The Gift of the Magi and Other Stories Lesson Plan

For this question, consider the passage in "Ships" which begins "At their accustomed time, from every 'dobe and palm hut and grass-thatched shack and dim patio glided women..." and ends "Men, women, and children took up the cry: 'Zapatos! zapatos!" How are the characters depicted in this passage? How do these depictions compare with the depictions of white American characters in the story, and why does this matter? Where else, both in this story and in "Shoes," does the narrator expose his attitudes toward the Indigenous people of Coralio?

Students may come up with a list of adjectives which seem to pertain to the Indigenous locals in this passage (i.e., do they seem...