Adichie's The Arrangers Of Marriage

Prompt C

Food is a recurring theme in Adichie's short story "The Arrangers of Marriage." Throughout the story, Adichie uses food to highlight cultural differences between Nigeria and the United States, as well as to explore themes of identity and assimilation.

At the beginning of the story, the protagonist, Chinaza, is shown cooking jollof rice, a traditional Nigerian dish, for her husband, Dave, who is Nigerian-American and chooses to go by an American name. Her attempt to introduce her boyfriend to Nigerian cuisine serves as a symbol of her desire to share her culture, which she assumes he would accept since he is also ethnically Nigerian, with him. However, his negative reaction to the food highlights the cultural gap between them, as

Chinaza's mother, who arranged the marriage, insists that Chinaza eat "good food" before leaving, emphasizing the importance of food in Nigerian culture. Chinaza's mother also gives her a bag of traditional Nigerian ingredients to take with her to the United States.These gifts serve as a connection to her cultural identity, and a reminder of the life she is leaving behind. They later get confiscated by a security agent as Chinaza enters the United States, which is her first sense of not belonging.

Once in the United States, Chinaza struggles to adapt to the food and culture of her new home. She finds American food bland and unappetizing, and prefers the spicy, flavorful dishes of her home country. In this way, food becomes a symbol of the larger cultural divide between Nigeria and the United States, as well as the challenges of assimilation for

Adichie uses food to explore the challenges faced by immigrants in adapting to a new culture, as well as the sense of loss that comes with leaving behind one's cultural identity. By emphasizing the importance of food in Nigerian culture, Adichie highlights the richness and diversity of different cultural traditions, and the importance of preserving and sharing them with others.

Prompt D

In "The Thing in the Forest," Byatt uses the mysterious creature, known simply as "the thing," to represent the impact of trauma on one’s mental state. The creature is a powerful symbol of the deep fears and anxieties that linger for long after traumatic events have occurred.

The thing is depicted as a dark and foreboding presence. Byatt describes the creature in the most horrifying way possible, painting a frightening image in the reader’s head. The creature's appearance is ambiguous, leaving the reader to question whether it is a real animal, a figment of the characters’' imagination, or a supernatural being. Byatt's use of this ambiguity adds to the sense of