John Updike's A & P is a vivid portrayal of the perils of growing up as seen through the eyes of a young grocery store clerk. ... Updike uses vivid verbal imagery to give the reader a clear image of every element of the story. ... In this story Updike uses vivid verbal imagery to give a clear image of every element of the story. Updike's description of the three girls gives such a clear image that they are easily pictured in the mind. ... In the story Updike also uses the element of conflict between Sammy and Lengel. ...

• Word Count: 465
• Approx Pages: 2
• Grade Level: High School

Both Updike's A&P and Joyce's Araby provide a similar theme that conveys a boy's infatuation for a girl and the hardships he has to go through, in order to acquire more experience in the complicated area of love. ... Because the narration of Updike's A&P is told by a young boy, the words used in description are obviously that of an obsessed teenager boy and his fantasies towards the opposite sex. ... One example of specific detail that is present in A &P, as well, is the "whiteness of the girl's skin" ("John Updike A&P and James Joyce's Araby.") ... All of his ...

• Word Count: 985
• Approx Pages: 4
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

John Updike, born in Pennsylvania in 1932, published his book of short fiction, The Same Door, and his first novel, The Poorhouse Fair, in 1959. In the 1960's, 1970's, and early 1980's, Updike alternated successfully among novels, collections of stories, occasional verse, essays, and one play. ... A short story written in 1961 by Updike, A&P introduces readers to an adolescent who undergoes metamorphosis while working at the local grocery store. ... Sammy is a responsible young man with a respectable job at the local A&P grocery store. ... I enjoyed reading A&P and con...

• Word Count: 752
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: High School

The A&P John Updike uses Sammy's attitude toward the people and the town along with the setting of the dreary atmosphere of the A&P to exhibit his change from a young, immature boy to a man who is finally ready to experience the fruits of growing up. ... Updike uses two types of setting, beginning with a manufactured setting, the A&P. Sammy's job as a clerk at the A&P is of comfort and stability in a little, routine-oriented community just north of Boston. ...

• Word Count: 468
• Approx Pages: 2
• Grade Level: High School

In his short story "A & P" John Updike utilizes a 19-year-old male to show us how a boy gets one-step closer to adulthood. Sammy, an A & P checkout clerk, talks to the reader with first person narration. ... He describes three girls entering the A & P, setting the tone of the story. ... He is a simple checker at a small town A & P, not moving up in his job or down, simply stagnant. ... By the time Sammy leaves the A & P he finds the girls have left and he is alone. ...

• Word Count: 725
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: High School

"A&P" Every story has a main character in which at some point in time has a crucial moment when an important decision must be made. ... A story written in 1961 by John Updike called "A&P," portrayed a young man leading the ordinary life as expected of an ordinary young man. ...

• Word Count: 843
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: High School

It is also shown in "A & P," written by John Updike, through the eyes of a teenager named Sammy who seems to think using something else instead of his brain. ... Experience is gained in the same fashion in "A & P" by a cashier named Sammy. ... He decides that he doesn't want to spend the rest of his life working at an A&P competing for the store manager's position. ... (Updike 855). ... Although, Sammy sees "how hard the world would be hereafter,"(Updike 857) he figures what was done had to be done. ...

• Word Count: 1043
• Approx Pages: 4
• Grade Level: High School