The author uses such graphical means as capitalization: “ONE DOLLAR AND EIGHTY-SEVEN CENTS. THAT WAS ALL. AND SIXTY CENTS of it was in pennies”. It is used to draw reader’s attention to the main problem of this family – a great lack of money. The usage of the pronoun “one” instead of “her” in the sentence: “Pennies saved one and two at a time by bulldozing the grocer and the vegetable man and the butcher until one's cheeks burned with the silent imputation of parsimony that such close dealing implied” gives an utterance a more general character and emphasises Della’s mood when she had to ask money, what was really hard for her and she found herself in an unpleasant situation. There is also an epithet: “silent imputation of parsimony”. It shows that Della has strong spirit: she is “bulldozing” but at the same time she is gentle. The inversion: “Three times Della counted it” underlines how thrifty and careful she is. Moreover, there is a constant repetition of the phase: “one dollar and eighty-seven cents” which emphasizes Della’s hopelessness. A repetition of adjectives “grey”: “…looked out dully at a grey cat walking a grey fence in a grey backyard” helps to create dull and sad atmosphere. Anticlimax: “life is made up of sobs, sniffles, and smiles” describes the reality of life”. Another epithet: “beggar description” which is the combination on N1+N2, where N1 performs the function of an adjective and describes the flat in which the Dillinghams lived and shows their poverty. The periphrasis: “mortal finger” stands for “person, human being”. It emphasizes that the family feels the pinch. Archaic usage of “thereunto” means “to that”. The author uses metonymy in the case when the surname “Dillingham” substitutes the word “card with the surname”. “Her Jim” is a nominative sentence which increases the dynamism and flow of Della’s thoughts. The usage of article “a” together with a noun with an adjective: “Many a happy hour she had spent planning for something nice for him” add emotional stylistic coloring and emphasizes Della’s worrying about the present for her beloved Jim because with the help of it she wanted to show her devoteness to him. This is also a case of inversion: the adverbial modifier is placed at the beginning of the sentence. In the following sentence the case of inversion can also be noticed: “Rapidly she pulled down her hair and let it fall to its full length”. It underlines how Della react and her wish to act as quickly as possible.

The author mentions that the couple, James and Della, took “mighty pride” in their possessions. This is a bright case of hyperbole which is used to underline the real value and importance of their belongings for them. There is a case of an allusion from the Bible about Queen of Sheba and King Solomon and their wealth, jewels and gifts which are nothing in comparison with Della’s hair and Jim’s watch. Inversion is used in the following sentences: “Had the Queen of Sheba lived in the flat across the airshaft, Della would have let her hair hang out of the window some day to dry just to depreciate Her Majesty's jewels and gifts. Had King Solomon been the janitor, with all his treasures piled up in the basement, Jim would have pulled out his watch every time he passed, just to see him pluck at his beard from envy”. In such a way authors tries to show how proud the Dillinghams where of their possessions.

The story is the 1st and 3rd person narrative. There are also elements of description. The main characters (protagonists) of the story are Jim and Della Dillingham. The secondary character is Madame Sofronie, an owner of a shop. Jim and Della are also named as: James Dillingham Youngs – the compound name for the family as one unity of a husband and wife. Della is described realistically. She behaves as an average woman and she is full of emotions which the author describes with the help of such stylistic device as metaphor:“There was clearly nothing to do but flop down and… howl. So Della did it”. Della has nothing to do but howl – dolefully like a wolf. 

Jim is a quite reserved, calm and restrained man. The case of periphrasis in naming Jim “lord of the flat” emphasizes that it was he who was the only breadwinner in this family; “employment of all the comforting powers” is the periphrasis which means that Della really needed Jim to hug her and comfort, to calm her down. Maybe, she needed him more than he needed her. Madame Sofronie is rather tightlipped. She has “a practised hand” in cutting hair, this is the case of epithet. She is “large, too white, chilly, hardly looked”. The usage of the noun in plural: "Take her hat off and let's have a sight at the looks of it” adds intensification.

