THE LAST LEAF

Nicole Mae J. Halasan

Sherry Bargamento
X-Einstein
 SET TING
The setting for the short story "The Last Leaf"
by O. Henry is Greenwich Village in New York
City.
 SUMMARY
Johnsy and Sue are artists who move into Greenwich
Village 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 from
painting 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.
 CHARACTERS
There are five characters of the story:
Sue - a young artist.
Johnsy - a young artist.
Behrman - an old artist.
A Doctor.
The main characters are Sue, Johnsy, and Mr.
Behrman . The secondary character is a doctor. Sue,
Johnsy, Mr. Behrman are protagonists and Mr.
Pneumonia - antagonist.
Sue is shown as a young girl who is ill. She think that
she will die. Sue is an young artist. She is shown very
kind and good person. Here the author uses indirect
characterization of the personages. O' Henry shows only
their acting.
AUTHOR
O. Henry (1862-1910)wasoriginallyborn
William Sydney Porter in Greensboro, North
Carolina.As a young man, he moved to Austin,
Texas where he worked as abank teller. He
moved again to Houston, Texas in 1895 and
became a newspapercolumnist.
In 1896, however, he wascalled backto Austin,
where he waschargedwithembezzling money
from the bank where he had worked. Not
wanting to go to prison for his crime, O.
Henryfledto Honduras, and stayed there for six
months before returning to the United States.
 AUTHOR
Upon his return, the courttriedhim and put him in an
Ohio prison for three years. While in prison, he began
writing short stories and it is there that he took thepen-
nameO. Henry for his writings.
After his release from prison in 1901, he moved to New
York, which is the setting for many of his stories. He is the
author of over 250 stories and is most famous for his use of
surprise or 'twist' endings. Notice the twists and surprises
in the endings to "The Last Leaf", "The Green Door", and
perhaps his most famous story, "The Gift of the Magi.
 VOCABULARY
Scarcely- almost not at all; by only small amount of
time
Example: He touched Johnsy and she lay, scarcely
moving.
Bare- not covered by leaves, grass, trees, or plants.
Example: Its branches werealmost bare.
Foolishness- an act of showing a lack of good sense
Example: That is pure foolishness.
Silly- not serious, meaningful or important
Example: Please, dont be silly!
 VOCABULARY
Watchdog- a person that makes sure a specific person is not doing
anything illegal or wrong.
Example: He considered himself as a watchdog for the two young
artists.
Motioned- an act or process of moving
Example: She motioned to Behrman to go into the other room.
Dull- not exciting or interesting
Example: She found Johnsey with dull, wide open eyes.
Lone- standing, acting or being alone
Example: They could see the lone leaf still hanging from the branch
against the wall.
Terrible- very shocking and upsetting
Example: They couldnt figure out where he had been on such a
terrible night.
The End