...“A&P” Character Analysis The protagonist in “A&P” by John Updike is a static character because he reveals himself as a juvenile who remains envious of “his” girls, determined, and judgmental throughout the story. The way Sammy describes his opinion of the girls’ personalities, makes his decision at the end, and how he describes the characters reveals how his character did not change throughout the story. In “A&P” three girls wander into the grocery store while Sammy, the main character is working the cash register. Sammy instantly starts describing each of the girls and it can be assumed that the main girl in the group is his favorite. Sammy refers to her as “Queenie.” While Sammy seems quiet and shy around others, Queenie is the opposite. Sammy’s comment, “but you got the idea she had talked the other two into coming in here with her, and...
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...Who is Sammy? In the short story “A&P”; Sammy serves as the protagonist, main character and narrator. The story is told from his point of view, which I believe is very interesting because the narrative changes if this story is told from one of the other character’s point of view. This story takes places in a small conservative community with conservative views. Sammy is a 19 year old who works as a cashier at A&P grocery in a small town. Sammy can be described in many ways. He is very opinionated and observant of his surroundings. From the beginning of the story Sammy is seen as somewhat immature. Sammy seems to be very uninterested in his job but rather taken with its customers. I can relate to that somewhat. Retail can be so boring and mundane at times that you have to do something to help the time go by. He comments on everyone and everything. This serves as his entertainment to get through the day. In the story he quickly analyzes the girls as they come in the store. In fact, in the very first sentence Sammy says “in walks these three girls in nothing but bathing suits”(Updike 32). It is quite an attention grabber. Sammy finds most people in town are followers and do the same thing. However, he notices “Queenie” is different. He is almost infatuated by her “sweet broad soft-looking can”(Updike 33). Based on the way he describes the girls he seems to judge people based on appearances. He depicts everything from the texture and patterns of their bathing suits to...
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...FORM 5 Novels The Curse Table of Contents Introduction Synopsis Elements Activities Assessment Answer Key Glossary Panel of writers THE CURSE NOVEL What is a novel? Only in a novel are all things given full play – D. H. Lawrence (( A novel is a long narrative in literary prose. Novels tell stories, which are typically defined as a series of events described in a sequence. The novel has been a part of human culture for over a thousand years, although its origins are somewhat debated. Regardless of how it began, the novel has risen to prominence and remained one of the most popular and treasured examples of human culture and writing. There have been stories and tales for thousands of years, but novels must combine a few unique characteristics in order to be defined as such. First, a novel is written down, rather than told through an oral account. Secondly, novels are meant to be fictional in form, differentiating them from myths, which are said to have their basis in reality or theology. Although some modern scholars argue differently, there is no truly established guideline for length, point-of-view, or even establishment of a moral or philosophical point in novels. Sources : http://www.wisegeek.com Date accessed : 5th July 2010 : http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Novel Date accessed : 5th July...
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...American actress Winona Ryder are mentioned when the narrator describes how obesity takes over “weak” High-School girls. This description indicates that the story takes place in the late 90’s or early 00’s. The female ideal at this time was to be as thin and bony as possible as described in the story “We look voraciously at one another. We envy the protruding bones of someone who is that much closer to not being here at all” (p. 112, l. 11-12) when she tells about the anorectic ward where she is hospitalized. The story takes place in an American hospital ward, where the only patients are anorectics. The story signifies that it is taking place in America, since the narrator is talking about high school girls. One of the similes of the ward is that it smells like playbo. Also the narrator sets a tone of a prison like hospital ward “Open a window, please - I won’t jump - I’m not a suicide patient. I just don't eat.” (p. 112, l. 3-5) but this is normal for a hospital ward, and therefore only a feeling the narrator has. The narrator, who is also the main character, is...
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...vi Editor “Cheat Sheet” Invoking vi: vi filename Format of vi commands: [count][command]Command mode versus input modeVi starts in command mode. The positioning commands operate only while vi is in command mode. You switch vi to input mode by entering any one of several vi input commands. (See next section.) Once in input mode, any character you type is taken to be text and is added to the file. You cannot execute any commands until you exit input mode. To exit input mode, press the escape (Esc) key.Input commands (end with Esc)a Append after cursor i Insert before cursor o Open line below O Open line above :r file Insert file after current lineAny of these commands leaves vi in input mode until you press Esc. Pressing the RETURN key will not take you out of input mode.Change commands (Input mode) cw Change word (Esc)cc Change line (Esc) - blanks line c$ Change to end of line rc Replace character with c R Replace (Esc) - typeover s Substitute (Esc) - 1 char with string S Substitute (Esc) - Rest of line withtext . Repeat last changeChanges during insert mode <ctrl>h Back one character <ctrl>w Back one word <ctrl>u Back to beginning of insert | VI “Cheat” SheetACNS Bulletin ED–03Februa ry 1995(count repeats the effect of the command)File management commands :w name Write edit buffer to file name :wq Write to file and quit :q! Quit without saving changes ZZ Same as :wq :sh Execute shell commands (<ctrl>d)Window motions ...
