Complete your free account to access notes and highlights. A chopper. Its heavily implied that the nighttime is a metaphor for the collection of dark emotions that can overcome a person after someone they love has been killed. You can hear Real World music on the BBC 2 television series and this new double CD (as well as the accompanying DVD to be released on December 3rd . Ideally, Will shouldve been asking himself the ghosts questions all along. Crochet, hes said, taught him the value of going slowly and taking life one stepor one stitchat a time. L ong Way Down by Jason Reynolds is a 2017 verse novel about Will Holloman, a fifteen-year-old boy grieving over the death of his brother.. Will's older brother, Shawn . Composed by Masafumi TakadaVocals by Gary NumanLyrics:Find myself withinDarkness twisting me aroundThere is nothing I can doThis world doesn't spinIt just tu. 9. After Will tells Buck about Shawns death, Buck responds: So what you bout to do? (p.94). 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No snitching. How does Will change over the course of Long Way Down? I highly recommend you use this site! She had been shot and killed at the age of eight. If there are three dates, the first date is the date of the original The final ghost that steps into the elevator is Shawn himself. There are Rules, and the Rules must be followed. A fifteen-year-old Black teen, Will has grown up in an unnamed impoverished neighborhood with a high incidence of gun violence, drug abuse, and gang activity. Welcome to the LitCharts study guide on Jason Reynolds's Long Way Down. The first thing that Mikey brings is guilt. He asks, what you think you should do? (p.210). The way the content is organized, LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in. The last lines of Long Way Down show Shawn finally breaking his silence with his brother to ask if he is coming. Will must decide if he'll follow neighborhood code . Will Hollomans biggest struggle is trying to find an outlet for his grief. As important as their mentorship has been, he is destined to suffer the same fate if he carries out his plan. Just as Buck started the cycle of violence in Shawn by teaching him The Rules, he starts doubt within Will. As compelling as Danis question might be to the reader, Will doesnt truly begin to question the righteousness of what hes doing until he comes face to face with Pop, who was killed when Will was three, and therefore isnt someone Will remembers. Instant downloads of all 1715 LitChart PDFs When Reynolds was 19, one of his best friends was murdered on the street. Long Way Down thoroughly explores the theme of revenge. GradeSaver, 3 November 2022 Web. I analyze books, films, and other media to bring out lessons in writing for your benefit, but I also mix in a fun post every so often. Uncertainty is a dominant theme in Long Way Down. In other words, everyone in Wills life has encouraged him to view the Rules in a highly simplified and glorified way rather than to truly think about their potential consequences. Now that he's at the Lobby level and the elevator doors are open . https://www.storyboardthat.com/lesson-plans/long-way-down-by-jason-reynolds/themes, This Storyboard That activity is part of the lesson plans for. There are so many ways to interpret this. Shawn, however, refuses to answer, letting Will writhe in the agony of not knowing what to do. This gets both the reader and Will to question if Riggs death really is the right answer. Difficulty Level 3 (Developing to Mastery), Type of Activity: Themes, Symbols & Motifs, (You can also create your own on Quick Rubric.). Our, "Sooo much more helpful thanSparkNotes. What is the moral or message of Long Way Down? publication online or last modification online. (I found this mildly confusing because where I live, the penultimate level is generally called level 1, but here, its level 2.) The Genius of Elizabeth Weins Code Name Verity [SPOILERS], Three-Act Story Structure Study: Neal Shustermans Scythe, MG & YA Books by POC Authors + representation chat. From the creators of SparkNotes, something better. In particular, Pop illuminates the fundamental flaw in the Rules and how they play out: he thought he shot Uncle Marks killer, but realizes now that he made a mistake and killed the wrong man. Its a terrifying moment for Will and it shows him how hed feel if he were in Riggs place. In the elevator, Will comes face to face with the ghosts of Buck, Pop, his Uncle Mark, Shawn, and Dani, a childhood friend who was accidentally shot and killed as an eight-year-old. You'll also get updates on new titles we publish and the ability to save highlights and notes. The clearest symbol of vulnerability in this novel is crying; it is the first Rule, and the act that most clearly expresses weakness. publication in traditional print. Wills interest in anagrams may be because they remind him of his bond with Shawn same letters, different words, somehow still make sense together, like brothers (p.37). Instant PDF downloads. Finally, I found Wills fascination with anagrams interesting, especially since there are five (maybe six) anagrams scattered across the book. While Will sees it as a signal to follow Rule #3, its awkwardness actually serves to draw attention to the wrongness of tracking Riggs down and killing him to avenge Shawn. Teachers may opt to lower the security if they want to allow sharing. The ones that I want to highlight