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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. Why had Shawn told Will their dad was killed?

2. What does Will do when his dad backs away in Chapter Five?

3. What does Uncle Mark say when Will says shooting is the end of the moving in Chapter Four?

4. What does Will think about the scene they are acting out in Chapter Four?

5. What had Uncle Mark dreamed of, as told in Chapter Four?

Short Essay Questions

1. How does Will’s dad feel after he shoots the guy in Chapter Five? Who does Will’s dad find out he actually shoots?

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

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

4. How is Buck two-sided, as said in Chapter Six? What do people in the neighborhood say about him?

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

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

7. How had Will’s dad felt after Uncle Mark’s death as told in Chapter Five? What is the figurative language his dad uses to describe how he feels?

8. How had Shawn learned what had happened to Buck as told in Chapter Six? Why was the person who told Shawn not considered a snitch?

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

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

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

Choose and watch one of the following films, either “Moonlight” or “Boyz in the Hood.” Then compare the film of your choice to Long Way Down. What does each text represent about ts environment? What does it show about masculinity? How is masculinity shaped by or influenced by the environment? How are the works similar or different? Use at least two examples from each source in comparing.

Essay Topic 3

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.

(see the answer keys)

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