The Rock and The River

Use this activity to engage all types of learners, while requiring that they incorporate details from the text.

“Eyewitness Testimony”

In this activity, students consider multiple perspectives to understand Sam’s movement from simplification into moral complexity, a concept applicable to today’s young adult readers.

At the emotional center of the novel is the confrontation in Raheem’s car after Bucky’s acquittal. Raheem accidentally reveals the gun in his glove compartment, which leads to the police gunfire that kills Stick and begins Sam’s movement toward his epiphany. The shooting is a complex action without any clear right or wrong element.

Imagine that the police have charged the white police officer with killing Stick. With the white officer in custody, the police now require eyewitness testimony to figure out what happened and who is responsible.

Working with a group, create three different accounts of the event: from Raheem’s viewpoint, from Sam’s viewpoint, and from the white officer’s perspective. No single recollection is sufficient to understand the tragedy of the shooting and killing of Stick. Who is to blame?

Each eyewitness testimony should reflect that person’s backstory. Each witness testimony will be truthful but not completely accurate. Once your group has produced all three pieces of writing, compare the perspectives to those of another group.