“Ex-Basketball Player‚” by John Updike is the poem that struck me this week. It is about a man who once had great potential but never followed through with it. Flick Webb is the focus of this poem; he was a basketball star in high school quite some time ago‚ but nowadays he merely pumps gas at a local station. The first stanza provides the readers with geographical information about the location of the gas station. “Pearl Avenue runs past the high school lot‚ bends with the trolley tracks‚
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In John Updike’s short story A & P‚ a young man named Sammy takes witness to what he sees as an injustice happening to a group of bikini-clad teenage girls in the grocery store in which he works. He takes a bold step and decides he would rather not work for a manager that decided to embarrass the young girls in front of everyone instead of addressing them privately‚ so he quits. The bold step that he takes is part of his initiation into adulthood. Updike develops the initiation through the story
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The coming of adulthood There is a time in every young person’s life‚ where they are faced with the trials of growing up. In the short story A&P by author John Updike‚ he introduces a young man named Sammy who is mesmerized by three young girls who have entered the grocery store in which he works. Updike described the different emotions Sammy goes through in his transition from the thoughts of lust to acting in the defense of the girls and finally quitting his job. Through the choices that are made
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continuing his work at A&P‚ or possibly receiving attention from Queenie and her friends. Reacting to the girls Sammie states‚ “but remembering how he made that pretty girl blush makes me so scrunchy inside I punch the No Sale tab and the machine whiers “pee-pul” and the drawer splat out.” (A&P 3) After making the choice to stand up for the girls he leave the A&P store without a
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“A&P” tells the story of Sammy‚ a nineteen year-old cashier. It is a typical day at the grocery store when three young girls walk in wearing just their swimsuits. From the time period to the social environment‚ John Updike uses many elements to describe the setting. A major motif of this story is social conformity‚ which is displayed through the setting. The time period‚ location of the supermarket‚ and the social environment all affect the the reader’s understanding of social conformity in “A&P
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Erica Garcia Professor Michael Sellars English 1302 June 11‚ 2012 A&P By: John Updike In John Updikes’ short story‚ A&P Sammy’s character as described by the narrator‚ comes off as immature. The way Sammy is very observant and judgmental towards the three girls reveals something much deeper. It seems as if Sammy is very unhappy at his dead end job‚ he feels stuck. The narrator makes it seem as if Sammy wants something more from life. He obviously doesn’t care about his job. He quits
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Sammy‚ the young character in John Updike ’s "A & P" is truly a dynamic character. At the beginning of this short story‚ Sammy seems to be maintaining the status quo in his job as a checker at the local grocery store in a small New England beach town. He is content until the day that three young women walk into the grocery store in just their bathing suits‚ no shirts and no shoes. Immediately‚ Sammy ’s world is turned upside down and Sammy will undergo a sudden‚ dynamic change that even surprises
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John Updike’s “A&P” John Updike’s short story "A & P" shows you that there is a very thin line between being a hero and being stupid. I do admire the courage of the morally ambitious teenager who decides to standup and defend the young women’s honor in true fairy tale fashion. However‚ I can also see a sense of stupidity that occurs when you take a young adolescent teenager making off-the-hip decisions in order to impress the opposite sex. The decisions are hardly ever logic driven but for some
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Readers Response to John Updike’s A&P In the summer of 1961 we meet Sammy. Sammy is a 19-year-old clerk at the local A&P in a small town‚ and one day a few girls walk in‚ in their bikinis. Everyone in the store either stares at them lustfully or averts their eyes uncomfortably. When the manager gets back he scolds the girls and tells them that they cannot come back in there dressed that way again. So Sammy quits. I personally enjoy this story because of the dated wordplay and the character
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"A & P" author John Updike did a wonderful job portraying the point of view in this short story. Webster’s dictionary defines point of view as a position from which something is considered or evaluated. In this short story‚ first person point of view is used by the narrator. A nineteen year old boy who works at a grocery story called A & P is the protagonist. At such a young age‚ Sammy has a teenage‚ wondering mind which he uses to get himself into more trouble than he can handle. The story is written
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