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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. Who was Buck’s stepdad as said in Chapter Six?

2. What does Will’s dad admit to Will in Chapter Five?

3. What does Will think about the bullets in the gun in Chapter Five?

4. Where did Will’s dad find the guy who had killed Uncle Mark?

5. What happens at the end of the scene Uncle Mark and Will are saying in Chapter Four?

Short Essay Questions

1. How does Will feel realizing his father shot the wrong guy as told in Chapter Five? How had he imagined his father?

2. How does Frick justify his killing Buck in Chapter Six? How do the other men in the elevator respond?

3. What are the stories Shawn had told Will about their dad in Chapter Five? What does Will remember about these stories?

4. How does Uncle Mark’s selling escalate as described in Chapter Four? How does his selling end and why?

5. According to Chapter Six, why was Shawn upset as he tells to Buck? What does Buck do to comfort him?

6. Who finishes the scene for Will in Chapter Four? What does Will feel when he echoes the ending?

7. What does Uncle Mark ask Will after Will finishes the scene in Chapter Four? What does Uncle Mark say in reply to Will’s response?

8. Why does Frick try to rob Buck as told in Chapter Six? Why do other people not try to rob Buck?

9. What does Frick show to Will in Chapter Six? What do he and Buck say about what he shows Will?

10. What does Will’s dad do to Will after he tells Will his story? How does Will respond? How does their interaction end?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Long Way Down is intertextual with the story A Christmas Carol. Buck and other characters are decorated with gold chains, and smoke plays a role in each new scene, similar to A Christmas Carol. In A Christmas Carol, the main character is visited by a ghost of Christmas Past, Present, and Future. In Long Way Down, what do the ghosts represent for Will? Are they of the past, present, and future? What does each character represent to him? Write an argument comparing Long Way Down's ghosts to a Christmas Carol's ghosts, and why Long Way Down shows its ghosts in this way.

Essay Topic 2

In Chapter One, Will takes Shawn’s gun and alludes to a little brother holding his big brother’s hands, in a sense, walking in his footsteps. In Chapter Five, Mikey Holloman tells his story of going to shoot his older brother’s killer in words and actions similar to Will’s choosing to avenge Shawn. In place of actual relationships with male role models, how are young boys shown following after their role models paths? Find at least three textual examples to explore how the novel shows younger generations taking after older generations.

Essay Topic 3

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?

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