Lesson 16: Discussion: Red, White, and Whole and “Search for My Tongue”

In the previous lesson, students read “Search for My Tongue” and noticed how the poem used imagery to show that language loss feels alive and painful. Today’s lesson will connect that poem to one from Red, White, and Whole to ask a bigger question about identity: what happens when part of who you are feels cut off, hidden, or hard to reach? This matters because the ideas students consider today will help them build a clear position about symbolism in the next two lessons, and strengthen their literary analysis writing.

Think-Pair-Share

Say these Directions: For homework, you answered the question: what do “Search for My Tongue” and one poem from Red, White, and Whole have in common, and what does each one do that the other doesn't? Take one minute to review your homework response and underline the one idea you want to bring to the discussion. Then, turn to your partner and share that idea in one sentence. Explain which part of each poem helped you draw the connection.

• Ask: What connection between the two poems did you find most important? Why?

  • I chose the idea that losing language can feel like losing access to yourself. In the opening of “Search for My Tongue,” the speaker says she thinks she has lost her tongue. That reminded me of Reha in “Do You Speak Indian?” when she answers with just one word and hides part of herself.

  • I chose the idea that identity can come back, but not in exactly the same form. In the ending of “Search for My Tongue,” the tongue grows back like a plant, and that connects to poems in Red, White, and Whole where Reha starts finding words for herself again, even after silence.

Connection to Today’s Learning:

• Say: You will use these ideas about connections into a Socratic Seminar in a way that invites real discussion.

Guide students into a Socratic Seminar

Socratic Seminar

Say these Directions: A Socratic Seminar is a discussion where you listen closely, use evidence from the text, and respond to each other’s ideas. The goal is not to win or take turns speaking; it is to build understanding together by asking questions, supporting ideas, and extending thinking. The Socratic Seminar is named after Socrates, an ancient Greek philosopher who taught by asking thoughtful questions that helped deepen understanding.

Teach: Entering and Building in a Socratic Seminar

• Say: Today the key discussion skill is entering the conversation with a claim, attaching it to clear textual evidence and then listening closely enough to build on someone else’s thinking. That is what will help our seminar sound connected and thoughtful.

• Say: We are going to practice presenting and responding to ideas before our Socratic seminar. The first speaker should start with a detailed claim that invites response and discussion. For example, “Both poems are about identity” is too broad and gives the group nowhere to go. A stronger opening sounds like this: “In the opening line of ‘Search for My Tongue,’ the speaker connects losing a tongue to losing part of herself. In ‘Do You Speak Indian?’ when Reha says only ‘No,’ she hides a part of her identity to protect herself.” Now I have made a claim and pointed listeners to exact places in the texts. Each response should build on that claim, with confirming or contrasting details.

• Say: Let’s review the following Socratic Seminar moves:

  • Enter with a claim: I want to start with the idea that… Your claim should not be a simple fact, like “Reha is Indian.” It needs to be something that you’re interpreting based on what you’ve read, something that’s arguable.

  • Use evidence: In the opening line... / In the moment when... / Near the end of the poem…

  • Build on a classmate: Building on what ___ said... / I want to extend that idea because…

  • Challenge respectfully: I see it a little differently because…

  • Clarify: Can you point us to the place where...?

• Say: Let’s review the following discussion norms:

  • Speak to classmates, not only to the teacher.

  • Use evidence before moving to a new idea.

  • Build, question, or challenge before introducing a separate point.

  • Leave room for others by speaking clearly and briefly.

  • Revise your thinking when new evidence changes your view.

Say these Directions: Now we are going to practice one seminar entry move. Use one of the text moments we just looked at. Start with a claim, attach it to textual evidence, and end with why that detail matters.

• Ask: What is one opening claim you could bring into the seminar using one of these moments?

  • Identity loss in both poems is connected to silence. In the opening line of “Search for My Tongue,” the speaker sounds cut off from expression, and in the moment when Reha answers “No,” she becomes smaller by hiding what she really knows.

  • The two poems show different stages of identity struggle. “Search for My Tongue” begins with loss but moves toward regrowth, while Reha’s one-word answer shows a moment where fear is still stronger than expression.

Connection to Today’s Learning:

• Say: Now that you have practiced how to enter the seminar, take a moment to rehearse your strongest idea with a partner. Practice making a claim, listening to another idea, and building ideas into collaborative discussion.

Keep partners together. Students should have both poems, their journal, and a blank section of journal paper for brief seminar notes. Students use Part A to prepare for the actual seminar in Part B.

Part A: Rehearse Your Strongest Idea (SL.7.1a, c) (10 minutes)

Keep students together with poems and a journal to take seminar notes.

Think-Pair-Share

Say these Directions: With your partner, rehearse expressing the idea you underlined in Launch. Partner A will share a claim and one piece of evidence from both texts. Partner B will respond by either building on the idea, asking for clarification, or respectfully pushing back with evidence. Then switch roles.

