Fire from the Rock

Multiple Choice and Long Answer questions create ideal opportunities for whole-book review, unit exam, or summative assessments.

Multiple Choice

1. How does Gary’s character evolve over the course of the novel?

A) He develops patience and strategy and becomes a wise and trusted adviser to his local NAACP.

B) He learns to channel his anger and passion, becoming a community educator with the Black Panther Party.

C) He accepts that progress won’t happen overnight and commits himself to finishing high school with good grades.

D) He develops an intense jealousy of Sylvia and destroys her relationship with Reggie in retaliation.

2. How does his father’s death influence Mr. Patterson’s relationship with his children?

A) Mr. Patterson wants his children to be independent as possible; this makes him negligent.

B) Mr. Patterson wants to keep his children out of harm’s way at all costs; this makes him overprotective.

C) Mr. Patterson wants his children to fight the status quo at every opportunity; he teaches them to never back down from a fight.

D) Mr. Patterson wants his children to be devout and prayerful; he makes them pray three times a day and twice on Sundays.

3. Which of the following best characterizes Gary and Sylvia’s relationship?

A) Jealousy-ridden and explosive

B) Shameful and depressing

C) Respectful and silly

D) Loving and protective

4. Why does the author show interracial cooperation taking place to help rebuild both the Zuckers’ and Miss Lillie’s stores?

A) The characters’ working together is a form of dramatic irony meant to keep the reader laughing to the end.

B) Draper uses the element of fantasy, showing people working together regardless of race to symbolize dreams lost.

C) Draper foreshadows hope for a better future through the community coming together.

D) The characters’ working together symbolizes the catalyzing nature of fire, forcing people to come together whether they like it or not.

5. How does the author add complexity to Mrs. Patterson’s character?

A) When Mrs. Patterson realizes that Sylvia protected herself and her sister from a racist attack, she blames Sylvia for not being careful in the first place.

B) When Mrs. Patterson realizes Sylvia wants to integrate the schools, she forbids her from adding her name to the list.

C) When Mrs. Patterson realizes Sylvia is in love, she has a candid talk with her about how she snuck out to go dancing as a young woman and met Mr. Patterson.

D) When Mrs. Patterson wants to keep her daughter close, she keeps her busy putting together stamp books in the kitchen.

6. Which statement best demonstrates why Mr. Patterson changes his mind about allowing his daughter to be among those who integrate the schools?

A) “All you’re going to do is get her hurt...Isn’t it possible that integration can happen peacefully?”

B) “Friends, I’ve been afraid all my life. Maybe it’s time for me to step out on faith.”

C) “They want to take your children and my children and let these young people do what we can’t—change the world.”

D) “But you’ve got the brains and the personality to make it work. I’d end up burning the place down.”

7. What aspect of Mr. Patterson’s personality accounts for his changing his mind?

A) He deeply respects his daughter and wants her to be able to make her own choices in life.

B) He is resigned that he can’t keep his daughter safe from all the evils in the world and wants her to grow up independently.

C) He is deeply afraid his daughter will end up like his father or Emmett Till and refuses to let go of control.

D) He is deeply religious and trusts that God will protect his daughter and allow her to make changes he can’t even imagine.

8. “She’s Jewish. She doesn’t count. Do you have any real white friends?” What harsh lesson does this moment in Chapter 19 teach Sylvia about the nature of race in America?

A) She learns that race is a made-up construct, and it is not based on the color of a person’s skin.

B) She learns that race is a made-up construct, and it is based purely on culture.

C) She learns that if she were to convert to Judaism, she’d be exempt from racism.

D) She learns that true friendship cannot exist between people of different races or religions.

9. How does Sylvia keep her anger in check, so that she doesn’t boil over like her brother?

A) Sylvia dances and sings in the church choir.

B) Sylvia watches TV and dreams about a better life.

C) Sylvia keeps a journal and writes poetry.

D) Sylvia finds acceptance at school and is popular.

10. What does Sylvia’s choice to not attend Central High School reveal about her values? Select the strongest statement.

A) She values social change but doesn’t think it’s time for her to be a major part of it. She’s not brave enough.

B) She values being connected to and loved by her community. She chooses her life and mental health over dangerous activism.

C) She values parties, games, and dances over social change. She wants to be an average high school girl.

D) She values Black people staying in their place in the social order over challenging the status quo. She’s afraid of danger.

11. Which of the following is an example of The Power of Representation in the novel?

A) Sylvia and her sister see Black people on American Bandstand and feel like integration is possible.

B) Seeing Martin Luther King Jr. on the cover of Time magazine gives both Mrs. Patterson and Sylvia hope for the future.

C) Rachel and Sylvia don’t believe they have bright futures because they never see professional women in women’s magazines.

D) DJ and Gary dance to blues music as a way to process their feelings.

12. After Gary’s run-in with Johnny Crandall and his friends, Sylvia wonders if she might be the next one to come home needing bandaging from her mother. What does her wondering foreshadow?

A) Sylvia and her friend Rachel survive a bombing.

B) Miss Lillie goes missing and no one knows where to find her.

C) Sylvia’s grandfather did not survive his racist attack and was lynched.

D) Rachel’s home is vandalized several times with a painted swastika.

13. Which of the following best describes Reggie’s being the one to have bombed the store?

A) Allusion

B) Foreshadowing

C) Paradox

D) Irony

14. Which of these best describes what fire symbolizes in the novel?

A) Anger that catalyzes change and renewal

B) Violence that leads to the triumph of one racial group over another

C) Equality and rebirth of a community

D) Punishment resulting from Black people’s struggles for equal treatment

Long Answer

Compose a response of 2-3 sentences, incorporating text details to support your response.

1)  How does Mr. Patterson and Sylvia’s relationship change over the course of the novel?

2) What are some of the different ways fire is used as an effective symbol in the novel?