Descriptions of place

The STX A exam from May 28th, 2020 asks you to discuss how Michelle Zauner uses descriptions of place in her article “Ever since my mom died, I cry in H Mart” to explore her topic. 

The main topic of Zauner’s article is cultural identity. Zauner describes H Mart and its customers to point out people’s need to stay connected to their culture of origin, as well as the importance of places such as H Mart in ensuring people have access to aspects of Asian culture.

The article begins with a detailed description of H Mart, introducing it to readers who might not be familiar with it. The description presents H Mart as “freedom from the single-aisle ‘ethnic’ section in regular grocery stores.” (ll. 6-7). This ties in with the topic of exploring one’s culture of origin and having a place that can offer the opportunity to do so. The description conta...