Lesson 34: Comparing Experiences in Red, White, and Whole and “Bicultural Identity: Then & Now”, Part 2

Place students in pairs.

Think-Pair-Share

• Say these Directions: Today, we are diving deeper into LaRocca’s “Author’s Note” and Bhavana Kunnath’s article to compare how two Indian American writers describe living between worlds. This matters for our Performance Task because strong analysis explains not only what a text says, but also how perspective shapes meaning. Turn to your partner. Partner A, share your response to the following question first for 30 seconds. Then switch.

• Ask: If two writers share similar cultural backgrounds, why might they still describe their sense of belonging differently?

  • Two writers can share a background and still have different experiences, ages, memories, and goals. One writer might focus on pressure and conflict, while another might focus on growth or reflection. That difference matters because identity is personal, even when people have something important in common.

Follow Up Share

• Say: Share one idea from your discussion. As you share, I will record keywords on the board, such as experience, age, purpose, or perspective. We will also review important vocabulary together as needed.

Connection to Today's Learning:

• Say: Those differences in experience and purpose help explain why LaRocca's author’s note sounds personally reflective, while Kunnath’s article focuses more on social pressure. Today, you will look closely at each writer's word choice and perspective to understand how each text frames bicultural identity.

Guide students in analyzing the word bicultural using morphology and context.

Morphology & Vocabulary

• Say these Directions: Today, a keyword will help us understand a common idea between the two texts: bicultural.

• Say: Review the words cultures and bicultural as they are used in the following sentences:

Target Sentences:

In the Author’s Note, LaRocca reflects on living between cultures and becoming whole through story. (pp. 211-213)

In Kunnath’s article, the author discusses bicultural identity and the pressure to conform.

Teach: Analyzing Word Meaning to Compare Perspectives

• Say: When I see the word bicultural, I slow down and look at its parts. The prefix bi- means two, and cultural connects to the traditions, values, and ways of life a group shares. So, my smart guess is that bicultural means living with or moving between two cultures at the same time.

• Say: Now I test that idea in context. In LaRocca's author's note, the experience of living between cultures sounds personally reflective. She describes how her own life shaped the story and explains that parts of Reha’s experience grew from her own personal background.

• Say: In Kunnath’s article, the tone shifts. The author explains that many people growing up between cultures felt pressure to change themselves to fit in, in other words, to conform.

• Say: Open your Personal Dictionary. Write bicultural and circle bi- and underline the rest of the word.

Erase/Hide: Stop displaying the target words.

• Say: Write the word bicultural from memory in your Personal Dictionary.

• Say: Check your spelling against the displayed word and Relabel the meaningful parts of each word. Circle bi- in bicultural.

Prompt students to discuss the questions with a partner:

• Ask: Which part of the word helped you remember how to spell it?

  • The prefix bi- helped me remember bicultural because it tells me there are two parts.

Sound Spelling: Before we determine the meaning, let’s say the word aloud, one syllable at a time: “bi / cul / tur / al.” The first syllable is the prefix -bi that we just discussed, spelled b-i. Connecting the spelling to the prefix -bi (two) can help you recognize this pattern in other words.

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

• Say: Check your definition using a dictionary or other reference material. Does the definition match what you figured out? Revise as needed.

Connection to Today's Learning:

• Say: You will now use these words to compare not just what the two texts say, but how each writer frames the experience of belonging.

Part A: What Matches, What Shifts? (RI.7.9) (15 minutes)

Students can continue to work in pairs. Distribute the Venn Diagram graphic organizer.

Graphic Organizer Deep Dive

• Say these Directions: With your partner, reread key parts of “Author’s Note” and Kunnath’s article. In the middle of your Venn Diagram, record ideas both texts share about bicultural identity. On the outside, record how the texts differ in feeling, focus, examples, or perspective. Use the words bicultural and conform in at least one of your notes.

Prompt students to use their notes to respond to the questions:

• Ask: What is one important idea that belongs in the middle because both texts share it?

