The story is "The Last Leaf" any help is appreciated

What, in your view, is O. Henry doing by including this passage, describing what Johnsy was doing? How does this help his story? “Johnsy's eyes were open wide. She was looking out the window and counting — counting backward. "Twelve," she said, and little later "eleven"; and then "ten," and "nine"; and then "eight" and "seven", almost together.

Explanation:Johnsy was ill with pneumonia,she didnt believe in her self and made up her mind that she will not get better,she also said tht thte duration of her life was linked with the life of the ivy wine in which its leaves started to fall.she was counting backward of the leaves that were left.But on the other hand sue was so caring and looked after johnsy.at the end behrman sacrificed his life to save johnsy's life by which he also made a masterpiece...

hope it helps

two factors or characteristics of a chapter that might make it difficult to read would be words i don't understand, or if i don't fully understand what's going on in the chapter. strategies i can use to get through the difficult material would be a dictionary, and re-reading previous chapters to get a better grasp of what the author is trying to say.