Symbolism in "Long Way Down"

What symbolizes childhood in Jason Reynolds' "Long Way Down"?

• Pop

• The Monkey Bars

• Nighttime

• Uncle Mark

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What object, person, or idea represents the cycle of death and violence passed down from generation to generation?

• The Gun

• The Monkey Bars

• Dani

• The "L" (lobby) Button

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“And there’s that nighttime

Mom always be talking about.

It’ll snatch your teaching

from you,

put a gun in your hand,

a grumble in your gut,

and some sharp in your teeth.” (p. 249)

What does the nighttime symbolize?

• The cycle of violence

• Childhood

• Anger and fear that can change someone and make them do bad things

• Being trapped by a hard choice

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What object or person symbolizes the feeling of being trapped in a hard choice?

• The Monkey Bars

• Childhood

• Dani

• The Elevator

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“My eyes got big. Dani? This was Dani. Dani. Standing in front of me. The flower dress the same. Her face eight years older than eight years old but still the same.” (p. 129)

What concept does Dani represent?

• Cycle of Death and Violence

• Innocent children who are killed and traumatized by gang and gun violence

• Childhood

• The Elevator

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What symbolizes the suffocation Will feels about the situation with no clear path forward?

• Cycle of Death and Violence

• Pop

• The Elevator

• The Smoke

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“Thought when the doors opened the smoke would rush out. But instead it became a still cloud trapped in a steel cube.” (p. 149).

What does Uncle Mark represent in "Long Way Down"?

• Regret

• How violence and bad decisions can destroy good people and their dreams.

• Innocence of Children

• Darkness and Danger

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Who or what symbolizes regret, the negative effect of murder on the killer, and the possibility that Will could kill the wrong guy?

• Dani

• Uncle Mark

• Innocence of Children

• Pop

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“The middle drawer was the only thing ever out of place on Shawn’s side of the room, like a random, jagged tooth in a perfect mouth, jammed tight between the top drawer of shirts folded into neat rectangles stacked like project floors, and the bottom drawer of socks and underwear.” (p. 38)

What does the middle drawer symbolize?

• The darkness and danger inside of Shawn

• The final decision of Will and which direction his life will take

• The cycle of death and violence

• Regret and loss

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“Checked to make sure the L button was lit. Going down too.” (p. 74)

What does the L (Lobby) button symbolize?

• The darkness and danger inside of Shawn

• The final decision of Will and which direction his life will take

• The cycle of death and violence

• Regret and loss

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