...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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...Live and Learn First jobs are the first reality check to life. Each with responsibilities, rules and lessons to be learned and mistakes will be made under the watchful eye of an employer. In John Updike’s “A & P,” Sammy is the typical teenager bored with his job. He’s at a small town grocery store that does not get a lot of excitement. He mentally analyzes each customer as he goes through the motions of cashing out each customer. This day will change Sammy’s life and his lack of understanding of it. Sammy notices, “three girls in nothing but bathing suits” (141). The girls move throughout the store creating quite the stir. Eventually the girls make their way to Sammy’s register. The manager, Lengel, approaches the girls, “‘Girl’s this isn’t the...
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...A&P Analysis This particular story was written by a man named John Updike, in the early 1960s. Updike wrote this story to convey a certain message to the people reading it. That message is that everyone must make their own life choices and decisions at some point, rather than let others make decisions for them. While many people may read the title of this story and believe that the theme revolves around the Anatomy and Physiology of the human body, the actual theme of this story is based on a young boy becoming a man. Throughout the story, the main character who is Sammy, describes to the audience these three girls who have came into the grocery store where he works, and are dressed in bathing suits rather than clothes, which would be frowned upon during this time period. The inferred leader of the group of girls who is Queenie, is the girl that Sammy appears to have his eyes on throughout most of the story. Sammy notices that Queenie is wearing a dirty-pink bathing suit with the straps down to her shoulder, which lets Sammy know that either Queenie is trying to...
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...In the story of "A&P" by John Updike, the main character and narrator, Sammy, demonstrates that he is very observant and judgmental. Sammy could also be described as a critic. Throughout the story Sammy describes the different customers and makes comments about their appearance. Sammy also compares his lifestyle to the lifestyles of his coworkers and customers. Sammy describes the A&P to be located in the middle of town, nowhere near the beach, which confuses him about the girls who come in with their swimsuits on. Sammy also uses imagery to describe the A&P. The store is described by Sammy as a pinball machine, he says he never knows what tunnel the customers will come out of. Throughout the story, Sammy observes and narrates his descriptions of the A&P customers. He describes the housewives as "sheep" because he fails to see any difference between the housewives. The housewives also walk aimlessly down the aisles and just follow each other around in a flock. Sammy also made a statement about...
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...A & P: An Exploration of Theme By Robert Smith English 175-01 Lucas Brown Tuesday/Thursday 1:00 p.m. – 2:15 p.m. 28 September 2016 The main theme of John Updike’s work “A & P” is a coming of age story with an emphasis on a changing world, in which old ways are giving way to a new generation’s way of thinking. There are many elements of this story which add to the theme, including: characters, protagonist’s points of view, setting, and symbolism. The characters play a key role in bring the coming of age theme in the story to life. To open the story we read, “In walks three girls in nothing but bathing suits” (Updike, p. 16). Before the narrator even mentions anything about himself he mentions the “three girls,” this immediately draws...
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...In order for the younger generation to succeed, must they do as they see others do and resist deviating from the norm? The short story “A&P” by John Updike takes place within a grocery store with plots depicting different themes, such as innocence and irony. The average reader will be stunned by the unusual break in tradition, as well as the ending with a twist. Sammy, the story’s main character and narrator, is represented as one who does not understand his own troubled life. He also despises others, who in so many words live a life of follow the leader. Ultimately, Sammy quits his job in protest of the unfair treatment of three girls, who have presumably violated the store’s dress code policy. It appears that this is an example where society is being too rigid and insensitive to the changing trends that our younger generations are ready to explore. Three young girls wearing bathing suits into a small town grocery store really caused a commotion amongst the store’s...
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...A&P John Updike As I began to read A&P by John Updike, I began to relate to Sammy. I relate to his views on the girls and I relate to how he is not assimilated into the group at A&P. When seeing girls in bikinis that are attractive, it is natural for a teen to stop and look. Sammy reacted the same way I would have, by checking them out. The girls relate to Sammy because they defy the normal standards of the store. This is just like Sammy. Sammy is a sarcastic guy who is not trying to climb the corporate ladder at A&P. He is unlike his co worker, Stokesie, who is trying to be promoted. I felt like Sammy represents an everyday teen. He works for extra cash and he checks out girls. Having finished the reading, I realized that the girls were a symbol for him. This symbol was to defy the standards of society and do what you want. As I reread and studied A&P, I noticed the connection between Sammy and the girls. Sammy intently looks at each of the three girls. He uses descriptive words...
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...Sammy, is a 19-year-old working as a cashier at an A&P. The theme becomes very obvious from the very beginning of the story. Sammy thinks that most people that he sees in his store are “sheep” (“A&P – John Updike”). To Sammy, everyone is the same; boring and lacking character, “The sheep pushing their charts down the aisle…” (“A&P – John Updike”). It is apparent that he is anxious to get out of the mold that he has been stuck in, but he doesn’t know how until the opportunity is presented to him. The opportunity finally presents itself when Sammy stops daydreaming and actually breaks free from the conventions of society when he meets Queenie. By quitting his job, Sammy experiences what it means to be free from the social norm (“SparkNotes: A7P:...
