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A&P. Full Plot Summary. Three teenage girls, wearing only their bathing suits, walk into an A&P grocery store in a small New England town. Sammy, a young man working the checkout line, watches them closely. He appraises their looks and notes even minute details about the way they carry themselves. He also speculates about their personalities ...
- Themes
A summary of Themes in John Updike's A&P. SparkNotes Plus...
- Important Quotes Explained
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- Motifs
Brand names appear throughout “A&P,” setting the story...
- Symbols
A summary of Symbols in John Updike's A&P. SparkNotes Plus...
- Narrative Point of View
A summary of Narrative Point of View in John Updike's...
- Character List
The manager of the A&P. Lengel is a by-the-books manager, as...
- A&P Historical Context
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- John Updike and A&P Background
John Updike was born in Shillington, Pennsylvania, in 1932....
- Themes
A&P Summary & Analysis. Three girls in bathing suits walk into the local A&P grocery store as Sammy, the nineteen-year-old narrator, rings up the groceries for a woman in her fifties he describes as " a witch about fifty with rouge on her cheekbones and no eyebrows." Sammy is distracted by the sight of them – first seeing a "chunky" girl ...
- The Plot of The Updike's "A&P"
- Narrative Technique
- Sexism in The Story
- Social Boundaries
Three barefoot girls in bathing suits walk into an A & P grocery store, shocking the customers but drawing the admiration of the two young men working the cash registers. Eventually, the manager notices the girls and tells them that they should be decently dressed when they enter the store and that in the future, they will have to follow the store'...
The story is told from the first person point of view of Sammy. From the opening line--"In walks, these three girls in nothing but bathing suits"--Updike establishes Sammy's distinctively colloquialvoice. Most of the story is told in the present tense as if Sammy is talking. Sammy's cynical observations about his customers, whom he often calls "she...
Some readers will find Sammy's sexist comments to be absolutely grating. The girls have entered the store, and the narrator assumesthey are seeking attention for their physical appearance. Sammy comments on every detail. It's almost a caricature of objectification when he says, "You never know for sure how girls' minds work (do you really think it'...
In the story, the tension arises not because the girls are in bathing suits, but because they're in bathing suits in a place where people don't wear bathing suits. They've crossed a line about what's socially acceptable. Sammy says: Sammy obviously finds the girls physically alluring, but he's also attracted by their rebellion. He doesn't want to b...
John Updike’s “A & P” is an often reprinted short story, appearing in numerous readers and anthologies. In it, a young man relates a significant incident that occurred while he was a cashier at a grocery store. It’s a popular short story for students.
A&P Summary. Three girls walk into the A&P in their bathing suits, as Sammy rings up the groceries for a woman in her fifties. Distracted by the sight of the first girl who catches his eye—a "chunky" girl in a green plaid bathing suit, with a nice tan—Sammy accidentally rings up a package of crackers twice, causing the woman to complain ...
"A&P" is a tragicomic work of short fiction by John Updike which first appeared in the July 22, 1961 issue of The New Yorker. The story was collected in Pigeon Feathers in 1961, published by Alfred A. Knopf .
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Complete summary of John Updike's A&P. eNotes plot summaries cover all the significant action of A&P. Select an area of the website to search All Study Guides Homework Help Lesson Plans Criticism ...