are the middle drawer, the nighttime, and Wills use of anagrams. Teachers and parents! I couldnt see himas anything lessthan my brother, Instant downloads of all 1715 LitChart PDFs A cannon. Knew. Much of how Will conceptualizes manhood has to do with acting appropriately masculinethat is, as, Instant downloads of all 1715 LitChart PDFs The second is the date of By making this clear to Will, the ghosts in the elevator ask him to consider if his plan to kill Riggs is actually the right course of action, and if Will is actually behaving loyally by following through with it. Danis death, then, not only killed herit inducted Will into the cycle of violence and emotional repression that led him to his current state, in which hes considering taking anothers life so he can stay true to the Rules. Created by the original team behind SparkNotes, LitCharts are the world's best literature guides. Is he going to shoot Riggs, and further the cycle of violence? I found a number of recurring symbols that either represented an idea and/or added to the books themes. Long Way Down by Jason Reynolds | Summary & Ending, Unwind Book Series | Unwind by Neal Shusterman, Beah's A Long Way Gone: Themes & Discussion, On the Sidewalk Bleeding by Evan Hunter | Summary & Themes, The Outsiders by S.E. Like. When Frick discloses his story how he was killed Will thinks, I wish I knew an anagram for POSER (p.276). In this activity, students will identify themes in Long Way Down and illustrate examples from the text. He asks Will, Why are you here? (p.167). All storyboards are private and secure to the portal using enterprise-class file security hosted by Microsoft Azure. 3. Hey there! eNotes.com, Inc. I followed The Rules.At least the first two. The original text plus a side-by-side modern translation of. Reynolds builds on this central theme with the introduction of several ghosts of people who have died from gun homicide. Our, "Sooo much more helpful thanSparkNotes. Yet every act of revenge only leads to another, thus furthering the cycle of violence, and Long Way Downdoes a fantastic job of hammering this idea in. -Graham S. Below you will find the important quotes in, Would not have made it through AP Literature without the printable PDFs. Reynolds uses connotation to reveal the grievance of Will after going through the loss of a loved one. In the climactic scene with Shawn, Will wants the mute ghost of his brother to tell him if he is duty-bound to kill Riggs. around knew. The ubiquity of violence has led Will and the others in his neighborhood to develop various survival strategies. [] I thought about this when the man withthe gold chains got on and checked to see if theL button was already glowing. The track was only bundled with the Limited Edition of the game, and cannot be purchased separately. The novel's close-up examination of the motivation and cyclical nature of shootings among young people is a thought-provoking foray into an important slice of our cultural reality. They're like having in-class notes for every discussion!, This is absolutely THE best teacher resource I have ever purchased. This depiction of the ghosts serves to underscore the wasted potentialthe stolen timeof those whose lives are cut short by violence. -Graham S. Would not have made it through AP Literature without the printable PDFs. Reynolds doesnt explicitly tell us. Detailed quotes explanations with page numbers for every important quote on the site. Reynolds also emphasizes the importance of mentorship with Will's strong desire to commit to The Rules, the only remaining guidance he has from Shawn, who in turn inherited them from Buck and Mikey and Mark. All storyboards are public and can be viewed and copied by anyone. This is only the first part of Wills journeyonce he reaches the lobby, his plan is to avenge the death of his older brother, Shawn, who was shot the night before in what was likely a gang-related incident. A strap. Always too big. The Rules are short and simple: no crying, no snitching (which Will defines as talking to the police), and revenge, which Will says means, If someone you love / gets killed, / find the person / who killed / them and / kill them. Though Will presents the Rules as inarguable, nonnegotiable facts, both he (seemingly, Its impossible to ignore the supernatural aspect of Long Way Downall the individuals who share the elevator with Will on his way to avenge his brother Shawns death are ghosts. like. Students can explore by identifying these elements themselves or in an envelope activity, where they are given one or more to track throughout their reading. These principles of masculinity confuse and complicate Wills emotions; he wants to cry for his dead brother, but he also wants to make his brother proud, to prove that he is man enough to handle this situation the way Shawn would have wanted. T he main themes in Long Way Down are everyday violence, the rules of masculinity, and the passage of time.. See, his brother Shawn was just murdered. I was only three.And I dont remember that.Ive always wanted to. Word Count: 904. Our summaries and analyses are written by experts, and your questions are answered by real teachers. This is linked to The Rules, which have been passed down for so long that Will cant even name who came up with them in the first place The Rules have always ruled. Mikey had killed the wrong guy (p.218). Indeed, the narrative traces the chain of violent