Abstract: O. Henry is an outstanding American short story writer whose works disclose to us a panorama of American society in the early 20th century. His unique writing techniques, for which he is most famous, establish his reputation not only in the realm of American literature but in the realm of world literature as well. His works are mainly characterized by surprise endings, humor and irony.
This paper, which consists of five parts, aims to analyze three of his major writing techniques: surprise endings, humor and irony. The first part is a brief introduction to O. Henry. The second part discusses his surprise endings, which are mainly achieved through attempts to mislead, the shifting of the angle of narration and the withholding of information. The third part elaborates on humor in his works, which is, for the most part, achieved through diction, using the comparison and contrast of characters. The fourth part is dedicated to irony, exemplified by “The Cop and the Anthem”, “The Gift of the Magi” and “The Furnished Room”. Finally, the paper sums O. Henry’s main achievements, especially in terms of his writing techniques.
Key words: writing techniques; surprise endings; humor; irony
中文摘要：欧·亨利是美国的短篇小说大师，他的作品向读者展示了美国20世纪初期的社会全景。他的独特的写作技巧使其闻名于美国文坛乃至世界文坛。他的作品的主要特色是：出其不意的结局、幽默与讽刺。
本论文旨在分析欧·亨利的这三个写作技巧。首先，本论文将简要介绍欧·亨利，包括其作品及其影响。第二部分将分析其作品中出其不意的结局，这种出其不意的效果主要是由误导、叙述角度的转换及主要信息的隐瞒实现。第三部分将阐述其作品中的幽默效果，这主要是由措辞、人物的对比和对照引起。第四部分将论述其作品中的讽刺，以《警察与赞美诗》、《麦琪的礼物》和《带家具出租的房间》为例。最后，本论文将总结欧·亨利在写作技巧方面的成就。
关键词：写作技巧；出其不意的结局；幽默；讽刺
