ENGLISH The Last Leaf

 The Last Leaf

Date- 13/8/21

Topics Covered- Reading and explanation of the chapter.

New words

1.congenial

2.swaggered

3.curative

4.satyr

5.derision

6.twilight

Read the extracts given below and answer the questions that follow.

“She has one chance in-let us say, ten,” he said, as he shook down the mercury in his clinical thermometer, “and that chance is for her to want to live. Your little lady has made up her mind that she’s not going to get well. Has she anything on her mind?”

Who is the ‘little lady’ mentioned in the text?

The ‘little lady’ is Johnsy who is suffering from pneumonia.

Why does the ‘little lady’ have just one in a ten chances of recovery?

The little lady just has one in a ten chances of recovery because she has lost all her will to live and thus even the medicines fail to have any positive effect on her.

What according to the doctor is there on the little lady’s mind?

According to the doctor, the little lady has something worth thinking twice, for instance, a man.

Give the synonym of probability.

chance

“Try to sleep,” said Sue. “I must call Behrman up to be my model for the old hermit miner. I’ll not be gone a minute. Don’t try to move ‘til I come back.”

Why does Sue ask Johnsy to not move till she returns?

Johnsy was continuously staring out of the window to see the last ivy leaf fall from the vine with a feeling that as soon as that happens she will die too. In order to stop Johnsy from thinking, Sue asked her to not look outside the window and not move till she returns.

Where did Sue go after instructing Johnsy?

Sue went to call Behrman to be her model and pose for one of her drawings.

Who was Behrman?

Behrman was an old man who was sixty years old and a painter by profession who lived in an apartment on the ground floor, below Sue and Johnsy.

Give the synonym of: mannequin.

model

Answer the following questions in 30-40 words.

What did Behrman think about Johnsy’s imagination?

When Sue told Behrman about how she feared losing Johnsy due to her strange fantasy

	concerning the last ivy leaf, he became quite angry and expressed his contempt and derision for such an idiotic imagination.
b)	How did Sue try to change Johnsy’s pessimistic attitude?
	Sue tried to change Johnsy’s pessimistic attitude towards life by diverting Johnsy’s mind from the last leaf and her sickness by making her take interest in things around her. She tried to keep up Johnsy’s sagging sprits by bringing her drawing board in Johnsy’s room and whistling.
c)	What did Sue and Johnsy see when they pulled the curtain after the beating rain?
	After the beating rain and fierce gusts of wind that had continued through the long night, when Sue and Johnsy pulled up the curtain, they saw the last ivy leaf still on the vine. Still dark green near its stem, but with its serrated edges tinted with the yellow of dissolution and decay, it hung bravely from a branch some twenty feet above the ground.
3.	Answer the following questions in 100-120 words.
a)	What was the cause of Johnsy’s illness? How could the illness be treated?
	Johnsy was bedridden with pneumonia. However, the real cause of her illness was her negative thinking. Pneumonia had damaged her body and mind. She had made up her mind that she was going to die. Quite illogically, she had linked the falling number of vine leaves to her remaining lifespan. Her illness could be treated only by injecting back hope and willpower in her life. Her doctor also said that if she did not want to live then medicines would not help her.
b)	How did Behrman save Johnsy’s life?
	Johnsy had given up on her life and was waiting for the last ivy leaf to fall from the vine which she had associated to her death as well. One night, Behrman who was very furious because of this imagination decided to save Johnsy’s life. He climbed the ladder and fought against the icy winds and rains to paint an ivy leaf as green and real as the one on the vine. The next morning when Johnsy saw the leaf on the vine after the heavy rains and icy winds, Johnsy realised it was a sin to want to die and decided to get her will back to want to live. Even though the weather took away Behrman’s life, it gave Johnsy the hope to live.
4.	Do as directed:
i.	Johnsy’s eyes were wide open. (Add a question tag.) Johnsy’s eyes were open wide, weren’t they?
ii.	Sue pulled the shade down. (Change the voice.) The shade was pulled down by Sue.

iii.              That leaf is the greenest one of the tree. (Change to positive degree.) No other leaf is as green as that one on the tree.

iv.              As soon as the doctor had gone, Sue went to the workroom. (Re-write the sentence using ‘no sooner than…..’)

No sooner had the doctor gone than Sue went to the workroom.

v.                She wanted to paint the Bay of Naples someday. (Re-write in the interrogative form.) Didn’t she want to paint the Bay of Naples someday?

 

5.          Form nouns from the following words:

 

(i) imagine	(ii) possible	(iii) disappoint	(iv) illustrate	(v) arrive
imagination	possibility	disappointment	illustration	arrival

 

6.          Form adjectives from the following words:

 

(i) picture	(ii) silence	(iii) weariness	(iv) humour	(v) triumph
picturesque	silent	weary	humourous	triumphant

 

7.          Form verbs from the following words:

 

(i) belief	(ii) transformation	(iii) different	(iv) sympathy	(v) able
believe	transform	differ	sympathise	able

 

 

8.          Your friend is unwell and has been hospitalized. Write a letter to him/her telling him the importance of having a positive outlook to life and hoping for a faster recovery.

Personal Response

 

9.          ‘The Last Leaf’ is a sensitive story about friendship. Divide the class into four groups. Each group should select a life value from the story apart from the importance of friendship. Let each group give a short speech on the life value selected by the group.

Personal Response