Question

Read the following excerpt from "The Gift of the Magi" and answer the question.

A furnished flat at $8 per week. It did not exactly beggar description, but it certainly had that word on the lookout for the mendicancy squad. In the vestibule below was a letter-box into which no letter would go, and an electric button from which no mortal finger could coax a ring.
The passage above provides a description of which story element?

character
climax
rising action
setting

Answer 1

It sounds to me like they are talking about the setting

Answer 2

Answer: The correct answer is setting.

Explanation:

    Briefly, the Gift of the Magi is the story of a couple who had no money to buy each other's Christmas gifts. She sells her hair and buys a watch chain for her husband and he sells his watch and buys her hair combs for her beautiful hair. After giving each other's gifts, they soon realizes that they are useless. She no longer has her hair to use the combs and he no longer has his watch to enjoy the wacth chain. However, their gifts appear out of love and sacrifice.

   In the excerpt, the author gives a description of the place (setting) where the couple lives, a very modest cheap home. Their house is so simple that it's not worth a description. It seems to be a lonely place for them, they don't get any letters ( ...below was a letter-box into which no letter would go), and nobody visits them ( an electric button from which no mortal finger could coax a ring). This excerpt sets the mood for the story.