The Essay 'Rice' Summary And Question Answers
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| Jhumpa Lahiri |
Summary of Rice in English
- Jhumpa Lahiri
In the essay, "Rice" ,Jhumpa Lahiri describes her father behaviour and his everyday routine from morning to night. Lahiri shows her admiration when she explains all about her dad and his way of making Pulao. Lahiri explains the way her dad makes the pulao in every detail. Even knowing all the ingredients to her dad pulao Lahiri will not consider making it. The pulao was such a demanding dish that every person would request it for any occasion it was, he would make it for more than just your average family celebration. Lahiri describes the difference when her son and daughter celebrated their first annaprasan with the same pulao her dad makes. Lahiri has such an admiration for her dad's way of always keeping a positive attitude. She learned how to respect and admire her dad's decisions and the passion he had towards making his favourite dish.
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Summary of Rice in Nepali
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Question Answers of Rice Essay
A.Comprehension :
Q.1. How does Lahiri describe her father? What is his most important character trait?
ANSWER : She describes him as consistent and committed to routines. His methodical nature is his most notable trait.
Q.2. According to Lahiri, what is special about pulao? Why is it served just on festive occasions?
ANSWER : Unlike standard white rice, pulao involves a specific combination of ingredients and is served only on festive occasions, likely because of the involved cooking process. It is considered a sophisticated dish.
Q.3. What is an annaprasan? Why is this occasion so important to Bengalis?
ANSWER : An annaprasan is a special marking the first time a child is given solid food to eat. Culturally, it is considered a rite of passage.
Q.4. Why, according to Lahiri, would she never try to make pulao?
ANSWER : She doesn't fully understand the technique and ratio of ingredients her father used for the pulao, and he has never recorded his recipe. She sees the dish as an extension of her father that only he has the right to make.
Q.5. What does Lahiri mean when she says that pulao is a dish for which her faterh" has earned the copyright".
ANSWER : Her father has reached a point with this dish that it is very closely associated with him; he is known for making pulao. He has made it for hundreds and hundreds of people on several occasions and knows the recipe by heart, and he seems to enjoy making it. His passion and skill for making the dish has made it a part of who he is as a person.
B.Purpose and Audience :
Q.6. How much does Lahiri assume her readers know about Bengali culture? How can you tell?
ANSWER : She assumes that the reader does not know much about the culture. When she uses Bengali words, like "andaj" and "annaprasan', she explains what they mean. She also explains both the type of rice Bengalis often eat for dinner and how it differs from pulao.
Q.7. Is this essay simply about rice ,more specifically pulao- or is it also about something else? Explain.
ANSWER : The essay is more about the author's father than it is about the dish itself. The author talks about how methodical her father is and expands upon this characteristic by using the pulao as an example. She writes about how skilled he is at estimating the ingredients accurately and the specificity of the ingredients he prefers to have. She also stresses how calm he is able to remain under pressure when she writes about how many people he cooks for and the ease at which he is able to adapt to new circumstances.
Q.8. Does this essay have an explicitly stated thesis? If so, where is it? If the thesis is implied, paraphrase it.
ANSWER : This essay's thesis, which is implied, is that the traditional, selfish expectations that men often have for their wives are unfair.
C.Style and structure :
Q.9. Why does Lahiri begin her essay by describing her father?
ANSWER : Lahiri begins the essay this way to set up a framework through which the reader can view the rest of the text. By describing the very orderly and deliberate way that her father goes through life, the author prepares the reader to imagine her father putting a similar level of meticulous care into the pulao.
Q.10. This essay is divided into three parts: the first describes Lahiri's father, the second describes the making of pulao; and the third describes the occasions on which her father cooked pulao. How does Lahiri signal the shift from one part of the essay to another? What other strategies could she have used?
ANSWER : Before Lahiri begins describing how Pulao is made, she talked about how good her father was at estimating quantities of rice. She uses this anecdote to transition into a description of the rice dish her father is famous for.
After this description, she transitions into discussing the occasions on which he cooked the rice by looking back on a specific time: "In 1968, when I was seven months old..."
This transition mentally prepares the reader for a shift in the essay.
To transition into the section of the essay that discusses the making of Pulao, Lahiri could have tried using transitions like "My father knew how to make pulao by heart". or "It is a process I have witnessed on countless occasions throughout my life."
When she transitions into talking about the occasions on which her father made pulao, the author could have started paragraph 5 with "The first time I tasted pulao was on my annaprasan."
Q.11. Why does Lahiri end her essay with a quotation? Is this an effective closing strategy? What other strategies could she have used?
ANSWER : Ending the essay with a quotation makes it feel poignant, and works quite effectively here. Because Lahiri doesn't incorporate any quotations before this point, this choice feels even more powerful. It is a good way to reflect her father's personality; from this quote, he sounds like an easygoing person despite his systematic tendencies.
If Lahiri wanted to use an alternative strategy, she could have either restated her main idea (that her father's methodical nature makes him a good cook) or by giving a final reflection of her feelings the subject.
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