"The Initiation" The short story "A & P" by John Updike involves a young narrator, Sammy, who attempts to make a heroic gesture upon three girls "in nothing but bathing suits" (Updike 12) by quitting his job. ... Sammy describes most of the customers in the A & P as animals (Peck). ... But I do" (Updike 16). ... Yet, he maintains some of that innocent humor when he leaves the A & P. ... When he leaves the A & P, he is between two worlds. ...

• Word Count: 1410
• Approx Pages: 6
• Grade Level: High School

In John Updike's "A&P," Sammy a nineteen year old checker at a local grocery store meets three bathing beauties who inadvertently end up affecting his entire life. ... Updike suggests that adolescence is an impulsive age as well as a rite of passage into adult hood. ... Updike allows Sammy, the main character, to narrate, giving the reader insight to his personality and background. ... Updike's sexual descriptions allude to the thoughts of adolescent boys of this age group. ... Sammy indicates he is bored with his humdrum surroundings of the A&P. ...

• Word Count: 1283
• Approx Pages: 5
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

The story of "A & P", by John Updike, is about a nineteen-year-old, Sammy, that works as a checker in a grocery store. ... The story, of "A & P", is narrated in first person point of view, with the character, Sammy, depicted as a round and dynamic character. ... (Updike, 103). ... , (Updike, 99). ... We are all, in some aspects, similar to John Updike's main character, Sammy, in A & P. ...

• Word Count: 1342
• Approx Pages: 5
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

A&P "A & P by John Updike is a very descriptive and comical account of an adolescent's brief encounter with a group of three girls while working his daily shift. ... This makes it evident that working as an A&P cashier is not the most exciting of jobs. ... Updike contrasts them to the dull "checker-board green and cream-rubber-tile floor (469)."" ... And above that, the A&P is in the middle of the town. ... Updike again uses very funny but very true to life descriptions of where the girls emerge from around the store. ...

• Word Count: 1524
• Approx Pages: 6
• Grade Level: High School

In both stories, "A&P" by John Updike, and "Lust" by Susan Minot, the main characters are experiencing conflicted but transitional periods in their lives. Sammy, the main character in "A&P" has a happy, analytical and self-assured personality that will eventually help him quit his job. ... "I stood there with my hand on a box of HiHo crackers trying to remember if I rang it up or not" (Updike 606). ... Sammy realized the trouble he had caused himself, and now he would have plenty of time to think about his well-chosen decision of quitting his job at A&P as well as time to dream about "Queenie...

• Word Count: 1370
• Approx Pages: 5
• Grade Level: High School

Updike's "A & P" tells the story of a checkout boy, Sammy, who quits his job after his boss Mr. ... For example, Updike notes that as soon as the three girls appear in the A & P, the "sheep" -- Sammy's word for the run-of-the-mill customers who plod through the store, pushing their shopping carts, following their prescribed routes -- react to their presence with amazement; "You could see them, when Queenie's white shoulders dawned on them, kind of jerk, or hop, or hiccup, but their eyes snapped back to their own baskets and on they pushed." ... Lengel warns him that "You"ll fee...

• Word Count: 1947
• Approx Pages: 8
• Grade Level: High School

A Telephone Call by Dorothy Parker The lady in A Telephone Call has become depressed because God never shows himself to her. "Dear God please don't" The lady showing that she is afraid of God. "Are you punishing me God" The lady showing that she thinks God is angry with her. "God th...

• Word Count: 1718
• Approx Pages: 7
• Grade Level: High School