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...story “Desire” by Daisy Perkins, the main character is balancing between her desires to be with a man whom she adores and the fear of the unknown. The main character is a woman, who is very insecure and unfamiliar with having sex. She has met a man named Dave, but since they have not known each other for long, she does not feel safe around him:” We haven’t known each other for long. I can’t be myself around him. That’s maybe because he is twenty years older or maybe it’s because he is a scientist and I’m an artist” P. 1-2. This quote also shows that the main character is significantly younger than Dave and that they have completely different interests. Yet the main character is very curious, and her curiosity drives her to have sex with Dave:” We operate from different sides of the brain, curiosity compelling us to continue seeing each other” P.2. Even though the main character is curious, she is still afraid of the unknown – of having sex with Dave:” Sex isn’t complicated. But now, on this boat, it’s uncomfortable, I don’t know what to do with my body or where to direct myself” P.2. She is not afraid of having sex, but she is afraid of having sex with Dave, because he is so much more experienced than her, and she feels like she barely knows him. The way she describes the feeling, makes it seems like she almost dreads it:” Those hands which handled every part of my body, those experienced fingers” P.1. It seems like the main character does not enjoy having sex with Dave, but...
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...& T University TABLE OF CONTENTS I. South Korea History P. 1 II. HEADING NUMBER TWO P. 2 III. HEADING NUMBER THREE P. 3 IV. ANOTHER HEADING FOR GOOD MEASURE P. 3 V. BIBLIOGRAPHY P. 5 I. South Korea History This document is in Ariel, with 12 point characters and one inch margins. This document is in Ariel, with 12 point characters and one inch margins. This document is in Ariel, with 12 point characters and one inch margins. This document is in Ariel, with 12 point characters and one inch margins. This paragraph shows two ways to deal with quotes. Jones said “so and so…” (Jones, 2002). Also, a statement or idea can be quoted indirectly (Jones, 2002). This document is in Ariel, with 12 point characters and one inch margins. This document is in Ariel, with 12 point characters and one inch margins. This document is in Ariel, with 12 point characters and one inch margins. This document is in Ariel, with 12 point characters and one inch margins. This document is in Ariel, with 12 point characters and one inch margins. This document is in Ariel, with 12 point characters and one inch margins. This document is in Ariel, with 12 point characters and one inch margins. This document is in Ariel, with 12 point characters and one inch margins. This document is in Ariel, with 12 point characters and one inch margins. This document...
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...Business Briefly summarize this concept, and discuss how it is helpful in thinking about business ethics. Hill argues that Christian ethics in business is not rules but the change-less character of God (Hill, p. 14). Scripture describes how we were created in the image of God and we are expected to behave in a manner consistent with God’s character, therefore, acting ethically (p. 14). Hill goes on to suggest that behavior consistent with God’s character is ethical and that there are three divine characteristics which have a direct bearing on our ethical decision making process; holiness, justice and love (p.15) and how all three are necessary, comparing them to the skeleton, muscles and skin. An interesting way to think of them, I thought. He goes on to suggest that in being “ethical” in business...
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...exactly what the main character in “Every Good Boy” (2011) by David Nicholls, wants to manage playing. Among all the bad experiences he has had, is this the one he can finally accomplish? Everything else he had tried to do hasn’t worked. The main character in this short story is also the narrator. He, whose name isn’t mentioned, tells about a particularly significant episode of his childhood. At the time of the event, the main character is nine years old. He lives with his parents and two siblings. His brother and sister have found their special talent and he is eager to find his own. He seems as a happy boy, even though he doesn’t seem to have particularly high hopes about his future. “At the age of nine I was remarkable for being entirely without ability. (...) Graceless, charmless, physically and socially inept, I lacked even the traditional intelligence of the nerdy” (p. 1, ll. 9-13). It seems like he has an idea of how a nine-year-old boy should be. He also claims that he is clumsy in every possible way and that he is totally incompetent. (p. 1, l. 12) To remove these thoughts he has gotten a new plan. His father and uncle just arrived at home, totally unexpected, with a piano. This gives the main character an idea. He decides to learn to play a piano, and who would be a better teacher than an elderly lady from the neighbourhood, who has years of experience and is very talented? Mrs Patricia Chin is not overly excited to start with the main character, but she comes...
