The%20Last%20Leaf%20of%20Hope

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The Last Leaf of Hope

• after O. Henry The Last Leaf

He, who has health, has hope. And he, who has
hope, has everything.
Arab proverb
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O. Henry(1862 1910)
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About the Author

• O. Henry (1862-1910)
• OHenry, pseudonym of William Sydney
  Porter, is an American writer of short stories,
  best known for his ironic plot twists and
  surprise endings. O. Henry attended school only
  until age l5, when he dropped out to work in his
  uncles drugstore. During his 20s he moved to
  Texas, where he worked for more than ten years as
  a clerk and a bank teller. OHenry did not write
  professionally until he

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About the Author

• reached his mid-30s, when he sold several pieces
  to the Detroit Free Press and the Houston Daily
  Post. In 1894 he founded a short-lived weekly
  humor magazine, The Rolling Stone.
• Charged with embezzling funds from the bank
  in Texas where he had worked from 1891 to 1894,
  O. Henry fled to Honduras rather than stay to
  stand trial. When he learned that his wife was
  dying, he returned to Texas in 1897 and after
  her death he turned himself to the authorities
  and served three years in prison,

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About the author

• where he began to write short stories and used
  the pseudonym O. Henry. Drawing on his life
  experience, O. Henry published over 500 short
  stories in dozens of widely read periodicals,
  which made him recognised as one of the most
  popular writers in America.
• O. Henry's most famous stories, such as
  The Gift of the Magi, The Furnished Room, and
  "The Ransom of Red Chief," make simple yet
  effective use of paradoxical coincidences to
  produce ironic endings. For example, in The

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About the author

• Gift of the Magi, a husband sells his watch to
  buy his wife a Christmas present of a pair of
  hair combs but, she cuts and sells her long hair
  to buy him a Christmas present of a new chain for
  his watch. His style of storytelling became a
  model not only for short fiction, but also for
  American motion pictures and television programs.
• Writing at the rate of more than one story
  per week, O. Henry published ten collections of
  stories during a career that barely spanned a
  decade. Three more collections, Sixes And Sevens
  (1911), Rolling Stones (1912) and Waifs

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About the author

• And Strays (1917), were published after his
  death.
• OHenry's last years were shadowed by
  alcoholism, ill health, and financial problems.
  He died virtually penniless on June 5, 1910, in
  New York. In 19l9 the OHenry Memorial Awards for
  the best American short stories published each
  year were founded by the Society of Arts and
  Sciences. The Complete Works of O. Henry was
  published in l953.

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Facts on William Sydney Porter

• He was born September 11, 1862 in North Carolina,
  where he spent his childhood.
• An acclaimed master of short stories and tales.
• Starting in 1895 he wrote a column for the
  Houston Daily Post.
• In early 1898 Porter was found guilty of
  embezzlement charges and sentenced to five years
  in an Ohio prison.
• Three years and about a dozen short stories
  later, he emerged from prison as "O. Henry" to
  help shield his true identity.

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Facts on William Sydney Porter

• O. Henry wrote with realistic detail based on his
  first-hand experiences both in Texas and in New
  York City.
• In 1907, he published many of his Texas stories
  in The Heart of the West.
• He moved to New York City, where over the next
  ten years before his death in 1910, he published
  over 300 stories and gained worldwide acclaim as
  America's favorite short story writer.
• Porter died on June 5, 1910 in New York City at
  the age of forty seven. An alcoholic, he died
  virtually penniless.

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The Last Leaf

• Who are the main characters?
• Prove that the girls were poor.
• What happened to Johnsy?
• What did doctor tell Sue about Johnny's illness?
• What did Sue call NONSENSE?
• What was Behrman?
• Why did he die?

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General Understanding of the Text

• Q What was, at first, Johnsy determined to do if
  the last ivy leaf should fall?
• She made up her mind to die when the last
  leaf fell.
• Q What did she decide to do when she saw the
  last leaf still cling to the vine after two
  nights rain and wind ?
• She decided not to give up her life.