acts connected to Wills decision to avenge Shawn: Will intends to kill Riggs for (presumably) having killed Shawn, Riggs killed Shawn for having killed Frick, Shawn killed Frick for having killed Buck, and so on. They're like having in-class notes for every discussion!, This is absolutely THE best teacher resource I have ever purchased. While a young student, Reynolds grew frustrated by what his teachers assigned him to readhe found that he couldnt identify with the characters or get interested in books that seemed to have little to do with his lived experience. Ultimately, the novel shows how The Rules encourage Will to imitate preconceived notions of masculinity that are emotionally harmful and lead to acts that harm both the individuals trying to live up to expectations and the society that must live with the consequences of their actions. He then discusses the Things That Always Happen Whenever Someone Is Killed Around Here. Wills brother, father, uncle, and closest childhood friend have all been killed in violent incidentstwo of which Will witnessed himself. Revengethe action of inflicting hurt as retribution for a wrong sufferedenters the narrative when Will lays out The Rules. eNotes.com Shawn begins to softly [snot] and [hiccup] like a little kid, tears pouring from his eyes (p.291). In fact, the Rules make it hard to figure out ones target, given the no snitching rule. Here, Ill be quickly analyzing each character and what they bring to the elevator. Throughout the book, masculinity arises as a key theme. We know the spirits of the dead exit the elevator at the lobby (along with the cigarette smoke) and Shawn's spirit asks Will if he's "coming" with them. Struggling with distance learning? Long Way Down thoroughly explores the theme of revenge. The author can choose to leave the storyboard public or mark it as Unlisted. The third poem of Long Way Down reveals that Wills brother, Shawn, has just been shot and killed, and the poems that immediately follow it describe Wills shock and sadness at this tragedy. Learn about Long Way Down by Jason Reynolds. that I didlike he told me,like Buck told him,like our grandfather toldour uncle, like our uncletold our dad. (including. The ghostly figures from the past have a strange relationship with time. Definitions and examples of 136 literary terms and devices. Get unlimited access to over 88,000 lessons. Have students think creatively and "fill in the blanks" of conversation between Will and the other characters. Frickthe man whom Shawn killed, and who was undergoing his initiation into the same gang that Riggs belongs to when he killed Buckdoesnt recognize Riggss description, which suggests that its likely Riggs didnt kill Shawn to avenge Fricks death. Past present future forever (p.174). You'll also get updates on new titles we publish and the ability to save highlights and notes. The novel looks at both the inevitability and the futility of revenge. When they were eight. Descriptions clearly say why examples are significant. At fifteen, he has already lived through innumerable shootings, and so he and Tony know the drill when they hear shots, ducking until the sound stops and then standing up to count bodies. But it also suggests that such emotions, and the violent actions that Will and others like him want to take as an expression of that loyalty, have irrevocable consequences for all parties involved. Struggling with distance learning? Find related themes, quotes, symbols, characters, and more. In Jason Reynolds' anti-gun novel, Long Way Down, written in verse, he explicitly emphasizes the effects of the acts of revenge in Will's society to evoke the adverse consequences of a gun violence. [] I thought about this when the man withthe gold chains got on and checked to see if theL button was already glowing. Will's true vulnerability is exposed when he pees himself in fear, when he cries over his uncertainty about killing Riggs, and when he seems to want nothing more than to hug the people he has lost. 61 likes. If everyone followed The Rules, there would be no end to the bloodshed. 5 years ago. Revenge. However, when Will enters the elevator and meets with the ghosts of people he once knew, his commitment to revenge is shaken. Mixed into Will's determination to abide by The Rules and avenge his brother's death is a strong sense of moral obligation to make sure Shawn's killer suffers consequences. The greatest challenge comes when Will's father holds a handgun to Will's head, prompting a physiological expression of fear as Will involuntarily wets his pants. BIG . The first character that Will encounters is Buck, the only big brother Shawn had ever had (p.86) and the one who taught [Shawn] The Rules (p.93). Its after hearing Mikeys story that his questions hits harder: what you think you should do?. The family Will has left then, is his mother and, until the day before the novel begins, his big brother Shawn. The six ghosts have little more than a minute in which to dissuade the fifteen-year-old protagonist from pursuing revenge. Additionally, my opinions may not align with yours and thats cool, too. Then he begins to tell Will how he really died, and in doing so, unpacks a number of important elements. Long Way Down tells the story of Will, a 15-year-old boy riding the elevator in his apartment building down to the lobby. Rather than Shawn's death being the end of something, it is simply the next domino to