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...broken up. Her sons have moved out, leaving her alone with Ollie her German shepherd. She becomes fixated on the case of a girl who had been murdered and buried. She decides to find the body and by two and a half year difficulties it’s shown how she reaches her goal. The point of view in this story tells us how generalized the main character is. Even though we are dealing with a third person narrator, the story is told like it was seen from the main character’s point of view: “Thank God, she thought. What would Brian say now?” (p. 4, l. 138). We see that the narrator speaks for the main character. The reason why the narrator does that is that the narrator wants us to know, that the main character could as well be the narrator as it could be us readers. We are never told what the name of the main character is, and this also indicates this generalized picture of the main character. The main character’s view on the case is connected with her personality, which develops through course. The main character is very naive when it comes to the case: “(...) discussing it with her co-workers- so much that her manager had to ask her stop.” (p. 1, l. 4-5). She can’t stop talking about this little girl, and she wants to know and investigate more. It shows us, how lonely she has become; her children and husband have left her alone with Ollie, her sole friend. Now she needs a goal in her life. She starts her own investigation and develops maternal feelings for the lost girl:”If...
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...Literature Assignment 1 An analysis of the role of minor characters in The Visit and Chronicle of a Death Foretold in establishing a collectivistic or individualistic society. March 13, 2011 Word Count: 1073 Rawson 1 Without any characters; there is no story. Every tale needs a knight in shining armor to save the endangered princess or a misguided hero to meet a tragic end. A protagonist and an antagonist are the most basic of writing conventions and are crucial to the story. It is important; however, to not overlook the roles of minor characters in the plot. For example, Snow White would have been a radically different story without the seven dwarves. This exemplifies how minor characters can drastically influence the outcome of a story in a number of ways. In both Durrenmatt’s The Visit and Marquez’s Chronicle of a Death Foretold, the minor characters have an influential role in determining the fate of the protagonist. These minor characters are used by Durrenmatt and Marquez to establish an individualistic or collectivistic society within their works and by doing so isolate the protagonists and lead them to their deaths. In a collectivistic society, the people tend to view themselves as part of a group and hold the needs of the group over that of the individual. This is the society which Durrenmatt has presented in The Visit. In Durrenmatt’s The Visit, the town of Guellen is populated by minor characters lacking any names. Throughout the play, the villagers are...
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...Female characters in literature are often misrepresented and undervalued women. Negative attitudes towards women have long been accepted by both men and women and as a result the dominant male group gives women a lower reputation. The Catcher in the Rye, although it’s about an adolescent male who embarks on a journey to transition from childhood to adulthood, his perception of the opposite sex is skewed by the society he lives in. The idea that women are thought of as less often alters males into perceiving women simply as sexual objects. Holden's male perspective in narrating the Catcher in the Rye, portrays female characters as stereotypical women. Reinforcing gender roles set by social standards consequently oppressing and sexualizing the...
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...organized crime in what is known as the "Jazz Era." This particular topic is very evident in the novel The Great Gatsby. My second point being that the roles of women changed drastically in this decade. The actions, as well as descriptions, or many of the female characters in the novel depict the different ways that women had evolved. Also, as another point, due to the economy booming during this time period, people became obsessed with wealth and power. Many of the characters from the novel display this characteristic in they sense that they are all extremely wealthy. Therefore, the novel The Great Gatsby is very representative of life and society during the 1920's in various ways. Prohibition had been passed in 1919, yet there was still high demand for alcohol during the 1920's. F. Scott Fitzgerald displays much of the illegal activities that occurred during this time throughout The Great Gatsby. Jay Gatsby, one of the main characters, is involved in this illegal smuggling and selling of alcohol. He had "bought up a lot of side-street drug stores here in Chicago and sold grain alcohol over the counter" (Fitzgerald, pg. 141). This shows the type of things that people would do in order to get alcohol in the 20's. Gatsby's character displays the sort of things that were going on during this time, such as stores that would sell alcohol over the counter. Also, F. Scott Fitzgerald mentions the "underground pipe-line to Canada" in order to give the reader...
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...A&P Story and Character Analysis “…My stomach kind of fell as I felt how hard the world was going to be to me hereafter” (153). Unfortunately, many people can relate to this feeling after making a mistake or unintelligent decision. “A&P”, a short story, by John Updike tells of a brief yet problematic encounter in a local supermarket. The protagonist Sammy works as a cashier at the local A&P just north of Boston. After the incident when his boss embarrassed a group of young girls in the store, he impulsively decides he wants to quit as an act of heroism for the young embarrassed girls. Because he was distracted, he made an irrational decision that affected him and the people around him negatively. In “A&P”, Updike communicates the theme of thinking...
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...Extension class. To be perfectly honest, when I first picked up this text, I was unsure of what to expect. Apart from reading Shakespeare, I had never been exposed to reading in the playwright form. I did not know what my approach to the play was going to be or how I would react to reading it, or if there was a certain way in which I was supposed to be affected by it. I also had yet to read a text written by Arthur Miller, so I was unaware of his style of writing and again did not know what to expect from it. After finishing the play for the first time I was satisfied that I had thoroughly enjoyed reading the story, whilst developing a love hate relationship with some of the plot lines, characters and themes that it portrayed. At the beginning of the story, I found myself sympathizing with the character Abigail Williams. She is a young teenage girl, in love, and I felt myself trying to relate to her and the way she may be feeling, being rejected by the man she loves. Before Abigail’s true personality was revealed, I thought...
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