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Analysis Of Fathead By Firoozeh Dumas

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1. Firoozeh Dumas says the name of her family members and friends at the beginning of this essay to catch the reader’s attention on how she and others have been treated throughout their life so far. Her brother, Farbod which means greatness, was given the name “Fathead” by the American kids, her brother, Farshid which means he who enlightens, was given the name “Fartshit,” her friend, Neggar was made fun of for her name resembling a derogative term, and her other brother, Arash, was made fun of due to his name sounding like “a rash.” Dumas included these embarrassing names to add humor to the essay in a unique way. Some may find it inappropriate, but it is just a way for her to make a more serious topic humorous for others to read and understand …show more content…

Move over, cinnamon and nutmeg, make way for cardamom and sumac.” That quote is one example of how Dumas wants to give readers the perspective that we need to be more open minded to new ideas, things, and people because the word is constantly …show more content…

Throughout the essay, Dumas compares life to new spices in a kitchen pantry. She manages to elaborate on this throughout the entire essay. I believe that she uses the reference as a way to describe her life and how she made room in her kitchen pantry for new spices when the time arose. As her life goes on Dumas realizes that sometimes she needs to “add more spices” by changing things in her life. An example of this is when she changes her name to Julie because she believe it would be a simpler life if she had an American name. Eventually she changes it back to Firoozeh because she realized having “Julie” as her name complicated her life to an extent she could not deal with anymore. Dumas made room for new spices and eventually took the ones she did not need any longer out multiple times throughout her life in order to get the perfect balance of spices in her kitchen pantry. She also uses the metaphor as a way to say more Americans need to add more spices to their kitchen pantry by being more diverse and accepting those of different cultures and races. The metaphor is an effective way to further her detail in the issues she raises because it allows readers to see the issues in a way that would otherwise seem as if it was a demand not an intriguing

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