"The Last Leaf" (Pearson)

What is situational irony?

• when what happens is the opposite of the expected

• when someone says something sarcastic

• when Tony Stark is involved

• when the audience knows something that the characters don't

The following question has two parts. Answer Part A first, and then Part B.

Part A Which answer choice best identifies the situational irony in the story?

• Johnsy‘s belief in the last leaf saves her, but the last leaf turns out not to have been real.

• One leaf appears to last through the storm, but it is actually only a painting of a leaf.

• Behrman dies when he makes a selfless gesture in painting the last leaf.

• Behrman calls Johnsy‘s belief ―foolishness‖ even though he is worried about her.

Part B Which quotation from the story most clearly expresses the irony identified in Part A?

• "Vass!" he cried. "Is dere people in de world mit der foolishness to die because le) afs dey drop off from a confounded vine?"

• "But, lo! After the beating rain and fierce gusts of wind that had endured through the livelong night, there yet stood out against the brick wall one ivy leaf." (paragraph 8)

• "The janitor found . . . a lantern, still lighted, and a ladder that had been dragged from its place, and some scattered brushes, and a palette with green and yellow colors mixed on it, and—look out the window, dear, at the last ivy leaf on the wall." (paragraph 12)

• "Didn't you wonder why it never fluttered or moved when the wind blew? Ah, darling, it‘s Behrman‘s masterpiece—he painted it there the night that the last leaf fell." (paragraph 12)

Which of the following lines from the passage is most clearly a false clue used to help create a surprise ending?

• . . . After the doctor had gone Sue went into the workroom and . . . Johnsy was looking out the window and counting—counting backward. (paragraph 3)

• . . .Sue . . . told him of Johnsy‘s fancy, and how she feared she would, in. .deed, light and fragile as a leaf herself, float away when her slight hold upon the world grew weaker . . . (paragraph 6)

• . . .When Sue awoke from an hour‘s sleep the next morning she found Johnsy with dull, wide-open eyes staring. (paragraph 8)

• And that afternoon Sue came to the bed where Johnsy lay . . . "I have something to tell you, white mouse," she said. (paragraph 12)

The following question has two parts. Answer Part A first, and then Part B.

Part A Which answer choice best restates a main theme of "The Last Leaf"?

• A person‘s beliefs, even if false, are a powerful force in shaping that person‘s fate.

• Whatever happens to a person in life, good or bad, is determined by fate.

• Art is an illusion, however beautiful, that is created about of people's fear of death.

• An appreciation of art, wherever it appears, helps define a truly civilized life.

Part B

Which of the following is the evidence that most clearly supports the answer to Part A?

• Johnsy falls ill due to forces outside of her control. She recovers through old Behrman‘s help, not through her own efforts.

• Johnsy‘s mistaken belief that she will die seems to harm her recovery. Her mistaken belief that one leaf remains saves her.

• Old Behrman saves Johnsy by painting the last leaf, which is his masterpiece. It is so lifelike that it fools Johnsy.

• Old Behrman paints the leaf to save Johnsy from death. However, in doing so, he becomes ill and dies himself.

Which event is the inciting incident that most directly establishes the conflict of "The Last Leaf"?

• Pneumonia becomes an epidemic during November.

• Johnsy decides she will die when the last leaf falls from the vine.

• The last leaf remains attached to the vine despite the storm.

• The old German artist, Mr. Behrman, dies of pneumonia.

Which of the following details is an example of the particular historical context of "The Last Leaf," a story written over a century ago?

• the fact that antibiotics are not used to treat the pneumonia epidemic

• the fact that two young women are living in an urban apartment building

• the fact that Mr. Behrman is a sixty-year-old German artist

• the fact that someone dies from a sometimes life-threatening illness

The following question has two parts. Answer Part A first, and then Part B.

Part A Which answer choice is the main conflict in "The Last Leaf"?

• the conflict between Johnsy‘s recovery and her conviction that she will die

• the conflict between Sue‘s and old Behrman‘s views of Johnsy‘s superstition

• the conflict between the doctor‘s view of disease and Johnsy‘s superstition

• the conflict between Johnsy‘s struggle for recovery and the storm

Part B

Which answer choice best describes the resolution to the conflict identified in Part A?

• The doctor tells Sue that Johnsy has given up her will to live.

• Sue tells old Behrman that Johnsy believes she will die when the last leaf falls.

• Old Behrman fools Johnsy by painting the last leaf and saves her life.

• Old Behrman dies due to his effort in painting the last leaf.