Lesson 30: Red, White, and Whole, Part 12: “No One” to “Watching”

Have students work with an elbow partner.

Think-Pair-Share

Display “Give and Take” on page 2 and direct students to read this line:

“Because you are here, I must stay.” (p. 2)

Say these Directions: In recent lessons, we tracked how blood could feel like a betrayer and how Reha was kept afloat by the people around her. Today, we are looking at a big turn: the symbol of blood changes again when Reha starts offering her own blood.

Prompt students to discuss the question with a partner:

• Ask: Where have we heard this line before, and why might it matter that it returns here?

  • We heard this line at the opening in “Give and Take” when Amma is speaking, and now we hear it again in “Close Enough” when Reha is speaking. That matters because the same words now come from a different person, so the meaning shifts from a mother staying for her daughter to a daughter staying for her mother.

Guide students in using context clues to infer the meaning of the word nourish in “Close Enough.”

Using Context Clues

Say these Directions: Today, we are going to use context clues to figure out what one important word means. Context clues are the words and ideas around a tricky word that help us make a smart guess before we check a definition. As we study the word nourish, pay attention to what Reha wants her cells to do for Amma and how that helps us understand the symbol of blood in a new way.

Display the excerpt from “Close Enough” on page 180 and read it aloud:

If I’m close enough,

they will give my cells to her,

so they can grow in her bone marrow,

and become cells that nourish her,

protect her,

stop the bleeding when she is hurt.

Context for Target Word from the Text:

• Nourish appears in the lines above, where Reha imagines her cells helping Amma heal.

Teach: Using Context Clues to Infer Meaning

• Say: When I get to the word nourish, I stop and read the words around it instead of skipping past it. Right after that word, the poem says the cells will “protect her” and “stop the bleeding when she is hurt,” so those are my strongest clues.

• Say: Those clues tell me these cells are doing something helpful and life-giving for Amma’s body. That makes me think nourish means to give someone what they need to grow stronger or stay healthy. I also notice that the cells will grow in her bone marrow, which makes the word feel connected to healing from the inside. So even before I check a dictionary, I can infer that nourish helps show blood as a source of care and restoration, not just fear or pain.

Say these Directions: In your Personal Dictionary, write the word nourish. Under it, write a student-friendly definition based on the context clues in the poem. Then, list two clues from the lines that helped you infer the meaning.

Verify Meaning: Prompt students to use a dictionary, thesaurus, or other reference material to confirm the meaning of the word they inferred.

Prompt students to discuss the question with a partner, group or whole class:

• Ask: Which context clue helped you most as you figured out the meaning of nourish?

  • The clue “protect her” helped me most because it showed that the cells would help Amma’s body stay stronger and safer.

Connection to Today's Learning:

• Say: We will now track how this one word helps reveal a larger shift in the symbol of blood across several poems.

Part A: Tracking the Blood Symbol (RL.7.4) (18 minutes)

Students work in pairs with the poems “No One,” “But If,” “Hero,” “The Needle,” and “Close Enough.”

Annotation Spot-Check

Say these Directions: In your journals, create a chart like the one below. Record the titles of the poems in the first column. As you reread these five poems, circle the word “blood” every time it appears. Each time you circle the word “blood,” use the second column of your chart to jot a quick note about what the word represents in that moment—fear, family, pain, identity, gift, or another idea you notice. Then, in the last column, add one short note explaining how LaRocca’s word choice strengthens that meaning.

Teach: Tracking a Symbol Across Poems

• Say: Each time I see blood, I stop and ask, What does it stand for here, in this exact moment? In an earlier poem like “No One,” I might label it fear if Reha experiences blood as something scary or overwhelming.

• Ask: In a poem like “Hero” or “The Needle,” what does blood symbolize?

  • In those poems, blood is tied to family, pain, and what Amma needs.

• Say: Repeat this same process for every poem.

  • Sample responses for the Journal chart

Prompt students to discuss the questions with a partner:

• Ask: In “No One” and “But If,” what does blood seem to represent for Reha at this stage?

