“i’m not sure i follow you, mr. ganguli. do you mean that nikhil is a middle name? or a nickname? many of the children go by nicknames here. on this form there is a space—” “no, no, it’s not a middle name,” ashoke says. he is beginning to lose patience. “he has no middle name. no nickname. the boy’s good name, his school name, is nikhil.” mrs. lapidus presses her lips together and smiles. “but clearly he doesn’t respond.” “, mrs. lapidus,” ashoke says. “it is very common for a child to be confused at first. give it some time. i assure you he will grow accustomed.” which best states the conflict revealed by this conversation? an internal emotional conflict between ashoke’s cultural values related to education and the needs of his child an external conflict between mrs. lapidus and gogol over his wish to be called by a traditional indian name an external cultural conflict between the traditional schooling expectations of mrs. lapidus and ashoke an internal conflict between mrs. lapidus’s expertise as an educator and her wish to respect ashoke’s cultural traditions

The correct answer is C) an external cultural conflict between the traditional schooling expectations of Mrs. Lapidus and Ashoke

The correct answer is C. An external cultural conflict between the traditional schooling expectations of Mrs. Lapidus and Ashoke

Explanation:

In literature, the word conflict implies a struggle between to opposing forces that can be internal if a character struggles with his own beliefs, values, feelings, etc. or external if the opposing force a character face is another character, society, nature or another element that does not depend on the character that experiences the conflict. In the case of the excerpt presented Mr. Ganguli who seems to be a teacher and Ashoke who is a father discuss the correct way of calling Ashoke's son as Mrs. Lapidus has been calling him Gogol as this is the name he responds to but Ashoke insists his name is Nikhil.

This shows the conflict, in this case, is between two characters and therefore is an external conflict, besides this, this external conflict deal with the role or Mrs. Lapidtus or the way she understands schooling and the expectations of Ashoke. Therefore, this conflict can be defined as "an external cultural conflict between the traditional schooling expectations of Mrs. Lapidus and Ashoke".