The Last Leaf By O. Henry

The Last Leaf by O. Henry
from The Gift of the Magi and Other Stories

This Level 1 ELLSA lesson can be accessed on the internet at
http://www.rdlthai.com/ellsa_lastleaf1.html

Lesson plan and text: Jeffrey Taschner, 1999
Print and web-adaptation: John Morgan, 1999
© USIA, 1999. All rights reserved

1. SYNOPSIS

1a) Synopsis

Johnsy and Sue are artists who move into GreenwichVillage in New York City. As Winter approaches and the weather gets colder, Johnsy becomes ill with pneumonia. She gets so sick that she believes that when the last leaf falls from the vine outside her window, she will die. An old artist, named Behrman, who lives in the same building as the girls, braves a storm one night to paint a leaf on the wall — a leaf that will never fall. Cold and wet frompainting in the icy rain, he catches pneumonia and dies. This gives Johnsy the hope to survive her illness, and it also creates the masterpiece Behrman had always dreamed of painting.

1b) Vocab checkpoint

• approaches (verb) To approach is to move towards. It is often used with seasons and special occasions (New Year, Christmas, birthdays) as in the example here, as well as with people andmoving objects (vehicles, etc).

• becomes (verb) In this example, becomes has the same meaning as "gets". With illnesses, we often use "to fall", or "to be taken": Johnsy fell ill/Johnsy was taken ill

• pneumonia (noun) Pneumonia is a serious illness of the lungs.

• vine (noun) A vine is like a branch (of a tree), but is actually a stem of a climbing plant (it may also be used todescribe the climbing plant itself, e.g. grape vine).

• braves (verb) To brave as a verb, means to face an adverse or difficult situation, even though the person may not be brave (as in the meaning of the adjective: courageous).

• survive (verb) To survive something is to overcome a problem, illness or adverse situation. It may also be, simply, to stay alive. The noun is survivor.

•masterpiece (noun) A masterpiece is a great work of art, like a painting, sculpture or piece of music or writing (poetry, fiction, etc.)

2. PRE-STORY

2a) Seasons...

• How many seasons are there in your country?

• What are they?

• What time of year do they occur?

• Which season do you like best?

• In which season is it easiest to fall ill?

...and Settings

TheLast Leaf takes place in New York City, the largest city in America. The location of the story is a small part of New York known as Greenwich Village (pronounced "grennitch", not "green-witch").

• Have you ever been to New York City?

• Have any of your family or friends been there?

• Did they like it there?

• How many seasons does New York have?

• Do you know anothercommon name for Autumn?

• Why do you suppose Autumn has its other name?

Setting is an important element in any short story, and it is particularly important in The Last Leaf.

What are the two main parts of a story's setting?

T______ & P______

We can think of these aspects in terms of "where the story takes place" and "when the story takes place".

3. IN-STORY

3a) Amasterpiece is the greatest piece of art an artist creates. The Mona Lisa, for example, is Leonardo da Vinci's masterpiece. It is simple and beautiful and the painting shows great technique and use of color.

There are 3 painters in this story. What are their names?

S___________

J___________

Mr __________N

Another main character is Mr Pneumonia, though he doesn't soundmuch like a painter. How would you describe Mr Pneumonia?

3b) If you have already read the Last Leaf try to remember the ending of the story. If you have not read the story yet, this would be good time to read it before trying this exercise.

Ten Lines from The Last Leaf

Here are ten lines from the end of the story. Put them into the correct order to find out how Mr Behrman...