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General Understanding of the Text

• Q How was it that the cold fierce wind did not
  blow away the last leaf ?
• Behrman, a kind neighbour, who was aware of
  Johnsys state of mind, risked death to paint the
  last leaf, and saved her with his masterpiece.
• Q Why did she call the painted leaf Behrmans
  masterpiece ?
• Because it was so perfect that the girls
  both mistook it for the real thing.

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General Understanding of the Text

• The story revolves around the last ivy leaf
  . The last leaf is the most important of all
  the clues which help organize the story into one.
  Besides the last leaf, there are other clues
  that thread together the events in the story
• A. The doctors three visits. From the
  doctor we learn the gravity of Johnsys and Mr.
  Behrmans illness (she has a one chance in ten,
  then an even chance, and then shes out of
  danger. For Mr. Behrmans illness, see Para.
  26)

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General Understanding of the Text

• B. The Soup. Johnsy refused to take any soup
  offered to her when she had decided to die with
  the fall of the last ivy leaf. But when she was
  encouraged by the last ivy leaf that would not
  give in to the weather and her will to live
  returned, she asked for some soup.
• C. The Bay of Naples. Before Johnsy fell
  ill, she had wanted to paint the Bay of Naples
  (L16) . When she inspired by the last undying ivy
  leaf she again hoped to paint the Bay of Naples
  (L105).

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General Understanding of the Text

• D. Mr. Behrmans Masterpiece. (Paras. 18-20
  Para. 39) Mr. Behrman was a failure in art and
  for forty years he had always been about to paint
  a masterpiece. He had always talked of his coming
  masterpiece. He believed that some day he would
  paint a masterpiece. And being a kind man, Old
  Behrman finally he painted his masterpiece on the
  wall and saved the life of Johnsy at the expense
  of his own.

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Organization of Text

• Scene 1 (Paras. 1-2 Sue Johnsy)
• Sues roommate Johnsy caught pneumonia.
• Scene 2 (Paras. 3-8 Doctor Sue)
• The doctor told Sue that Johnsy needed
  a strong will to live on.
• Scene 3 (Paras. 9-17Johnsy Sue)
• Johnsy decided that she would die when
  the last ivy leaf fall.

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Organization of Text

• Scene 4 (Paras. 18-21 Behrman Sue)
• Sue told Behrman about Johnsys fancy.
• Scene 5 (Paras. 22-33 Sue Johnsy)
• As Johnsy was encouraged by the last leaf
  that wouldn't give in to the weather, her will to
  live returned to her.

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Organization of Text

• Scene 6 (Paras. 34-37 Doctor Sue)
• The doctor told sue that Johnsy would
  recover, but Behrman caught pneumonia himself and
  his case was hopeless.
• Scene 7 (Paras. 38-39 Sue Johnsy)
• Sue told Johnsy that Behrman had performed a
  kind deed without any thought of self.

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What episode this photo deal with?
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What do you know about Sacrifice in
English?

• A sacrifice is the act of giving up something, or
  not
• having something or doing something yourself, to
  help
• somebody else. We saw how Mr Behrman gave his
  life
• to help Johnsy in The Last Leaf. He made the
  greatest
• sacrifice anybody could make.

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But sacrifices are not always as great as Mr
Behrman's. We make small sacrifices almost every
day. How about you? What is the greatest
sacrifice you have ever made for your family or
friends? Did Mr. Behrman know he would die
after finishing The Last Leaf? No, it was
probably not.
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The KEY-word of the story

• HOPE

Find examples in the text. Who said the main
words in this story?
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Compare two girls

• Sue

• Johnsy

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• Complete the word-web

Priorities of young people
Make rating of your priorities
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The Last Leaf of Hope

• after O. Henry The Last Leaf

He, who has health, has hope. And he, who has
hope, has everything.
Arab proverb
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• He, who has health, has hope.
• And he, who has hope,
• has everything.
• Arab proverb