The Rock and The River

Use these essay questions as writing and critical thinking exercises for all levels of writers, and to build their literary analysis skills by requiring textual references throughout the essay.

Differentiation Suggestion: For English learners or struggling writers, strategies that work well include graphic organizers, sentence frames or starters, group work, or oral responses.

Scaffolded Essay Questions

Student Prompt: Write a short (1-3 paragraph) response using one of the bulleted outlines below. Cite details from the text that serve as supporting examples.

1. A dynamic character is one whose opinions or emotions change over the course of the story.

• Which secondary character—Father, Maxie, or Stick—experiences the most notable change as a result of Bucky’s arrest and his acquittal? (topic sentence)
• In what traits or reactions do you observe change in this secondary character? Use relevant details from the novel.
• In your concluding sentences, compare this character’s change with the change that Sam undergoes after his brother’s funeral. Which trajectory of change is in a more positive direction, and why?

2. Sam is protected by both his father and his older brother from the difficult realities of racial tensions in his neighborhood.

• How does the novel reveal Sam’s naivete, and how is it Sam’s biggest liability? (topic sentence)
• Which actions begin to challenge Sam’s naivete and begin his education into the complexities of the world? Begin with the encounter in the hospital gift shop.