O. Henry

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O. Henry

• (1862-1910)

2
References

• History and Anthology of American Literature II
• Rozakis, Laurie E.. Complete Idiot's Guide to
  American Literature. Indianapolis, IN, USA
  Alpha Books, 1999. p 119-127.
• Kearns, George. American Literature. New York
  Macmillan Publishing Company, 1984. 892pp.
• Wikipedia
• Encarta
• ?????????????? 2004?11??1? ???????
• ?????????????????? 1986?08??1? ???????
• ?????????????2008.1 ???????

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One sentence summary

• pseudonym of William Sydney Porter
• American writer of short stories
• best known for his
• ironic plot twists
• surprise endings

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content

• Life
• Features
• Representative works

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Life

• born and raised in Greensboro, North Carolina,
• attended school only until age 15, when he
  dropped out to work in his uncles drugstore.
• worked for more than ten years as a clerk and a
  bank teller during his 20s

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A page of shame

• In early 1898 Porter was found guilty of
  embezzlement charges and sentenced to five years
  in an Ohio prison.

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A page of shame in detail

• Charged with embezzling funds from the First
  National Bank of Austin, Texas, where he had
  worked from 1891 to 1894.
• The amount of money was small and might have been
  an accounting error
• however, he chose to flee to Honduras rather than
  stand trial.
• Learning that his wife was dying, he returned to
  Texas in 1897
• After her death, Porter turned himself in to
  authorities.
• He served three years of a five-year sentence at
  the federal penitentiary in Columbus, Ohio, where
  he first began to write short stories and use the
  pseudonym O. Henry.

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A crow turned into a star

• Released from prison, O. Henry moved to New York
  City in 1901 and began writing full time.
• In his stories he made substantial use of his
  knowledge of Texas, Central America, and life in
  prison.
• He also became fascinated by New York street
  life, which provided a setting for many of his
  later stories.
• During the last ten years of his life, O. Henry
  became one of the most popular writers in
  America, publishing over 500 short stories in
  dozens of widely read periodicals.

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Features

• make simple yet effective use of paradoxical
  coincidences to produce ironic endings.
• For example, in The Gift of the Magi a husband
  sells his watch to buy his wife a Christmas
  present of a pair of hair combs having no idea
  of that, she cuts and sells her long hair to buy
  him a Christmas present of a new chain for his
  watch.
• His style of storytelling became a model not only
  for short fiction, but also for American motion
  pictures and television programs.

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Representative Works The Gift of the Magi -- ?????A Service Of Love-- ????The Last Leaf -- ??????? The Cop and the Anthem -- ??????An Unfinished Story -- ??????After Twenty Years -- ?????