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This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. What is the anagram Will says in Chapter Two?

2. What does Dani ask when Will asks about her smoking in Chapter Three?

3. What does Will say one has to do to make it big in basketball in Chapter One?

4. Why does Will feels silly telling Buck that Shawn is dead in Chapter Two?

5. What did Shawn teach Will how to do on the playground as Will tells us in Chapter One?

Short Essay Questions

1. What happens on the day of the picture that Dani shows to Will in Chapter Three?

2. Who gets on the elevator in Chapter Three? How do Will and the new person first interact?

3. What does Will insist to the reader directly after he introduces himself in the beginning of Chapter One? Why does he say he does this?

4. What are the people in Will’s neighborhood trained to do when there are gunshots, as described by Will in Chapter One?

5. What does Will say he usually does when bad things happen? Why can he not do this on the day that Shawn dies? Why does he think the moon is “lucky”?

6. How does Shawn come to teach Will The Rules as explained in Chapter Three? What does Will feel after he is taught the Rules?

7. What does Will think of when the girl in the elevator shows him the picture from her wallet in Chapter Three? Who is in the photo?

8. Why does Will look to Buck for help in Chapter Three? What does Buck do?

9. As told in Chapter Two, what does “L” mean to Shawn and Will? What is the game they used to play on the elevator?

10. What is the metaphor Will describes in Chapter Three about God displaying his children?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Think about the ending of the “The Scene” in Chapter Four where Will says he shoots after some reluctance. Consider how many generations are represented repeating a similar pattern of revenge. Why does Will not want to shoot? Does Will have free will to choose to shoot or not shoot? Why or why not? Argue why or why he does not have free will and connect this to the ending of the novel. What does the ending suggest about free will?

Essay Topic 2

Compare and contrast how Pop feels and acts after shooting Ghee to how Will feels and acts after Dani dies. What similarities exist between the two scenes? What is the novel saying about death by having these similarities? What themes is the novel trying to evoke with these two passages? Write a claim about the purpose of comparing the theme, and draw on at least two other sections in the novel to support your claim.

Essay Topic 3

By the end of the novel, Shawn gets off the elevator and asks Will, "you coming?" (306). There is no further action. Why does the plot cut off so suddenly here? And what happens next based on what has already occurred in the novel? Develop an argument for what happens next based on the events of the novel. Use at least four textual examples to support your claim. Then connect this to an argument of why you think Long Way Down ends so suddenly.

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