Sample Body Paragraphs
for the 3 Short Story Essay
Topics
Write an essay on one of the following
topics: (A) 3 short stories that share a
common theme
Topic Sentence For One Body Paragraph:
“The Last Leaf” has the theme of friendship.
 Supporting Detail #1
 When the girl gets sick, her roommate shows her friendship by doing everything
she can to take care of her. She puts aside her own feelings in order to save her
friend.
 Quote and Page #:

“After the doctor had gone Sue went into the workroom and cried a Japanese
napkin to a pulp. Then she swaggered into Johnsy's room with her drawing
board, whistling ragtime” (25).
 Supporting Detail #2
 When the girl gets sick, the old man proves to be a good friend because he puts
aside his own concerns in order to help her get well. He ends up making himself
fatally ill trying to save her.
 Supporting Detail #3
 The girl only gets better when she realizes how much her friends care about her.
In the end, the theme of friendship is shown to be the most important message of
the story. It seems to be saying that anyone can survive anything as long as
they have friends.
Write an essay on one of the following
topics: (B) 3 short stories that each
rely on symbolism
Topic Sentence For One Body Paragraph:
There is symbolism in “The Last Leaf.”
 Supporting Detail #1
 In the story, the girl tells herself and her roommate that she will hold out and
stay alive until the last leaf falls. The dying of the last leaf symbolizes her dying
as well.

Quote and Page #:
 "Leaves. On the ivy vine. When the last one falls I must go, too. I've known
that for three days. Didn't the doctor tell you?” (14)
 Supporting Detail #2
 The actual living leaves all fall away, as they are expected to do. The painted
leaf, however, survives the winter storms and now symbolizes living. When
the girl sees this leaf, she thinks it is a good sign and gets better.
 Supporting Detail #3
 Overall, the leaf is a symbol that represents survival. The girl is dying because
she loses the will to live. She has no hope and doesn’t want to fight. The one
everlasting painted leaf symbolizes how even when things are rough (the
weather for the leaf, the sickness for the girl) you can have hope that you will
get through it and survive.
Write an essay on one of the following
topics: (C) 3 short stories that use
irony in significant ways.
Topic Sentence For One Body Paragraph:
There is irony in “The Last Leaf.”
 Supporting Detail #1
 When the girl is sick and almost dying, the gruff unsocial neighbor from
downstairs paints the leaf so that it never falls. It is very ironic that when he does
this one good deed he is repaid by getting sick from the rain and cold.

Quote and Page #:
 “Look out the window, dear, at the last ivy leaf on the wall. 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“ (27).
 Supporting Detail #2
 Ironically, because of his kind gesture the girl gets better, but the old man ends
up dying of pneumonia.
 Supporting Detail #3
 This is situational irony because for the whole story we were expecting the girl to
die. It is ironic that the very thing that saved her life is what killed the old man