Which statement best explains o. henry’s purpose in writing “the gift of the magi”? a. he wanted to retell the christmas story in a modern setting. b. he wanted to show that the best gifts come from the heart. c. he wanted to create sympathy for the poor. d. he wanted to tell a humorous story of a married couple’s love.

The correct answer is (B). In his short story, “The Gift of the Magi”, O. Henry wanted to show that the best gifts come from the heart by presenting to the readers selfless actions of married couple, Della and Jim, who sell their own most valuable possessions to buy presents for each other on Christmas. 

what does the author mean by "many journeys" in this excerpt?

government intervention

multiple truths

individual stories

historical monuments

quite an interesting way to teach topic sentences, because the answer to this question is the best definition of a topic sentence that one can present, it is as if answering the questions taught you how to do it, this is some real teaching, it is terribly well-done.

the topic sentence in this paragraph is:

topic sentences writers stay on track and keep a paragraph from becoming an aimless collection of sentences about an idea.

which incidentally tells you what a topic sentence should be.