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

2. What does Will explain to Dani in Chapter Three?

3. What is Will’s random thought in Chapter One?

4. How does Will realize in Chapter Three that the girl on the elevator is Dani?

5. What had also happened that day in the picture as told in Chapter Three?

Short Essay Questions

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

2. Who was Buck to Shawn as described in Chapter Two? What does Buck give Shawn and teach him?

3. What is the picture of at the beginning of Chapter One? What does this image illustrate for the reader?

4. Who does Will think has killed Shawn in Chapter One? Why does Will think this?

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

6. What does Will describe as a “strange thing” in the beginning of Chapter Two? What does he call this?

7. How does Will describe the sadness of losing someone you love in Chapter One?

8. Why does Will tell Dani he needs the gun in Chapter Three? Why does Will explain The Rules to Dani?

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 a Penny Drop? What does Will tell the reader about a Penny Drop in Chapter One?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

In Chapter Four of the novel, film techniques are used to illustrate the center of the story. In early lessons, the novel’s connection to rap music was discussed. What is the effect of having the novel contain so many genre forms? Why are so many different kinds of media referenced and contained in the novel? How does this enhance the story of the novel? Pull from at least four textual examples to support your exploratory claim.

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

Long Way Down uses and reinterprets several metaphors throughout the book. Choose one of the metaphors or figures of language used in Long Way Down (such a middle drawer). Find and write three instances of how the metaphor is used and changed or interpreted in new ways throughout the novel. What is the first definition of the word? What is the meaning of the word by the end of the novel? Finally, why is this metaphor used over and over? What is the purpose of the novel in using the same figurative language over and over?

(see the answer keys)

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