The Rock and The River

Multiple Choice

1. C (Chapter 1)

2. A (Chapter 2)

3. D (Chapter 4)

4.  A (Chapter 6)

5. B (Chapter 7)

6. B (Chapter 9)

7. A (Chapters 10-11)

8. C (Chapter 11)

9.  A (Chapter 12)

10. D (Chapter 17)

11. C (Chapter 18)

12. A (Chapter 19)

13. C (Chapter 20)

14. C (Chapters 20-21)

Long Answer

1. Sam learns in virtually every plot point after the street protests over the shooting of Dr. King that he is transitioning from the naivete of his childhood into an adult awareness of the complexities of the world: when Sam pulls the gun on the white man choking his brother; when Sam witnesses Stick’s shooting; when Sam and Maxie discuss their relationship against the reality of racism; when Sam refuses to reveal to his brother where the gun is; when Sam is interrogated after Stick’s shooting; when Sam finds out that the protester who stabbed his father was never arrested. These scenes reveal that Sam must surrender his simplistic faith in people, his unquestioned trust in the system, and his lack of awareness of the world his family and his neighbors live within. He comes to terms with a less confrontational strategy that foreshadows his closing epiphany to work for a better community rather than to right every wrong of a racist society. (Chapters 10, 11, 12, 19, 20)

2. This response asks students to analyze the differences between growing up white and growing up Black. The scene in which Sam is interrogated by the police and refuses to cooperate enlighten him as to the differences. He understands he must be more streetwise, more aware of his own vulnerability if he is to navigate through the realities of white racist America. He understands that he cannot afford the luxury of naivete or idealism. Unlike white children, who transition into adulthood without that worry, Sam (and Black children, particularly boys) understands that white America can act to trap them, manipulate their vulnerabilities, and get them to betray their own people, their own neighbors. Cooperation means oppression. (Chapters 19, 21)

3. Architecture represents the ideal of building a workable structure that can service a wide variety of peoples. Architecture for Sam represents his naïve faith in progress and his trust that a community is built from the collaborative efforts of all its people. Beginning with Sam’s discovery that his block tower has served his brother as a hiding place for the gun, Sam sees that the hope of this ideal community is a child’s pipe dream. Thus, the metaphor of architecture undergoes a significant change. Sam does not abandon the idea of cooperation and collaboration, but he will be an architect of a different sort in his embrace of the energy of acceptance, striving nevertheless for growth within a community. That sort of architecture then becomes a powerful symbol of hope and tempered optimism. (Chapters 3, 9, 14, 21)