56 pages 1 hour read

Geoffrey Canada

Fist, Stick, Knife, Gun: A Personal History of Violence

Nonfiction | Autobiography / Memoir | Adult | Published in 1995

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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.