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. (p.76), A girl stepped in. Told in short, fierce staccato narrative verse, Long Way Down is a fast and furious, dazzlingly brilliant look at teenage gun violence, as could only be told by Jason Reynolds. They can also serve as a source of inspiration and motivation to encourage you to keep working toward your goals. Long Way Down suggests that while love for and loyalty to one's family (whether biological or chosen) can be admirable, these convictions can also manifest violentlysomething the novel suggests is an incredibly dangerous and unacceptable way of defending loved ones. This metaphor also illustrates that it often takes hard work, determination, and sometimes sheer endurance to get where we wish to go. But after everything that Wills been through, I find it very hard to believe that Will does go ahead and get revenge on the person who may not even be his brothers murderer. 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. Thehorsewiththesllverymaneandwhitetallwaschosenbythephotographer. Struggling with distance learning? After Will tells Buck about Shawns death, Buck responds: So what you bout to do? (p.94). Students also viewed A LONG WAY DOWN Poetic Devices 24 terms Mrs_Gwyn LONG WAY DOWN Literary Terms 74 terms emilyandrewstaylor Long Way Down figurative language 20 terms Gustavo_Daniel32 Long Way Down #3 Anagrams & Double Meanings & Symb 20 terms December 6th, 2022. An ode to Put the Damn Guns Down, this is New York Times bestseller Jason Reynolds's fiercely stunning novel that takes place in sixty potent secondsthe time it takes a kid to decide whether or not he's going to murder the guy who killed his brother. He doesnt say anything to Will, but actions speak louder than words. As such, his idea of what a man should be is informed by the examples set by Shawn and Buck, who in turn learned from Mikey and Uncle Mark. it was like the wordcame out and at the same timetime went in. (p.157), And you know it's weird to know a person you don't know and at the same time not know a person you know, you know? 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. Posted on February 7, 2019 February 7, 2019 by Amber McMath. And stray bullets had cut through the playground, and Will had tried to cover her, but she was hit anyway, and so what she wants to know, on that fifth floor elevator stop, is, what if Will, Will with the gun shoved in the back waistband of his jeans, MISSES. The way the content is organized, LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in, Compare and contrast themes from other texts to this theme, The ThemeTracker below shows where, and to what degree, the theme of Loyalty and Revenge appears in each chapter of. Although the witnesses are not literally disabled by the shooting, they are so reluctant to talk to the police about suspects that may as well have lost their hearing and eyesight. While the witnesses do not literally become rocks, they are so unwilling to give incriminating information over that the police may as well be shining their lights in the faces of statues. The offers that appear in this table are from partnerships from which Verywell Mind receives compensation. Depeche Mode | Audacy Check In | 3.2.2023 - Audacy Check-In Good metaphors for life are those that help you understand problems you are facing and feel motivated to tackle those challenges. Through this method of equation, metaphors can help explain concepts and ideas by colorfully linking the unknown to the known; the abstract to the concrete; the incomprehensible to the comprehensible. As the elevator stops on the sixth floor, on comes Buck. Its the only thing ever out of place on Shawns side (p.38) and its where Will finds Shawns gun. Long Way Down study guide contains a biography of Jason Reynolds, literature essays, quiz questions, major themes, characters, and a full summary and analysis. A metaphor is a way of describing something by saying it is something else.. In the absence of a biological father or stand-in father figure, Shawn played the most important role in Wills life, showing him how he needed to behave and teaching him how the world works, just as Buck did for Shawn. A hammer She is known as a reluctant hero who . How To Stay Focus ( On GOD ) In A Dark Place | How To Stay Focus ( On Long Way Down Symbols Next The Elevator The Elevator The elevator in Will 's building represents his sense of feeling trappedtrapped by "the Rules" of his violent neighborhood, and trapped in his grief over his brother Shawn 's death. (p.152), How do you tell water ain't nothing funny about drowning? What metaphor(s) fit your life? 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. A general attitude of optimism has been correlated with lower rates of cancer, heart disease, stroke, respiratory disease, and infection. Said he took the long way, turned pistol into poof, turned bang-gang into hush-hush. In short, loyalty according to the Rules doesnt necessarily mean loyalty in practice. 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. I knew I was going to discuss the book for My Take . They are a way of creating a comparison that while not literally true, provides a figurative meaning. How do these metaphors develop? 