Презентация, доклад к уроку литературы в 10 классе

the writer was William Sidney Porter. He was born in Greenboro, North Carolina, USA, in the family of a doctor. He was brought up by his aunt because his mother died when he was a small boy. After finishing school at the age of fifteen, Porter worked as a clerk for five years in his uncle´s chemist shop in Greenboro. Then he went to Texas because he wanted to see new places. There he saw cowboys, prairies and mustangs, but it was not easy for him to find work. For two years he worked on a farm and then he became a clerk in an office and at last got a job in a small bank. During this period he studied languages and became interested in literature.

Porter was a happy husband and father, but his happiness did not last long. One day a theft of a thousand dollars was discovered at the bank where he worked. Thought it was not he who had taken the money, Porter left the town and went to Central America where he stayed for some time. But when he heard that his wife was very ill, he returned home and was put into prison for three years. After his wife´s death Porter very often thought about his little daughter. She was living with her relatives and was told that her father had gone very far away and would not return soon. The thought that she would not receive a Christmas present from him that year was a sad one. To get some money for a present, Porter decided to write a story and send it to one of the American magazines. The story “Whistling Dick´s Christmas Present” was published in 1899, and Porter’s daughter received a Christmas present.

Etienne Ossian Henry, whose name was in the U. S. Dispensary which Porter used working in the prison pharmacy.

he knew very well. He tried to describe amusing incidents of every-day life in large cities, on the roads of America.