While teaching a creative writing class in India. I was surprised at receiving stories from Q.9 the students that were all set in distant places: in the American West with cowboys and in Manhattan penthouses with clinking ice cubes. This was, till an eminent Caribbean writer gave the once-colonized countries the confidence to see the shabby lives around them as worthy of being “told”. The writer of this passage is surprised by the creative writing assignments of his students, because ________ .

The correct option is: None of the students had written stories set in India.

Step-by-Step Explanation:

1. Analyze the context: The narrator mentions they were "teaching a creative writing class in India" and were "surprised at receiving stories from the students that were all set in distant places".

2. Identify the locations of the stories: The students wrote stories set in the American West (with cowboys) and Manhattan penthouses (with clinking ice cubes). Both of these are foreign/distant places relative to India, where the class was physically taking place.

3. Understand the contrast: The narrator states that this trend continued until a Caribbean writer gave once-colonized countries (like India) the confidence to see the "shabby lives around them" as worthy of being written about. This implies that prior to this influence, the students did not write about their local environment or lives in India.

4. Evaluate the options:
- Since the passage states that the stories "were all set in distant places" (American West, Manhattan), it means none of the students set their stories in their own country, India.
- Therefore, the narrator's surprise stems from the fact that none of the students had written stories set in India, preferring instead to write about distant, foreign settings.