The Gift of the Magi – General Understanding Quiz

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Approximate Reading Times

Quick Read: under 5 minutes
Short Story: 5 to 30 minutes
Novelette: 30 to 90 minutes
Novella: 1.5 to 2.5 hours

Trick or Treat
Short Story by Padgett Powell. A bored, frustrated housewife is approached by a twelve-year-old boy intent on exploring his sexuality. The boy is fixated on having sex with the woman. She had sought relief from her unsatisfying marriage before, and compares the possible tryst to Orpheus’ ascent from the underworld.
The Bride Comes to Yellow Sky
Short Story by Stephen Crane. A small-town Marshall's return from a city visit with a new wife is a symbol of the beginning of the end for America's 'Wild West'. The instrument of change is the railroad, which brings ‘Eastern’ ways to previously isolated communities.
My Milk Goes Dry
Novelette by Minh Quan. An orphaned Vietnamese girl grows up constantly being told by an uncle that, because she was brought up on an animal (cow milk) based baby formula, she will grow into a barbarous woman devoid of human sentiment. She vows to prove him wrong.

The Happiest I’ve Been
Short Story by John Updike. Following a late night party, a second-year university student attributes his overwhelming happiness to driving a powerful car through the stunning Pennsylvania countryside, blessed irresponsibility, a waiting girl who would marry him, and twice being trusted enough for someone to fall asleep beside him.
Two Words
Short Story by Isabel Allende. A woman whispers two secret words to a feared bandit/rebel leader who forced her to write a motivating political speech to help him become president. He becomes the favorite to win the election but, obsessed by the meaning of the words, withdraws into himself.
The Sparrows
Short Story by K. A. Abbas. An embittered Indian man is left alone in the world after his constant ill-treatment of his wife and sons drives them from his home. In his misery, he finds solace and redemption through a family of sparrows nesting in the roof of his hut.
The Snow Child
Quick Read by Angela Carter. A powerful, dominating and lustful Count humiliates his wife by wishing for a young girl and clothing her in the vain Countess’s furs. His masculinity and dignity are then stripped away as he weeps while defiling the child’s dead body.

The Centipede
Short Story by Rony V. Diaz. A boy who has suffered years of torment from his older sister snaps when she severely beats and injures the eye of his beloved dog. Forgetting she has a weak heart, he plays a cruel, potentially fatal trick on her.
The Laughing Man
Short Story by J. D. Salinger. A youth leader entertains members of a boy’s club with tales of an imaginary anti-hero, the Laughing Man. The boys are accepting when a girl comes into the leader’s life, and appalled when the pair breakup and he “kills off” the Laughing Man.
The Darling
Short Story by Anton Chekhov. A woman with Codependency Personality Disorder experiences several ‘attachments’ (her father, a theatre manager, a timber merchant and a veterinary surgeon) before bonding with a young boy. As her motherly instinct grows, she begins to smother the poor boy’s identity.