120 seconds. The alligator's teeth are white daggers. Only one example of figurative language is correctly identified as simile, metaphor, or personification (or other). She shot back, slipping it between shiny lips, leaning forward for the light. His question gets Will to begin reevaluating his decisions, but his confident you aint got it in you is what truly hits Will. Utilization / Adoption of Metaphors - Use this powerful NLP tip. A building is a solid metaphor for life and can be a reminder that a sturdy foundation is needed before building higher. Figurative Language in Long Way Down - Storyboard That The 10 Best Books About Loneliness of 2022, Community Gardens Benefit Those with Intellectual Disabilities and Mental Health Issues, Daily Tips for a Healthy Mind to Your Inbox. And as a kid I always figured his heart was forreal / broken like an arm or a toy or the middle drawer.. It represents Wills growing discomfort as he tries to prepare himself to kill Riggs and quite possibly the immorality of using murder to solve problems. We don't always know where we are going, but the thrill of our travels (day-to-day living) leaves us excited and ready to see new things. 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. Rather, it's the sunrays that pass between the fingers. You don't have to be a thrill-seeker to see the similarities between coasters and your own life. Teach your students to analyze literature like LitCharts does. There is a fourth category, dead metaphors, which can cause the speaker to create something called a mixed metaphor. Within the portal, all users can view and copy all storyboards. Long Way Down by Jason Reynolds is an award winning 2017 novel. From the creators of SparkNotes, something better. Alternatively, you may see your mission as the need to impose your beliefs on those who do not wish to hear them. McQueen: Figurative Language examples: Long Way Down (p.185), Pop said he took off running so fast his sneakers barely touched concrete. Source (s) Long Way Down He snacks on the meat of the fruit and the milk and rests in a hammock he finds. walking me to the store,teaching me how todo a Penny Drop. Perfume, sweet, fresh, cutting through the cigarette smoke. A gat. They need sunshine. I said,after listening tomy father admitwhat I had alreadyknown, wouldve been totell Buck how importantthat soap was. Copyright 1999 - 2023 GradeSaver LLC. (p.164), Sadness split his face like cold breeze on chapped lip after attempting to smile. No one else can view anything. There are so many examples of figurative language present throughout Jason Reynold's Long Way Down, adding to its powerful poetry. You follow life like you follow a river. Long Way Down tells the story of Will, a 15-year-old boy riding the elevator in his apartment building down to the lobby. In fact, the it is a long, long way away. The elevator in Wills building represents his sense of feeling trappedtrapped by the Rules of his violent neighborhood, and trapped in his grief over his brother Shawns death. When the police arrive on the scene of Shawn's murder, they aggressively question witnesses. While they don't explicitly discourage him from getting revenge, their questions provoke Will to rethink his commitment to The Rules. Just lay naked in the scummy bathub the cool porcelain keeping me from sleep from nightmares. If you view life as a courtroom, life can be challenging. I asked. The elevator ride down to the lobby serves as a clever metaphor for the consequences that will most likely happen to 15-year-old Will if he follows "The Rules." . They're like having in-class notes for every discussion!, This is absolutely THE best teacher resource I have ever purchased. In the beginning, the narrator uses the example of teeth being pulled to explain how it feels to have someone you love killed. Thank you for sticking with me on this extremely long analysis! Select the word that best completes the analogy. See, his brother Shawn was just murdered. The novel ends on this open question, leaving the reader to grapple with the same uncertainty that will haunt Will for the rest of his life, regardless of whether his life is long or short. 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. metaphor Two large hands, the largest I'd ever seen, rushed through the cloud hard and fast, snatched fistfuls of my shirt, yoking me by my neck, holding me there until the elevator door closed. Metaphors are often used to describe love and other intense emotions. The irrationality of transhumanists | Susan B. Levin IAI TV The essay is followed by an interview with Klein and host Dr. Lidia Schapira. In this activity, students will identify figurative language such as similes, metaphors, personification, imagery, hyperbole, onomatopoeia, etc. Interestingly, each of the six ghosts asks Will a question that pushes him to reconsider killing Riggs. Most of all, Will feels, The L (lobby) button in the elevator symbolizes, much like the elevator itself, the horrendous fate that awaits Will if he chooses to step out of the elevator and into the lobby. First the guilt, then the grief that comes with discovering the truth, and finally death as one of Riggs loved ones follows through with The Rules and kills Will. The tape / framed it like it was art. When Shawn found out, he stuck to The Rules (p.267). (p.146), Cigarette smoke ain't supposed to be no wool blanket, ain't supposed to be no blizzard, no snowy TV. And thats when Will sees that one bullet is missing. LibrisNotes: Long Way Down by Jason Reynolds 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. 2017;185(1):21-29. doi:10.1093/aje/kww182, Holtmaat K, van der Spek N, Lissenberg-Witte BI, Cuijpers P, Verdonck-de Leeuw IM. Will takes its off-centeredness as a sign to set things straight (p.48). Teachers may ask them to identify one type of figurative language and find multiple examples, or select one example for different types. 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.