"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

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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.

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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)

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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)

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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

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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

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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.

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