fall in a sequence set in motion decades earlier. Teachers and parents! A Long Way Gone is Ishmael Beah's noteworthy memoir published in 2007.Beah gives a firsthand account of his experiences as a child soldier during the Sierra Leone civil war in the 1990s. Most examples fit the identified symbols. Griefdeep sorrow caused by someone's deathis a major theme in Long Way Down. She has a Bachelor's degree in Special Education, Elementary Education, and English from Gordon College and a Master's degree in Special Education from Salem State University. gets passed down like name-brand. They're like having in-class notes for every discussion!, This is absolutely THE best teacher resource I have ever purchased. Hey, I'm Germaine: writer, artist, and more. More books than SparkNotes. This is just how I interpreted the book. At only fifteen, Will assumes this responsibility as though it is a rite of passage into manhood. Not only is this a disturbing image that really nails home the actual death of a child, this is a turning point for Will. Written by Beah in the United States after he returned to civilian life, the narrative gives real-life insight into how children can be coerced to commit terrible acts of war. Without further ado, lets dive in. Though Pop, Uncle Mark, Shawn, and Frick all died in the process of following the Rules and exacting revenge (and the novel implies that Danis death was also the result of a revenge killing gone awry), all of them suggest that this kind of loyalty required by the Rules doesnt actually do much good. Amazon Goodreads. In order to deal with his grief, Will resorts to "The Rules," a set of dictates that discourage crying and encourage revenge as a means of coping with the loss of a loved one. His question gets Will to begin reevaluating his decisions, but his confident you aint got it in you is what truly hits Will. A strap. And the Rules in Will's neighborhood state that you have to take revenge when someone in your family is killed. It is Wills encounter with her that is the beginning of the seeds uprooting. Regardless, Pop asks Will to consider what might happen if Will is also out to kill the wrong guy. -Graham S. Reynolds has been upfront about the purpose of his books: to speak to young readers who dont often see themselves represented in book characters. Shawn stands there awkwardly like a middle drawer of a man (p.291) and says nothing as Will tells him everything. Enter your email address to subscribe to my site and receive email notifications every time I post new content. Huh. Thats where Wills now heading, with that gun shoved in the back waistband of his jeans, the gun that was his brothers gun. (including. We see fragments of his memories and thought processes as he meets different people from his life. My students love how organized the handouts are and enjoy tracking the themes as a class., Requesting a new guide requires a free LitCharts account. Passed to him.Passed them to his little brother.Passed to my older brother.Passed to me. As a young man living in a community rent apart by gang violence, Will feels obliged to put up a tough, brave front in the face of danger. that it stopped Mom fromscraping loose a riverof wounds. PDFs of modern translations of every Shakespeare play and poem. He shows Will what its like to be on the other side of the barrel, whats it like to be afraid for your life. (including. The same goes for Buck, Shawns mentor who died a few years ago, as well as for Uncle Martin, who was killed before Will was born. The broader issue at the heart of Long Way Down is the omnipresent gun violence Will and his community must deal with. They will also appear in Google search results. Learning them is a rite of passage for all men, and they are passed on from father to son and from older to younger brother. From the new EP Long Way Down available now!Download: http://smarturl.it/longwaydownepStream: http://smarturl.it/LongWayDownStreamhttp://robertdelong.comhttp. It is also a bildungsroman novel, showing Will's passage from childhood to adulthood in the grip of an impossible decision. Even the thought of shooting hurts him, which brings us back to Bucks you aint got it in you (p.101). His presence is the most impactful because he is the person that Will loves most. Plus, get practice tests, quizzes, and personalized coaching to help you In the end, the ghosts of Will's mentors appear so they may teach him one more important lesson. Uncertainty is a dominant theme in Long Way Down. After Will figures out who Dani is, her first question cuts Will to the core: what if he misses when he tries to shoot Shawns killer? Shawn had been able to carry out what Will is preparing to do, and because of this, someone else had killed him. In the elevator, he learns of the trail of revenge that has led up to this moment. Teach your students to analyze literature like LitCharts does. In the form in which they appear to Will, they have continued to grow and change as though they were living. Complete your free account to access notes and highlights. Tom Odell - Long Way Down (Official Audio)New album "Best Day Of My Life" out 28th October 2022Pre-order or pre-save album now - https://ffm.to/bestdayofmyli. "My students can't get enough of your charts and their results have gone through the roof." The header on page 55 reads Reasons I thought (knew) Riggs killed Shawn.
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