Simile is used to describe Della’s greatest possession - her hair: “Della’s beautiful hair fell like a cascade of brown water”. Her hair is a wavy as it is like a cascade, its colour is like brown water.

To emphasize the repeated unit the author uses the anaphora: “On went her old brown jacket; on went her old brown hat”. It used to show that Della was self-assured and she exactly knew and was sure in what she was doing.

     The metaphor: “tripped by on rosy wings” describes Della’s feelings and mood. She was happy and ready to find the best present in the whole world for Jim. The fob that Della buys has “meretricious ornamentation” – epithet, used to describe the beauty of her present, but at the same time it was valuable and simple: “Quietness and value--the description applied to both”. Inversion in the sentence: “Twenty-one dollars they took from her for it, and she hurried home with the 78 cents” helps to show how unwilling Della was to give money, how thrifty she was. She would have better bought Jim a new overcoat and gloves – a practical thing, but she was a romantic figure, she valued Jim and she wanted to give him something special. She simply loved him and behaved as a woman in love. The usage of oxymoron “properly anxious” underlines that this fob is also a practical thing.  Inversion: “Grand as the watch was” emphasizes the refinement of it.

The author uses a comparison: “That made her looks like a truant schoolboy.” After having had her hair cut Della can be compared in her appearance to a truant schoolboy: wandering and straying. She doesn’s think about her appearance. She just does her best to make Jim happy. Short hair gave her the look of a boy, not of a woman, her look was deprived of femininity.

With the help of gradation the author describes Della’s looking in the glass: “She looked at her reflection in the mirror long, carefully, and critically”. Probably she hadn’t yet realized what she had done. Della somehow tries to comfort herself.

Della is rather nervous when she is waiting for Jim. She is saying “the little silent prayers” – epithet. Jim’s reaction to the new Della’s style is described with the help of simile: “Jim stepped inside the door, as immovable as a setter at the scent of quail”. He was tired after work and this simile underlines his seriousness and shock. But he didn’t say a word to cheer her. There is an example of repetition of the negative particle “not” to describe Jim’s shock when he saw Della: “It was not anger, nor surprise, nor disapproval, nor horror, nor any of the sentiments that she had been prepared for”. Here is also anticlimax (nouns “anger – surprise – disapproval – horror”) to describe Della’s relief from Jim’s reaction. The overflow of Della’s emotions is described with the help of oxymoron: she said that her hair grows “awfully fast”. Antithesis is used by the author to describe opposing feelings: “And then an ecstatic scream of joy; and then, alas! A quick feminine change to hysterical tears and wails”.

Jim’s fatigue has nothing to do with his surprise, it is “the hardest mental labour for him” – the case of epithet. It helps to emphasize Jim’s shock. Della talked to him with “serious sweetness” – oxymoron, used to stress Della’s wish to calm Jim down and at the same time not to irritate him. But Jim remains strict.

Jim’s release from his trance is indicated by repetition of the conjunction “or” in the sentence: “I don't think there's anything in the way of a haircut or a shave or a shampoo that could make me like my girl any less”. With the help of epithet Della’s vanished hair is described as “coverted adornments”, to emphasize that now when she got those combs she lacked her hair, now it seems even more precious for her than those combs.

“Della leaped up like a little singed cat” is simile which is used to describe Della’s swiftiness. Graphon is used in the sentence: “"Dell," said he, "let's put our Christmas presents away and keep 'em a while” emphasizes Jim’s psychological condition and unstability, he understood the whole trick.

Speeches in this story let us feel a particular relief as they are like bridges from what we think may happen next to what is the way out and solution of a certain unexpected twist or problem. Speeches are direct as they are presented in the form of a dialogue and inner (interior monologue) as they present the characters’ thoughts, ideas, beliefs and views. There are also cases of indirect speech which is transformed by the author.  Also inserts of author’s speech.