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6. “Will you buy my hair?” asked Della.

7. “I buy hair,” said Madame. “Take your hat off and let’s see it.” Down rippled the beautiful brown cascade. “Twenty dollars,” said Madame, lifting the mass with practised hands.

8. “Give it to me quickly,” said Della.

9. The next two hours tripped by on rosy wings as she ransacked the stores for Jim’s present. She found it at last. It surely had been made for Jim and no one else. It was a platinum fob chain – worthy of The Watch. Twenty-one dollars they took from her for it, and she hurried home with the 87 cents.

...

10. At seven o’ clock everything was ready. Jim was never late. Della doubled the fob chain in her hand and sat on the corner of the table near the door that he always entered. When she heard his step on the stairs she turned white for just a moment and sent up a silent prayer: “Please God, make him think I am still pretty.”

11. The door opened and Jim stepped in and closed it. His eyes were fixed upon Della - there was a peculiar expression on his face. Della wriggled off the table and went to him.

12. “Jim, darling,” she cried, “don’t look at me that way. I had my hair cut off and sold it because I couldn’t have lived through Christmas without giving you a present. You don’t know what a beautiful gift I’ve got for you.”

13. “You’ve cut off your hair?” asked Jim. “You say your hair is gone?”

14. “It’s sold, I tell you, but it went for you. Maybe the hairs of my head were numbered, but nobody could ever count my love for you.”

15. Out of his trance Jim seemed quickly to wake. He hugged his Della. Then he took a package from his pocket and threw it upon the table.

16. “Don’t make any mistake, Dell,” he said.” I don’t think there is anything in the way of haircut or a shave that could make me like my girl any less. But, if you unwrap that package you may see why I was so fierce at first.”

17. White fingers tore at the string and paper. Then an ecstatic scream of joy was followed by hysterical tears, for there lay The Combs – the set of combs that Della had worshipped for so long in a shop window. Beautiful, expensive combs that she had longed for. Now they were hers, but the beautiful hair was gone. She hugged them to her. After a while she managed to smile and say, “My hair grows so fast, Jim!”

18. Eagerly she held out his beautiful present on her open palm. “Isn’t it a dandy, Jim? I hunted all over town to find it. Give me your watch. I want to see how it looks on it.”

19. Instead of obeying, Jim tumbled down on the couch, put his hands behind his head and smiled. “Dell,” said he, “let’s put our Christmas presents away and keep ‘em awhile. They’re too good to use just at present. I sold the watch to get the money to buy your combs. So…let’s have supper.

( Adapted from The Gift of the Magi ” by O Henry .)

  • Prepare to do a dramatic reading of the story. Make sure to pay attention to pace and phrasing. Also consider how you can make the characters come alive for your readers by reading the dialogue section with different voices.

Assessment

Learning outcomes(LOs)
LO 3 Reading and Viewing
The learner will be able to read and view for information and enjoyment, and respond critically to the aesthetic, cultural and emotional values in texts.
Assessment standards(ASs)
We know this when the learner:
3.2 reads independently, both aloud and silently, for a variety of purposes, consolidating the appropriate reading strategies developed in earlier grades;
3.3 discusses and explains the purpose, audience and context of a text;
shows understanding of a wide range of information texts:identifies the main ideas and explains how the detail supports the main idea;evaluates the ideas;3.4.3 discusses different points of view;
3.7 evaluates techniques used to create particular effects in visual, written and multimedia texts.

LO 5 Thinking and Reasoning

The learner will be able to use language to think and reason, as well as to access, process and use information for learning

We know this when the learner:

5.3 is able to process information

Memorandum

ACTIVITY 1: RESEARCH: HOW TO FINANCE A PURCHASE

This activity can be shared with the EMS Department. Emphasise the importance of the declaration at the end of the assignment.

ACTIVITY 2: READING

Provide guidance for reading aloud. Also use whatever literature book you are using at the moment for prepared, dramatic reading.

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Source:  OpenStax, English home language grade 9. OpenStax CNX. Sep 14, 2009 Download for free at http://cnx.org/content/col11060/1.1
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