  • Both texts suggest that living between cultures can feel complicated. In the author's note, LaRocca reflects on how her own experiences shaped the story and explains that the novel grew from her life between cultures. In Kunnath's article, the author describes bicultural identity as balancing different expectations and explains that some people felt like they had to “divide their lives between cultural worlds” to manage those pressures.

• Ask: What is one difference that belongs on the outside because the texts diverge?

  • A key difference is that Kunnath focuses on social pressure, while the LaRocca reflects on personal meaning. Kunnath explains that some young people felt pressure to conform and writes that they “tried hard to become an American…nothing about me would give away the Indian influence.” LaRocca, however, focuses on how those experiences shaped her storytelling and how writing helped her explore identity through Reha's perspective.

Part B: One Idea Across Texts (RL.7.6) (15 minutes)

Place students in small groups of three or four. Assign each group one article point: pressure to conform, the role of community, or new pressures such as appropriation and diversity quotas.

Teach: Tracing One Idea Across Texts

• Say: When I take one idea from the article, I should not look for a poem that repeats it word for word. Instead, I ask whether the novel supports it, complicates it, or pushes back against it.

• Say: If I choose Kunnath’s point about pressure to conform, I can think back to the earlier poem “Two,” where Reha feels split between school and home. That supports the article because both texts show outside expectations pulling at identity.

• Say: The novel also complicates that idea because later moments, including the ending and the author’s note, suggest Reha is moving toward wholeness rather than staying stuck in pressure alone.

• Say: My explanation gets stronger when I name why the texts feel different:

  • Kunnath writes directly about social patterns, while LaRocca lets us experience those pressures through Reha’s changing point of view.

Group Accountability Share

• Say these Directions: Work in a small group of three or four. Your group will focus on one idea:

1. Pressure to conform

2. The role of community

3. New pressures like appropriation and diversity quotas

Fold your paper into three columns labeled: supports, complicates, and contradicts.

In your group, take your assigned article point and decide whether the novel mostly supports it, complicates it, or contradicts it.

Record your explanation in the corresponding column, and include textual evidence that supports your reasoning. Then, use your notes to respond to the questions.

• Ask: Does the novel support, complicate, or contradict your point from the article? Which line or lines from a poem support that conclusion?

  • The novel complicates Kunnath’s point about the role of community. In some earlier poems, Reha feels out of place and judged between her two worlds, which shows that community can create pressure. But in poems like “Roommates” and in the ending movement of the novel, other people help hold her up, so community also becomes a source of care and belonging.

• Ask: Why might LaRocca and Kunnath describe bicultural identity differently even though both are Indian American women writing about navigating two worlds?

  • They may describe it differently because they are writing in different genres and for different purposes. Kunnath is making a broader point about bicultural identity now, including public pressures such as appropriation and quotas. LaRocca tells the story through Reha’s point of view, grief, family relationships, and growth, so the experience feels more emotional and less settled.

Prompt students to discuss their responses with their group members.

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

Direct students to write independently.

Quick Write

• Say these Directions: In your Quick Write, answer today's big comparison question. Use at least two specific details, one from each text, to support your thinking.

Optional Sentence Starter:

Reha partly reaches the same conclusion as __________ because __________; however, __________ remains unresolved.

• Ask: Does Reha arrive at the same conclusion about bicultural identity that Kunnath does and that LaRocca does in the Author’s Note? What does each text leave unresolved?

  • Reha does not arrive at the same conclusion as Kunnath and LaRocca, although their ideas overlap. In Kunnath’s article, the discussion of cultural pressure explains that some bicultural people tried to conform and hide the Indian influences in their lives. In the author's note, LaRocca reflects more personally and explains how her own experiences shape the story she tells through Reha. The novel’s ending poems such as "Start” and “Always Something There to Remind Me” show Reha moving through wholeness, but grief and belonging still feel unresolved because her loss remains part of her identity.

Instruct students to write a personal response in their Journals to this revised Essential Question:

• What is my culture, and how does it shape my identity and sense of belonging, especially when I move between more than one world? (You may define culture broadly to include family traditions, language, neighborhood, religion, music, values, or communities you share with others.)