English 10 / Unit 2: Narrative Structure and Point of View
2.6 Openings and Endings
Notes
Beginnings and endings frame how readers understand a story.
- A circular structure ends where it began, often to show change or lack of change.
- A twist ending reveals something unexpected that changes earlier events. In O. Henry's "The Gift of the Magi" (1905), a wife sells her hair to buy a watch chain, while her husband sells his watch to buy her combs.
- An open (ambiguous) ending leaves the conflict unresolved for readers to interpret.
- A closed ending ties up the conflict clearly.
- In Kate Chopin's "The Story of an Hour" (1894), doctors say Mrs. Mallard died "of joy that kills," an ironic ending, since readers know she felt freedom, not joy, at her husband's supposed death.
Practice
In "The Gift of the Magi," the ending is a twist because:
Both sell what the other's gift was meant for.
A story ends with the main character standing at a fork in the road, and the reader never learns which way she goes. This is:
The conflict is left for the reader to interpret.
In "The Story of an Hour," why is "of joy that kills" ironic?
The doctors misread the cause of her death; the reader understands the truth.
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