• Ask: Based on the poems, what claim are you ready to bring into the seminar about how someone can feel like they’ve lost part of their identity, and whether it can come back?

  • My claim is that losing part of your identity means becoming disconnected from a language or self that still exists inside you. In the opening of “Search for My Tongue,” the speaker treats the tongue like part of the self, and in “Do You Speak Indian?” Reha’s one-word answer shows that the missing part is still there even though she does not show it.

  • My claim is that a part of identity that seems lost can come back, but it may be changed by what happened. The ending image in “Search for My Tongue” is hopeful because the tongue grows back, but in Red, White, and Whole the process feels slower and more uncertain because Reha is still dealing with pressure from other people.

• Ask: What is one way a partner could build on that idea instead of just repeating it?

  • A partner could say, “Building on that, the Bhatt poem makes identity feel more alive because the tongue comes back with roots and veins, which makes the recovery feel physical and strong.”

  • A partner could push the idea further by saying, “I partly agree, but Reha’s silence shows that getting identity back is not automatic; it depends on whether a person feels safe enough to use it.”

Part B: Socratic Seminar on Identity and Symbol (SL.7.1a, c, d) (20 minutes)

The seminar will be about “Search for My Tongue” and “Do You Speak Indian?” Make sure that students who chose a different poem from Red, White, and Whole have reviewed the target poem. Arrange students in a circle. In this seminar, students will respond to teacher-posed questions.

Socratic Seminar

Say these Directions: We will hold a Socratic Seminar on the poems “Search for My Tongue” and “Do You Speak Indian?” Sit in a circle with your texts and notes open. Your goal is to build one shared conversation, not give separate speeches. Listen closely, respond to others by naming the idea you are building on or challenging, and use evidence from both texts at least once.

After each question, take time to respond to each other’s ideas. Build on what someone else said instead of starting a new idea. If you are unsure how to begin, use a model response to help you get started.

• Ask: What does it mean in these poems to lose a part of your identity?

  • In both poems, losing part of your identity means losing access to a part of yourself that should feel natural. In the opening of “Search for My Tongue,” the speaker shows that losing her tongue is like losing part of her selfhood, and in Reha’s silence in, “Do You Speak Indian?” she hides part of who she is because the situation makes that part of her feel unsafe.

  • I think identity loss in these poems is not total erasure. It is more like being forced to separate from something still alive inside you. That is why both poems feel painful: the lost part is not gone; it is blocked.

• Ask: Can a lost part of identity come back, or does it return changed?

  • I think it can come back, but it returns changed. In the ending of “Search for My Tongue,” the tongue grows back with force, but because it had to regrow, the poem suggests recovery comes after damage. In “Do You Speak Indian?” Reha’s identity also seems recoverable, but her silence and self-protection change how simple that recovery can be.

  • The Bhatt poem seems more hopeful than Reha’s poem. The poet’s tongue becomes strong again, but Reha’s experience shows that a person may still know who they are and yet not be ready to show it out loud.

• Ask: Which text gives the stronger symbol for identity loss or return, and why does that symbol do more than plain language could do?

  • The stronger symbol is the tongue growing back like a plant, because it makes identity feel alive, rooted, and hard to kill. If the poet had only said, “I got my language back,” it would not feel as physical or powerful.

  • I think Reha’s one-word answer is the stronger symbol because it shows identity shrinking in real time. Plain language could explain that she feels pressure, but the single spoken word lets readers feel the cut-off silence for themselves.

• Ask: After hearing your classmates’ analysis, has your thinking shifted in any way?

  • My thinking shifted because the first time I read the Bhatt poem, it felt rebellious and strong. Now, I can see that the hopeful ending gets its strength from the loss that is shown for so much of the poem.

  • I still think Reha’s silence is more painful, and so the more powerful symbol, but I now understand better why the tongue image might be more powerful for some readers. It turns language into something physical that can die back and regrow.

Have students write a short response analyzing the impact of a specific image using evidence from the texts.

Quick Write

Say these Directions: In 4–5 sentences, answer this question citing at least two specific details, one from “Do you Speak Indian” and one from “Search for My Tongue.”

• Ask: Which images or symbols from the poems are meaningful to you, and what do they express that more direct prose cannot express in the same way?

  • The image that stayed with me most was Reha’s one-word answer in “Do You Speak Indian?” because it felt like a whole identity shrinking into almost nothing. That moment connects to the opening of “Search for My Tongue,” where loss feels immediate and personal. Plain language could tell us that Reha feels pressure, but the symbol of that tiny answer lets us feel the silence and fear for ourselves.

Instruct students to look back at their Socratic Seminar notes and Journal entries for both poems. They should then answer the following questions in their Journal:

• What position do you think you can actually defend about symbolism?

• What’s your best piece of supporting evidence so far?