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IWW
Practice-W Exercise Archives
Exercise: Gifts (v. 3)
These exercises were written
by IWW members
and administrators to provide structured practice opportunities for its
members.
You are welcome to use them for practice as well. Please mention that
you found
them at the Internet Writers Workshop
(http://www.internetwritingworkshop.org/).
Prepared by: Ruth Douillette
Posted on: 17 Dec 2006
Revised and posted on: 11 April 2010
Reposted on: 28 October 2012
Reposted on: 29 November 2015
Reposted on: 5 January 2020
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Exercise: In 400 words or less, write a scene that shows the character receiving a
life-changing gift and makes clear the nature of the change.
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Write a scene that shows how receiving a particular gift has changed a character's
life. The gift may be a long awaited store-bought present, a surprise homemade gift,
breakfast in bed, a compliment, some advice, or any other form of gift you might think of.
Show how the character perceives the gift and why it has an impact on his or her
life, for better or worse. You might show what the character gained or lost from
getting this gift. Maybe relationships changed, or the importance of something came
to light. Did the character grow in any way or learn something after receiving this
gift?
"The Gift of the Magi," a short story by O. Henry, gives us a wonderful example of what
two characters learned after giving and receiving gifts: (http://tinyurl.com/cygfe).
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In critiquing, comment on how the change in the character is related
to the gift. Is the change believable? Does the author develop the
character from the beginning so that we can see and understand the
change(s) wrought by the gift. Is the gift giver changed in any way by
the recipient's response?
Web site created by
Rhéal Nadeau and
the administrators of the Internet Writing Workshop.
Modified by Gayle Surrette.
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