Respond to Peers:

Respond to at least two of your classmates' initial posts. Each response should be at least 75 words in length and should address two or more of the following questions:

• Did your classmate acknowledge the complexities in the character he or she chose? If so, how so? If not, what should he or she consider?

• Are there other conflicts that your classmate should consider? For example, if your classmate primarily discussed a character's external conflicts, offer an internal conflict that the character faces, or vice versa.

• Does your classmate adequately connect the character with the setting? Are there details that he or she did not discuss but are important to the story? Why are these details important?

• Brian Hicks

75-word count response

The character I have chosen to reflect on for my discussion is Edie they young lady babysitter, house hand that worked for the Peebles in the story "How I met my Husband." Edie interested me because she was a naïve girl shy and mostly kept to herself. However, she was a lot smarter than she let on to other people. Edie chose to never let on how much she understood, she played dumb in a sense, and took in information, rather than spewed it out.

As the author Munro,(1974) wrote Edie thought "I pretended I didn't know what she was talking about." The fact that she played this part made the people around her say things they thought she didn't understand, they thought she was uneducated, but she understood what everyone was talking about, maybe better than they did.

The conflict in the story occurs by Edie, enjoying superior things she had access to while helping at the Peebles's home. Her family was underprivileged and didn't have all the luxuries of the house she worked at, and so she enjoyed the finer things she thought she deserved. Edie tried on Mrs. Peebles's dress and put on makeup to see what it felt like to play that role.

The setting is that of a small town; everyone knows everyone else from town. Edie's family is poor, and the Peebles's family is wealthy. The Peebles's are wealthy enough to have a hired girl taking care of the kids and house chores. Edie has been exposed to both sides of the spectrum, she knows what it is like to be poor, and now she is aware of how the wealthy people live. One quote by Edie summed up what she was feeling while helping at the Peebles home.

Author Munro, (1974) wrote "This was the first place I ever worked, but I already had picked up things about the way people feel when you are working for them. They like to think you aren't curious. Not just that you aren't dishonest" Edie was not a dumb shy girl, she had figure out what people expected and what they wanted and gave them that to satisfy them.

References

Clugston, R. W. (2014). "Journey into literature "(2nd ed.) [Electronic version].

• Theresa Ortiz

75-word count response

Della Dillingham, is the protagonist in the "Gift of the Magi" by O. Henry.

I am very interest in this story because she is loving, caring and very selfless.

I say sacrifice would be the theme of this story. Della gives up her husband Christmas gift that was so very precious and dear to her. The biggest conflict I for see is that she only has $1.82 to buy Jim a present and Christmas Eve is the next day. She is willing to do what it takes to buy him something oh so very special because the love she has for him is very deep.

Della decided to sell her hair; the most valuable possession to her. She very concerned that once she cuts off her hair that he won't find her beautiful and attractive. I think the setting is critical to the meaning of the story, as despite their current financial situation Della and Jim deeply love each other, and the give up what they hold most deer (besides one another) to make the other happy.

As Clugston (2014) points out, Della and Jim, and their selfless gifts are among the wisest, "all who give and receive gifts, such as they are wisest. Everywhere they are wisest," (p. 64).

This story gave me a lot of meaning because years ago my husband and I were in a similar situation but with a baby. I sold one of my pieces of jewelry to give him a special gift. I came to mind that my love with outlast than any jewelry. Because he saw what I sacrificed; he loved it that much more.

Clugston, R. W (2014) Journey into literature (2nd ed.) [electronic version]