56 pages • 1 hour read
Fist, Stick, Knife, Gun: A Personal History of Violence
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During Reading
Reading Questions & Paired Texts
Reading Check and Short Answer Questions on key points are designed for guided reading assignments, in-class review, formative assessment, quizzes, and more.
CHAPTERS 1-4
Reading Check
1. What are the names of Canada’s three brothers?
2. In Chapter 1, Canada’s mother has Canada return to the playground to reclaim which item that was stolen by a bully?
3. What does Canada’s mother send him to the supermarket to buy in Chapter 2?
4. How does Canada feel when his mother sends him to the supermarket?
5. What happens to the 61 cents in change Canada gets at the grocery store?
6. What is the name of the avenue in the Bronx that Canada and his family find a new apartment to live in in Chapter 3?
7. What amount of money, which Canada reports was “probably one-fifth of what we had to live on for the week,” was stolen from his brother Daniel?
8. Who is the “gentle giant” that Canada witnesses getting brutally beaten in Chapter 4?
9. What are the names of the two dominating figures of Canada’s school?
Short Answer
Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.
1. How does Canada’s mother’s reaction to a bullying incident confuse him and make him realize that he needs to “build a theory of how to act”?
2. What traumatic event does Canada experience after leaving the supermarket in Chapter 2?
3. What startles Canada when he visits the apartment of one of his mother’s friends?
4. Why does Canada feel a sense of unexpected satisfaction by the time he and his mother leave her friend’s apartment at the end of Chapter 2?
5. Who do the boys call for assistance after Canada’s older brother Daniel is robbed by a teenager on the street and what does Canada learn from their response?
6. How do boys rise through the “pecking order,” as described in Chapter 3?
7. What is an example of the types of random fights that occur between students at Canada’s school? What is the larger purpose of these fights?
8. How does the adult world influence Canada as he matures in Chapters 1-4? What is the effect of the adult influence on his development?
Paired Resource
“Early Influences in the Bronx – Geoffrey Canada”
- In this interview by Explorations in Black Leadership, Canada describes some of his biggest influences growing up, including his mother and a teacher who expected a great deal from him.
- A common denominator of Canada’s role models is they give him the tools he needs to overcome Structural Racism.
- Why was reading so important to Canada’s mother? How did that help him become the man he is today?
- This feature from the New York Times pairs photographs from the 1960s and 1970s, when the South Bronx suffered from its worst crime and despair, with newer photos from Ángel Franco, a staff photographer who revisited those same sites in 2013. The photo essay pairs the original photo alongside the updated photo from 2013.
- The original and updated photos of life in the Bronx underscore themes of Codes of Machismo and The Destabilizing Impact of Guns.
- Which of these photos, in your opinion, connects most directly to Canada’s experience growing up in the Bronx? Which of these comparisons did you find most intriguing/shocking?
“How New York Gang Culture is Changing”
- VICE reports on how, as of 2015, gang violence in NYC is dominated by small, neighborhood-based gangs.
- Many of the Codes of Machismo that Canada witnessed in NYC gangs of the 1950s and 1960s continue decades later, as seen in this report.
- Compare this article to Canada’s experience of gangs. What are the biggest similarities? What are the differences?
CHAPTERS 5-10
Reading Check
1. Which pastime is Canada surprised to see that Mike openly enjoys?
2. Which sport do Mike and Canada practice together?
3. Which sound does Canada hear in his neighborhood for the first time in Chapter 6?
4. How many years older is Mike than Canada?
5. Who does Canada play checkers with at the beginning of Chapter 7?
6. What is a “numbers runner”?
7. In Chapter 8, what sort of knife does Canada find in a gutter?
8. Who is rumored to have insulted a local woman in Chapter 9?
10. What does Canada primarily use his gun for in Maine?
Short Answer
Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.
1. How does Canada’s life change for the better when he and Mike become friends?
2. How do Mike and Junior resolve the volatile situation with the man who takes Mike’s basketball? How does this confrontation affect the boys afterward?
3. Who does Canada have to fight after an unexpected challenge in Chapter 6? Who wins the fight, and what are the long-term effects?
4. What is Canada’s first direct encounter with guns, as described in Chapter 7?
5. How does Canada end up slicing himself with his knife in Chapter 8?
6. In Chapter 8, why was Canada intent on hiding the knife cut from his mother?
7. How does Mike’s advice help Canada when he encounters a gunfight in Chapter 9?
8. How do Canada and his friends behave in the aftermath of the gun threat in Chapter 9? What does their reaction say about life in the Bronx?
9. What does Canada do with his gun in Chapter 10? Why does he do this?
Paired Resource
“COVID’s Education Crisis: A Lost Generation”
- This 7-minute video segment from CBS News Sunday Morning with an accompanying transcript shares the vital work Geoffrey Canada continues to do as founder of the Harlem Children’s Zone. This segment highlights the crisis facing students, especially students in lower-income communities, in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.
- This video touches upon how Structural Racism exacerbated the devastating effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on education.
- Canada notes that poor education coincides with increased violence and behavior problems. Why do you think this is? What is the relationship between education and violence?
Recommended Next Reads
Random Family: Love, Drugs, Trouble, and Coming of Age in the Bronx by Adrian Nicole LeBlanc
- This memoir tells the extraordinary story of Adrian Nicole LeBlanc’s childhood growing up in an underserved community, revealing the true stories behind sensational headlines about the crime-ridden streets of the Bronx.
