A&P by: John Updike

-Sammy-"Queenie" and her friends

-Sammy vs.

himself-Sammy vs. society-The one event is the girls coming into his store .-Unhappy and ambiguous.

-His "relationship" with Queenie-He quits his job.

-Sammy in the A & P-His conversational attitude is revealed through his words. Updike puts common people into compelling narratives.

-Sammy is dreamy, but Queen is detached and in her own world.-She is in the story to reinforce his character and create conflict. Stocks and Legel also add to his conflict.-Sammy learns a painful lesson, but does he change? no.

-Adolescents can often live in a "fantasy" until they experience a sudden revelation about their place in an unfair world.

-The theme is implied and not stated directly in the story.-Also a "coming of age" story in which the character hopefully learns a lesson and matures, a device often used in young adult fiction.

-1st person-Author and Sammy do not withhold information from the reader. Sammy shows his humor and slightly rebellious attitude.-Author uses point of view to show Sammy's personal experience.-Sammy shows his social limitations and immaturity as he tries to impress the girls.

-"Queen" represents a stereotype "queen bee" that Sammy would love to have.-"No sale tab" on the register represents his ultimate defeat which reinforces the theme.

-Situational irony used. He quits his job to impress the girls but goes outside to find them gone.-Sammy is bored at first but gets his hopes up only to be disappointed in the end. His tone does shift.

-Overall Tone: miserable (for Sammy) but humorous (for the reader).

-characterization and theme-the place (A & P) in Boston in the summer time and the time (1950) set the backdrop.

-The author uses a casual style with the tone of a teenager. He maintains the present tense.The A & P is Sammy's boring, uneventful world until these girls walk in.The author is showing the difficulty of adolescence.