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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. In Chapter One, what does Will say happened to his brother Shawn?

2. What scares Will at the end of Chapter Two?

3. How does Buck laughing at Will feel to Will in Chapter Two?

4. In Chapter One, where do we learn Will and his mother live?

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

Short Essay Questions

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

2. 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?

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

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

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

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

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

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

9. What does Will compare his mother’s eczema to in Chapter One? And how does he turn this into wordplay talking about the grudges in the neighborhood?

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

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?

Essay Topic 2

By the end of the novel, what Will knows about his father and brother is changed. His father is not like he imagined, and his brother has broken rule number one. Has Will changed? Why or why not? How has his character been influenced by the events of the novel? Pull at least three examples from the novel to show how either he has changed or stayed the same in spite of interacting with the other characters.

Essay Topic 3

Will's mother has eczema, and scratches at herself to soothe the itch.Will in the first Chapter wonders if everyone is being eaten alive by something invisible, like her eczema (26). What does he mean by this? How is this idea shown or expanded later in the novel? Why is it continually used? Use at least three textual examples to explore this topic.

(see the answer keys)

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