- Like Canada, LeBlanc’s life is deeply shaped by Structural Racism and Codes of Machismo.
- LeBlanc’s story takes place 2 decades after Canada’s, and yet many facets of life in the Bronx remain the same.
- Random Family on SuperSummary
We Beat the Street: How a Friendship Pact Led to Success by George Jenkins, Rameck Hunt, and Sampson Davis, with Sharon M. Draper
- This book is a memoir of the authors’ adolescence on the rough streets of Newark, New Jersey. The young subjects of this book make a pact to rise above the struggles of their neighborhood, and all three of them eventually beat the odds to become successful, well-established doctors.
- The authors’ upbringing in Newark shares many features with Canada’s childhood in the Bronx: Boys are ruled by Codes of Machismo and Guns and violence feature prominently all throughout their upbringing.
- Against all odds, the authors of We Beat the Street and Canada have inspiring stories of how they found ways to uplift themselves from poverty, drugs, and violence.
- We Beat the Street on SuperSummary
Reading Questions Answer Key
CHAPTERS 1-4
Reading Check
1. Daniel, John, and Reuben (Chapter 1)
2. John’s jacket (Chapter 1)
3. A can of pork and beans (Chapter 2)
4. Independent and grown-up (Chapter 2)
5. It is stolen. (Chapter 2)
6. Union Avenue (Chapter 3)
7. $10 (Chapter 3)
8. Butchie (Chapter 4)
9. Tyrone and Anthony (Chapter 4)
Short Answer
1. Canada’s mother learns that a bully stole John’s jacket, and she orders John and his brother to go back to the playground and get his property back. Canada doesn’t understand why his mother was so upset about the lost jacket. He also doesn’t understand how Daniel and John are able to get the jacket back, when they had been so frightened of the bully earlier (Chapter 1)
2. He is robbed by a boy that had befriended him in the supermarket. The boy starts walking home with Canada; when they turn into a deserted alley, the boy steals Canada’s change. (Chapter 2)
3. At the apartment, Canada learns that the boy who robbed him is the son of his mother’s friend. The boy is a different person than he was on the street; he is timid and shy. (Chapter 2)
4. Canada’s mother retrieves the stolen money from the thief’s mother. Canada also sees the thief as a scared boy who wants to fit in, not a monster. (Chapter 2)
5. The brothers call the police; two white officers arrive, but are dismissive and unconcerned about the crime. The experience teaches Canada that the police are not going to protect him. (Chapter 3)
6. Boys are inducted into the “pecking order” through organized fights among the boys. Whoever wins the fight proves themselves as tough or menacing to other boys in the neighborhood, and, as such, those boys find themselves higher in the pecking order. (Chapter 3)
7. A child will suddenly be surrounded on the sidewalk, facing their designated opponent. If the boy refuses to fight, he is either mocked or beaten up. These fights are part of a larger cycle of proving themselves and proving which kids are at the top of the Bronx hierarchy. (Chapter 4)
8. The adults in Canada’s life, including his mother, are either absent or ineffectual. Whether this is due to their inability to see the children’s struggles or their lack of compassion is unclear; regardless, the children are left to impose rules and order through violence. (Chapter 4)
CHAPTERS 5-10
Reading Check
1. Reading books (Chapter 5)
2. Basketball (Chapter 5)
3. Gunshots (Chapter 6)
4. 8 years older (Chapter 6)
5. Melvin (Chapter 7)
6. Someone who takes illegal bets (Chapter 7)
7. A K55 knife (Chapter 8)
8. Kevin (Chapter 9)
9. Target practice (Chapter 10)
Short Answer
1. Mike is a kind, street-smart older boy who is an important figure in Canada’s life. He has a reputation as a tough, cool character; as such, Canada is protected by association. (Chapter 5)
2. Mike and Junior become quietly threatening, surrounding the man while pulling out their weapons. The man retreats and, to Canada’s surprise, the boys go back to playing basketball as if nothing happened. (Chapter 5)
3. Mike, Canada’s good friend, challenges him to a fight. Canada is much younger than Mike, and so Mike beats him easily. The fight teaches Canada to be a better, more sophisticated fighter. (Chapter 6)
4. Canada is playing checkers on the street one evening. Preoccupied by the game, he does not notice an older man running and limping past them, carrying a gun. (Chapter 7)
5. Canada is practicing becoming an expert at removing his knife from his pocket and opening it quickly. He mimics boys on his block who do this, believing that their dexterity with weapons gives them power. (Chapter 8)
6. He doesn’t want to worry his mother, and he doesn’t want it to interfere with daily life. As Canada says: “one of the challenges that many of us [in the Bronx] faced was how to incorporate daily survival techniques into our lives so that they became habits. Hiding the finger was simply another challenge” (96) (Chapter 8)
7. Mike had warned him to be wary of angry, jumpy amateurs wielding guns—they are far more dangerous than any professional with a gun. This advice helped Canada because he better knew how to handle the skittish gunman. (Chapter 9)
8. The boys do not say anything further about the incident—they simply move on. This moment goes to show how desensitized Canada and the boys are to acts of violence in the Bronx. (Chapter 9)
9. Canada throws his gun away in a local dump in Maine. He does this because he realizes that he does not want to shoot anyone, ever. If he keeps the gun, he almost certainly will. (Chapter 10)
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