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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 does Will feel looking at his dad in Chapter Five after his dad finishes his story?

2. Who was Ghee, as told in Chapter Five?

3. Why does Will stop himself from crying when he sees his dad in Chapter Five?

4. What had Shawn been telling Buck the day that Buck died?

5. Who finishes the scene in Chapter Four?

Short Essay Questions

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

2. What does Will feel like telling his dad in Chapter Five? Why does he keep it inside?

3. What had Will’s dad done in as told Chapter Five after Uncle Mark’s death?

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

5. Who gets on the elevator in Chapter Four? What does he do to Will?

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

7. What did Will’s mom tell Will about why his dad had died as told in Chapter Five? What had Will thought about this as a kid?

8. In Chapter Four, what does Will remember when he realizes the guy who gets onto the elevator is Uncle Mark?

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

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

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

The Rules are the center of the novel's events, driving Will's actions as well as the actions of generations before him. Will says repeatedly, "The Rules are the rules," implying that they can not be changed. Why is this the case? Why has Will, and others, accepted The Rules so readily? What have The Rules done for the community? And finally, does the novel show that The Rules are The Rules, or does it show something different? Use four textual examples to support your paper.

Essay Topic 2

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 3

Long Way Down takes place in a very structured format in an elevator, with physical layout representations of the elevator as well as each chapter taking place on a different floor. How and why is this metaphor used? What does it mean for the structure of the novel? What does this metaphor mean for the events that take place? Specifically, look at Chapter Seven and the language around an elevator that is used. Does the meaning of an elevator change throughout the novel? Write an exploratory paper with at least four textual examples.

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