People & Relationships
Identify the guest Will meets on the 7th floor. Who is this character and what is their relationship to Will?
On the 7th floor, Will meets Buck
Relationship: Buck is connected to the group involved in the shooting; he knew some people in Will’s life.
What happens to the elevator doors when the narrator keeps pressing the L button?
Repeated pressing of L attempts to make the doors close faster; nothing is there when opened.
The narrator mentions “The Rules.” Based on the story, give one example of a rule related to elevators.
Elevator rule: press L repeatedly to make doors close faster.
The poems often use short lines and line breaks. Name one effect this poetic form has on tone or pacing.
Short lines create urgency and breath-like pacing; they mimic thought and elevate tension.
Who is the author of "Long Way Down"?
Jason Reynolds
Name two family members present in the elevator scenes and describe briefly how they react to Shawn.
Uncle Mark and Pop; Uncle Mark gives a light tap and says “Big man!”, Pop wraps arms around Shawn then shakes hands with him. Floor 7 guest: Dani’s presence complicates Will’s thoughts because it reveals human consequences and connections.
What action causes the elevator door to open again just before it closes?
Four fingers slip between the doors, catching and reopening them.
Identify one symbol related to sight/reflection that appears in the excerpts and explain its possible symbolic meaning.
Reflection symbol: characters (Frick and others) cannot see their own reflections—only the narrator’s reflection is blurred—suggesting absence, guilt, or altered identity.
Identify an example of dialogue formatting or typographic emphasis in the excerpts and explain its effect (e.g., boldface, capitalization).
Boldface and capitalized phrases (e.g., COME ON,) emphasize emotion and raised voice; timestamps in bold mark moments.
Name one thing that we learned about the author’s background or influences.
He loves hip-hop, and he never read a full book until he was 17.
Which character admits to pulling a trigger in the excerpt and what justification does he give?
Frick admits to pulling the trigger; he says he pulled the trigger when scared and to “earn my stripes” (he claims self-defense context).
Summarize the sequence that leads Frick to reveal a hole in his chest. Who mentions fingerprints?
Frick pulls down his collar to show a dime-sized hole and says “Your brother’s fingerprints are in there somewhere.” Buck says “middle finger.”
The text repeats the phrase “TOOK ME OUT before I ever even got my Shining.” What theme does this line reinforce?
Reinforces themes of lost potential, premature death, and the cycle of violence.
Will sometimes shifts from plain narration to quoted speech (e.g., “Bang-bang.”). How does this technique affect readers’ perception of events?
Quoted speech and onomatopoeia (e.g., “Bang-bang”) make events more immediate and visceral; they place readers inside scenes.
Describe the relationship between Buck and Frick as shown in the excerpts. What action escalates their confrontation?
Buck and Frick are antagonistic; Buck mimics a gun with fingers and Frick later reveals a bullet hole; Buck’s actions (finger-gun, mock shooting) escalate to Frick being shot.
According to the book, how many bullets were fired at Frick and how does Frick adjust that number in dialogue?
The text gives both “Fifteen bullets.” and earlier says “he only pulled the trigger once” but clarifies count; numeric answer: 1515.
Will feels a cigarette meant for Shawn is “burning in my stomach.” Explain how this image connects to guilt or grief.
The cigarette image suggests consuming grief and internalized pain—guilt and anger manifest physically.
Find and explain an example of repetition in the excerpts and analyze its rhetorical purpose.
Repetition: “TOOK ME OUT before I ever even got my Shining” — reinforces loss and the narrator’s sense of injustice; repeated timestamps also heighten urgency.
Explain how the presence of multiple passengers (like Uncle Mark, Pop, Buck, Dani) contributes to the social pressure or “rules” the narrator mentions.
Their presence creates a communal response to Shawn’s return—some celebrate, others confront or accuse—demonstrating social codes about violence and reputation.
Recount the scene describing Shawn’s entrance and the immediate reactions from Buck and the Will's family.
Shawn enters; Buck yelps and fiddles with Shawn’s chain, Uncle Mark and Pop embrace Shawn; the narrator looks to Shawn for recognition but receives little or no response.
Discuss how the time (timestamps like 09:08:58 a.m. / 09:09:03 a.m.) affects the tension and pacing in the scenes.
Timestamps create a countdown feel and compress action into a short, tense timeframe, increasing urgency.
The book is written in present tense and includes timestamps. Explain how tense and timestamps together influence immediacy and reader engagement.
Present tense and timestamps make events feel immediate and ongoing, pulling readers into real-time action.