Question

although food writing is one of the most widely read genres in the united states, literary scholars have long neglected it. and within this genre, cookbooks attract the least scholarly attention of all, regardless of how well written they may be. this is especially true of works dedicated to regional us cuisines, whose complexity and historical significance are often overlooked.
text 2
with her 1976 cookbook the tasts of country cooking. edna lewis popularized the refined southern cooking she had grown up with in freetown, an all - black community in virginia. she also set a new standard for cookbook writing: the recipes and memoir passages interspersing them are written in prose more elegant than that of most novels. yet despite its inmeasurable value as a piece of writing, lewiss masterpiece has received almost no attention from literary scholars.
based on the two texts, how would the author of text 1 most likely regard the situation presented in the underlined sentence in text 2?
choose 1 answer:
a as typical, because scholars are dismissive of literary works that achieve popularity with the general public
b as unsurprising, because scholars tend to overlook the literary value of food writing in general and of regional cookbooks in particular
c as justifiable, because lewis incorporated memoir into the tasts of country cooking, thus undermining its status as a cookbook
d as inevitable, because the tasts of country cooking was marketed to readers of food writing and not to readers of other genres

Explanation:

Text 1 states that food - writing (including cookbooks, especially regional ones) is neglected by literary scholars. Text 2's underlined sentence says Edna Lewis's cookbook (a regional US cuisine - related work) has received little attention. This aligns with Text 1's claim that regional cookbooks (and food writing in general) are overlooked by scholars.

Answer:

B. As unsurprising, because scholars tend to overlook the literary value of food writing in general and of regional cookbooks in particular.