Poquette has a bachelor's degree in English and specializes in writing about literature. In the following essay, Poquette compares Baldwin's story to his novel Go Tell It on the Mountain.

When Baldwin published his first and only short story collection in 1965, it included two stories— "The Rockpile" and "The Outing." Most critics note that these two stories share similar aspects with the author's 1953 novel, Go Tell It on the Mountain. Some critics, like Harry L. Jones in his essay for James Baldwin: A Critical Evaluation, find these similarities to be proof that the stories should only be discussed in conjunction with the novel. Says Jones, they "are obviously culls or unused remnants from Go Tell It on the Mountain and ought best to be considered in connection with that work." However, this is a misconception, especially in the case of "The Rockpile." Despite the similarities between...