The Last Leaf (adapted excerpt)

江蘇南菁高級中學 顧梅燕

Step 1 感知·閱讀導航

話 題 導 入

《最后一片葉子》是美國著名作家歐·亨利的代表作，主要講述了一位不幸得了肺炎、生命垂危的年輕畫家Johnsy。 她絕望地把自己的生命和常春藤葉子聯(lián)系起來，認為最后一片葉子的飄落便意味著自己的死亡。 為了燃起Johnsy活下去的信心，老畫家Behrman在最后一片葉子飄落的夜晚，用畫筆在墻上畫上了一片永不凋落的常春藤葉， 讓Johnsy重新樹立了生存的勇氣和信念。 但是Behrman卻被病魔無情地奪去了生命。 故事情節(jié)生動，語言細膩，寓意深刻，引發(fā)了讀者強烈的共鳴和無限的思考。

本文為小說節(jié)選，全文798字，建議用時10分鐘。

閱讀立意

閱讀時應達到以下四個目標：

1.了解故事發(fā)生的背景、人物和主要情節(jié)；

2.以故事發(fā)展為線索和依據(jù)，分析人物的性格特點；

3.通過剖析人物的品質(zhì)，深入理解小說標題的真正內(nèi)涵；

4.通過思考小說節(jié)選體現(xiàn)的道德寓意，引導讀者體會人性的真善美。

“Try to sleep，” said Sue a little later， “I must go downstairs for a minute to get Mr Behrman who is going to sit as my model. But I will be right back. And don't move and also please promise me not to look out of the window.”

Old Mr Behrman was a painter who lived on the first floor beneath them. He was more than sixty years old. Behrman was a failure in art. He had always wanted to paint a masterpiece， but he had never yet begun to paint it.For many years he had painted nothing， except now and then something in the line of commer-cial or advertising work. He earned a little money by serving as a model for those young artists who could not pay the price for a regular model.He drank much whiskey and when he was drunk he always talked about the great masterpiece he was going to paint. He was a fierce， intense little man who considered himself as a watch-dog and protector for the two young artists living above him，of whom he was very fond.

Sue found Behrman in his poorly-lighted studio. In one corner of the room stood a blank canvas which had been waiting for twenty-five years to receive the first line of the promised masterpiece. Sue told him of the strange idea which Johnsy had concerning the last leaf， and Sue said that she feared that Johnsy would really die when the last leaf fell.

Old Behrman shouted， “Are there people in the world who are foolish enough to die simply because leaves fall from an old vine （藤蔓）? I have never heard of such a thing. Why do you permit such silly ideas to come into her mind?Oh， that poor little Miss Johnsy.”

“She is very ill and very weak，” explained Sue， “and the fever has left her mind full of strange ideas.”

Johnsy was sleeping when they both went upstairs. Sue pulled down the curtain and motioned to Behrman to go into the other room.There they looked out of the window fearfully at the vine. Then they looked at each other for a moment without speaking. A cold rain was falling， mixed with snow. Behrman took a seat and prepared himself to pose for Sue as a model.

When Sue woke up the next morning， she found Johnsy with dull， wide open eyes， looking at the window.

“But， oh， after the heavy rain and the strong wind， one leaf was still hanging on the vine. The last leaf. Still dark green， it hung from a branch some twenty feet above the ground.”

“It is the last one，” said Johnsy. “I thought it would surely fall during the night. I heard the wind and the rain. It will fall today and I shall die at the same time.”

“Dear Johnsy，” said Sue， placing her face close to Johnsy's on the pillow， “think of me if you won't think of yourself. What shall I do?”

The day passed slowly， and even through the growing darkness of the evening they could see the lone leaf still hanging from the branch against the wall. And then， with the coming of the night， the wind began to blow again， and the rain began to fall heavily.

But the next morning when Johnsy commanded that the curtain be raised again， the leaf was still there.

Johnsy lay for a long time looking at it.And then she called to Sue.

“I've been a bad girl， Sue，” said Johnsy.“Something has made the last leaf stay there just to show me how bad I was. It was a sin（罪） to want to die. You may bring me a little soup now—and then put some pillows behind me and I will sit up and watch you cook.”

An hour later Johnsy said， “Sue， some day I want to paint a picture of the Bay of Naples(那不勒斯海灣).”

The doctor came in the afternoon. “You are doing fine，” he said， taking Johnsy's thin hand in his. “In another week or so you will be perfectly well. And now I must go to see another patient downstairs. His name is Behrman. He is some kind of an artist， I believe. Pneumonia（肺炎 ）， too. He is an old， weak man， and the at

tack is very severe. There is no hope for him，but I am sending him to the hospital in order to make him more comfortable.”

The next day， Sue came to the bed where Johnsy lay. “The doctor tells me that soon you will be perfectly well again，” Sue said， putting her arm around Johnsy. Johnsy smiled at her happily.

“Isn't it wonderful?” Sue continued. “ But now I have something important to tell you...”

Step 2 實踐·文本解讀

立意呈現(xiàn)

Ⅰ.Analyze the soul character

Complete the table and fill in the blank with one word according to the text.

Ⅱ.Summarize the qualities of Behrman

According to the excerpt， what words can be used to describe Behrman's qualities?

He was ___________because_______________________________________________.

He was ___________because_______________________________________________.

He was ___________because________________________________________________.

Ⅲ. Analyze the meaning of Behrman's masterpiece

To Johnsy， it means _______________________________at first.

To Johnsy， it means ________________________________at last.

To Behrman， it means ________________________________seemingly.

To Behrman， it means _______________________________actually.

Step 3 運用·讀寫整合

Ⅰ.Understand the title

What is the symbolic meaning of the titleThe Last Leaf ?

Ⅱ.Explore the theme

What is the theme of the excerpt in your opinion?

【點石成金】小說主題思想的挖掘、標題蘊意的探索，都需要在解讀文本的基礎上跳出節(jié)選內(nèi)容，結(jié)合故事發(fā)生的背景和相應時代的發(fā)展特征，包括作者的生平經(jīng)歷等信息，才能真正領悟出小說故事的內(nèi)涵和所表達的精神品質(zhì)。 歐·亨利的《最后一片葉子》以普通人的經(jīng)歷為視角并切入，用細膩的文字抒寫了舍己為人、大愛無疆的寶貴品質(zhì)，讓讀者深受感動。同時讀者又驚訝于這片葉子所蘊含的深刻意義，由此引發(fā)了無限的思考：人性的真善美，究竟體現(xiàn)在何處，又如何在生活中去實踐？

Step 4 提升·素養(yǎng)建構

Ⅰ.Writing style

1.Features of the language and description of the story:

2.Features of the ending of O. Henry's works， includingThe Gift of the Magi and The Cop and the Anthem:

Ⅱ.What is your ending for this story? Write an essay within 100 words to express your own idea.

“Isn't it wonderful?” Sue continued. “Butnow I have something important to tell you. ”

【點石成金】續(xù)寫活動是閱讀課的有效拓展方式之一。從思維訓練的角度看：讀，是感受別人的局部形象思維成果，又是自己形象思維的觸發(fā)點以及進一步展開的起點；而寫則是自己形象思維成果的外化。讀孕育寫，帶動寫；而寫是讀的繼續(xù)和深化，寫促進了讀，二者緊密聯(lián)系。同時，在續(xù)寫的過程中，學生會再次深刻理解文本，抓住線索，構思續(xù)文，各種充滿創(chuàng)造性的情節(jié)不斷涌現(xiàn)，形象思維能力和邏輯思維能力都得到了有效激活。