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...Mallory Russell 06/12/15 Comparison Essay ENG 102 Online “Cathedral” by Raymond Carver versus “A + P” by John Updike In the short stories “Cathedral” by Raymond Carver and “A + P” by John Updike the protagonists experience an epiphany that change their restricted way of thinking. The main character, “Sammy” in John Updike’s, “A + P” is a teenage boy working in the town grocery store. Sammy experiences an epiphany when he decides to quit his job at the grocery store. He quit because he believed that it was wrong of his boss to treat customers poorly due to any pre-conceived notion that was determined by what the customer looks like. Raymond Carver’s main character named “the husband” in his story “Cathedral” experiences an epiphany when he realizes he has wrongly stereotyped, a visiting friend of his wife’s named “Robert” because he blind. The theme of both of the stories, “Cathedral” and “A+P” is that the main characters are influenced and motivated by other individuals within the story to change their close-minded thinking. In “Cathedral” the character Robert, served as the husband’s motivation for change when he comes to stay with the husband and his wife. The three teenage girls in “A + P”, serve as the motivation to change Sammy’s way of thinking when they enter the grocery store dressed risqué to the grocery store’s standards. Raymond Carver portrayed the husband in “Cathedral” as a cynical person from the beginning of the story. The husband’s wife enjoyed sharing...
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...Xavian Arnold Dr. Patterson English 112 28 March 2012 A & P: An Analysis of the Character “Sammy” As people age, maturity and wisdom is gained through every experience. From the time a child turns eighteen and becomes an adult, they are required to deal with the realities of the real world and learn how to handle its responsibilities. In John Updike’s short story “A&P” the protagonist Sammy is a young man in 1961 New England who works in the town’s local grocery store. In a matter of a day, Updike goes from an immature boy with unrealistic ideas and fantasies, to a man who is about to realize how life altering the choices he makes can be. Sammy realizes that life isn’t always fair and that sometimes it involves the consequences that life can deal to anyone who has not had time to test a rash decision. Updike’s story illustrates that a part of growing up is a willingness to accept consequences of one’s choices, and that life's hardest lessons are sometimes learned a little too late. This story represents a coming-of-age for Sammy, as seen through his evaluations of the costumers as the story develops. Though it takes place over the period of a few minutes, it represents a much larger process of Sammy’s growth. From the time the girls enter the grocery store, to the moment they leave, you can see changes in Sammy. At first, he only notices the physical appearance of the girls: how they look and what they are wearing, seem to be his only thoughts. As the story...
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...Textual Analysis Read each of the following texts carefully, according to the following schedule. Read actively -- noting, highlighting, as appropriate. Be prepared to comment on each author’s main point / motive / message. What techniques or strategies does each author use? ...
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...“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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...Character Analysis Sammy Text “A&P” by John Updike In the story of “A&P” by John Updike Sammy is the narrator. He is a nineteen year old young man who portrays a normal teenager by having a summer job like most teenagers do. He had a common summer job at a grocery store. He held the position as a cashier throughout the story until he ended up having a dynamic change. Throughout most of the story his actions would be considered assertive to most readers. He is very particular with every detail of all of the other characters in the story. He does with go a dynamic change from the beginning to the end of the story by becoming a very sympathetic character. The narrator early on in the story shows how he is able to see every little detail about the other characters in the story. He looks at each character in the story and almost examines what he feels they are going through in his or her life. He becomes quite interested when three girls walk in at “A&P”. He is immediately very drawn to their appearance, “They didn't even have shoes on. There was this chunky one with the two-piece-- it was bright green and the seems on the bra was still sharp and her belly was still pretty pale so I guessed she just got it (the suit)--there was this one, with one of those chubby berry-faces, the lips all bunched together under her nose, this one, and a tall one, with black hair that hadn't quite frizzed right, and one of these sunburns right across under the eyes, and a chin that was...
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...HOW TO WRITE A LITERARY ANALYSIS ESSAY The purpose of a literary analysis essay is to carefully examine and sometimes evaluate a work of literature or an aspect of a work of literature. As with any analysis, this requires you to break the subject down into its component parts. Examining the different elements of a piece of literature is not an end in itself but rather a process to help you better appreciate and understand the work of literature as a whole. For instance, an analysis of a poem might deal with the different types of images in a poem or with the relationship between the form and content of the work. If you were to analyze (discuss and explain) a play, you might analyze the relationship between a subplot and the main plot, or you might analyze the character flaw of the tragic hero by tracing how it is revealed through the acts of the play. Analyzing a short story might include identifying a particular theme (like the difficulty of making the transition from adolescence to adulthood) and showing how the writer suggests that theme through the point of view from which the story is told; or you might also explain how the main character‟s attitude toward women is revealed through his dialogue and/or actions. REMEMBER: Writing is the sharpened, focused expression of thought and study. As you develop your writing skills, you will also improve your perceptions and increase your critical abilities. Writing ultimately boils down to the development of an idea....
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...Short Story – Cultural Analysis Group Names: __________________________________ Unhappily Ever After – Fractured Fairy Tales __________________________________ __________________________________ “A & P” by John Updike (1961) 1. Describe the narrator’s (Sammy’s) attitude toward women. List the words he uses to describe the young women. Then list the words he uses to describe the older women. * Young Women: * Words/Phrases: * Attitude: * Older Women: * Words/Phrases: * Attitude: 2. Describe the narrator’s (Sammy’s) attitude toward his job. List the words he uses to describe the store, Stokesie, and Lengel. * Store: * Stokesie: * Lengel: * Attitude: 3. Do you like the narrator or not? Explain. 4. Do you think the girls meant to cause trouble by entering the A & P in their swimsuits? What evidence is there to support your opinion? 5. Towards the end of the story Sammy quits his job. What statement is he trying to make? Does he succeed? 6. In the last line of the story Sammy says he now knows that the world will be hard for him from that point forward. Do you think he’s right about his unhappily ever after? What does he realize about the world of 1961 that makes him come to this conclusion? Short Story – Cultural Analysis Group Names: __________________________________ Unhappily Ever After – Fractured Fairy Tales __________________________________ ...
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