  • In these poems, blood still feels frightening and uncertain for Reha. It represents something that can hurt, change, or take people away, so her view of blood is tied to fear and worry.

• Ask: How does the meaning of blood shift across “Hero,” “The Needle,” and “Close Enough”?

  • Across these poems, blood shifts from being something scary and painful to something connected to family and identity. By “Close Enough,” blood becomes something Reha is willing to give, which makes it feel less like a betrayer and more like an offering.

• Ask: What does LaRocca’s word choice reveal about how the symbol has changed?

  • LaRocca’s word choice moves from language that feels tense and fearful to language that feels determined and loving. That shift shows blood is no longer just a sign of illness. It also becomes a sign of connection and sacrifice.

• Ask: Does the symbol of blood change? Why is it important to track that?

  • My notes should show that the symbol is moving, not staying static. That movement is what reveals Reha’s growth.

Connection to Today's Learning:

• Say: Now that you have mapped how the symbol changes, we are ready to ask why LaRocca places “Savitri, Part 4” at this exact turning point.

Part B: Why Savitri Returns Here (RL.7.5) (12 minutes)

Place students in groups of three or four. Students reread “Savitri, Part 4” and connect it to “Close Enough,” “The Story I Want to Tell,” and “Watching.” Each group prepares one shared answer; any member may be called on to report.

Group Accountability Share

Say these Directions: In your group, reread “Savitri, Part 4” and use the guiding questions to discuss why LaRocca places this myth at this point in the book—right after Reha begins offering blood and near poems that frame her as a hero. Work together to build one shared answer that uses text evidence from at least two poems, since anyone in the group may be called on to speak for everyone.

Teach: Analyzing Placement and Allusion

• Say: When an author returns to a myth late in a novel, placement matters just as much as content. I ask myself, Why not earlier? Why now, beside these poems? What does this tell me about the characters or the development of the plot?

• Ask: What does LaRocca want us to understand about Reha by placing “Savitri, Part 4” exactly here?

  • LaRocca wants us to connect Reha to Savitri at the moment when Reha starts acting out of fierce love. Putting the myth here shows that Reha is no longer only the person watching loss happen. She is becoming someone who responds with courage and devotion.

• Ask: Based on “The Story I Want to Tell” and “Watching,” what kind of hero is Reha becoming?

  • Reha becomes a quiet, relational hero. She is not heroic because she is powerful in a dramatic way. She is heroic because she stays present, gives what she can, and keeps loving Amma during a painful time.

Provide students with a confidence continuum (i.e., 1–5). As needed, model how to demonstrate a level of confidence using the continuum.

Connection to Today's Learning:

• Say: You are ready to synthesize the poem set and explain what kind of hero Reha has actually become.

Have students write a brief response using evidence from multiple poems to analyze Reha’s development as a hero.

Quick Write

Say these Directions: Respond to the question in 3-4 sentences. Use at least two specific details, each from a different poem in today’s set. Be sure to explain what those details show, not just name them.

• Ask: In the poem “The Story I Want to Tell”(pp. 185–186), Reha imagines how she could be a hero. Based on the poems in this set, what kind of hero has she actually become?

  • Reha becomes a quiet hero whose bravery shows through love and action, not drama. In “Close Enough,” she offers her own blood, which shows that blood has changed from something frightening into something she can give for Amma. Then, with “Savitri, Part 4” and “Watching,” LaRocca frames Reha as someone who stays present and devoted during a painful time. These poems show that Reha’s heroism is steady, relational, and sacrificial.

Optional Sentence Starter:

Reha becomes a hero not by __________, but by __________.

Instruct students to read “Dr. Andrews,” “The River,” “Goodbye,” “Jealous,” “Total Eclipse of the Heart,” and “Comfortably Numb.”

Ask students to respond to the following question in their Journal:

• How does this later “The River” poem compare to the previous poem with the same title?