“The Gift of the Magi” Vocabulary and Syntax Handout
A. Vocabulary:
1. Parsimony:
Unusual frugality; excessive stinginess.
Sentence:
(noun) The charity was surprised by the parsimony of the corporations.
Sentence:
(adj.) She was so parsimonious that she would walk rather than drive to
save a few cents on gas.
Your
sentence:__________________________________________________________________.
2. Imputation: (noun) the state of attributing a fault or a
characteristic to another.
Sentence: I resent the imputation I’m nice to Grandmother
because she has money.
Your
sentence:__________________________________________________________________.
3. Mendicancy: (noun) being in a state of destitution or
beggary.
Sentence: The homeless on Hollywood Boulevard are in a state
of mendicancy.
Your
sentence:_____________________________________________________________________.
4. Instigates: (verb) Gives rise to; to provoke or to urge someone on to some action.
Sentence: John was accused by the police of instigating a riot at the Occupy Wall Street march.
Your sentence: ___________________________________________________________________.
5. Depreciate: (verb) To belittle, to lower the value of another or of an item.
Sentence: As soon as you drive your new car off the lot its value begins to depreciate.
Your sentence:___________________________________________________________________.
6. Meretricious: (adj.) Attractive in a cheap, flashy way.
Sentence: The dancers in the show were dressed in meretricious costumes, which under the bright
stage lights, looked pretty.
Your sentence:__________________________________________________________________.
7. Scrutiny: (noun) Close inspection
Sentence: The space alien placed the human under a strange lens for better scrutiny.
Scrutinized: (verb) After the space alien scrutinized the human and subjected him to some experiments, it injected him with an amnesia inducing drug and released him back to his native habitat.
Your sentence:______________________________________________________________.
8. Coveted: (verb) Longed for; to want something badly, particularly something that does not belong to you.
Sentence: Lisa long coveted to win the gold medal in gymnastics at the Olympics.
Your sentence:______________________________________________________________.
9. Vestibule: (noun) Lobby, entrance hall or foyer in a large public building like a church.
Sentence: We came late so we waited quietly in the vestibule until there was a break in the meeting.
Your sentence:_______________________________________________________________.
B. Syntax: Syntax is how words are put together to create sentences. "The Gift of the Magi" was written in the early part of the 20th Century when writers wrote very complex and flowery sentences. Rewrite the following sentences from "The Gift of the Magi" in modern simpler syntax:
1. Pennies saved one and two at a time by bulldozing the grocer and the vegetable man and the butcher until one's cheeks burned with the silent imputations of parsimony that such close dealing implied. (page 203)
Rewrite:______________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________.
2. A very thin and agile person may, by observing his reflection in a rapid sequence of longitudinal strips, obtain a fairly accurate conception of his looks. (page 204)
Rewrite:_______________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________.
3. It was a platinum fob chain, simple and chaste in its design, properly proclaiming its value by substance alone and not by meretricious ornamentation - as all good things should do. (page 205)
Rewrite:_______________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________.
4. When Della reached home, her intoxication gave way a little to prudence and reason. (page 205)
Rewrite:______________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________.
5. And now they were hers, but the tresses that should have adorned the coveted adornments were gone. (page 206)
Rewrite:________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________.
4. Instigates: (verb) Gives rise to; to provoke or to urge someone on to some action.
Sentence: John was accused by the police of instigating a riot at the Occupy Wall Street march.
Your sentence: ___________________________________________________________________.
5. Depreciate: (verb) To belittle, to lower the value of another or of an item.
Sentence: As soon as you drive your new car off the lot its value begins to depreciate.
Your sentence:___________________________________________________________________.
6. Meretricious: (adj.) Attractive in a cheap, flashy way.
Sentence: The dancers in the show were dressed in meretricious costumes, which under the bright
stage lights, looked pretty.
Your sentence:__________________________________________________________________.
7. Scrutiny: (noun) Close inspection
Sentence: The space alien placed the human under a strange lens for better scrutiny.
Scrutinized: (verb) After the space alien scrutinized the human and subjected him to some experiments, it injected him with an amnesia inducing drug and released him back to his native habitat.
Your sentence:______________________________________________________________.
8. Coveted: (verb) Longed for; to want something badly, particularly something that does not belong to you.
Sentence: Lisa long coveted to win the gold medal in gymnastics at the Olympics.
Your sentence:______________________________________________________________.
9. Vestibule: (noun) Lobby, entrance hall or foyer in a large public building like a church.
Sentence: We came late so we waited quietly in the vestibule until there was a break in the meeting.
Your sentence:_______________________________________________________________.
B. Syntax: Syntax is how words are put together to create sentences. "The Gift of the Magi" was written in the early part of the 20th Century when writers wrote very complex and flowery sentences. Rewrite the following sentences from "The Gift of the Magi" in modern simpler syntax:
1. Pennies saved one and two at a time by bulldozing the grocer and the vegetable man and the butcher until one's cheeks burned with the silent imputations of parsimony that such close dealing implied. (page 203)
Rewrite:______________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________.
2. A very thin and agile person may, by observing his reflection in a rapid sequence of longitudinal strips, obtain a fairly accurate conception of his looks. (page 204)
Rewrite:_______________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________.
3. It was a platinum fob chain, simple and chaste in its design, properly proclaiming its value by substance alone and not by meretricious ornamentation - as all good things should do. (page 205)
Rewrite:_______________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________.
4. When Della reached home, her intoxication gave way a little to prudence and reason. (page 205)
Rewrite:______________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________.
5. And now they were hers, but the tresses that should have adorned the coveted adornments were gone. (page 206)
Rewrite:________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________.
