow would be Christmas Day, and she had only $1.87 with which to buy Jim a present. "

This quote shows-

• how Della overreacts to the small things in life.

• how passionate Della was to make Jim happy.

• how the weather was synonymous with Della's emotions.

• how Della is preparing for Christmas.

Which sentence shows the significance of Della's hair?

• Her eyes were shining brilliantly, but her face had lost its color within twenty seconds.

• So now Della’s beautiful hair fell about her rippling and shining like a cascade of brown waters

• Now, there were two possessions of the James Dillingham Youngs in which they both took a mighty pride. One was Jim’s gold watch that had been his father’s and his grandfather’s. The other was Della’s hair.

• I had my hair cut off and sold because I couldn’t have lived through Christmas without giving you a present.

Which words best describes the shift in tone from the beginning of the story to the end?

• distrustful to optimistic

• excited to detached

• treasured to worried

• distressed to selfless love

The main character's sacrificing her "prized possession" suggests a theme of

• sacrifice for love

• accept your fate

• importance of wealth

• beauty is forever

When Della reached home her intoxication gave way a little to prudence and reason.

Which correction should be made to this sentence?

• Add a comma after when

• change the period to a question mark

• change reached to will reach

• add a comma after home

Now, there were two possessions of the James Dillingham Young's in which they both took a mighty pride.

What correction should be made to the sentence?

• Delete the comma after now

• change possessions to posessions

• delete the apostrophe on Young's

• change took to take

Why did Jim react to Della's haircut the way he did?

• He loved her hair.

• He bought her the hair combs she longed for.

• He only thought she was beautiful because of her hair.

• He was shocked she looked like a young school boy.

(1)For there lay The Combs — the set of combs, side and back, that Della had worshiped long in a Broadway window. (2)Beautiful combs, pure tortoise shell, with jeweled rims — just the shade to wear in the beautiful vanished hair. (3) And now, they were hers, but the tresses that should have adorned the coveted adornments were gone.

The author is considering whether or not to add the following supporting detail in the paragraph above.

They were expensive combs, she knew, and her heart had simply craved and yearned over them without the least hope of possession.

• Before sentence 1

• After sentence 1

• After sentence 2

• After sentence 3