...A&P Story and Character Analysis “…My stomach kind of fell as I felt how hard the world was going to be to me hereafter” (153). Unfortunately, many people can relate to this feeling after making a mistake or unintelligent decision. “A&P”, a short story, by John Updike tells of a brief yet problematic encounter in a local supermarket. The protagonist Sammy works as a cashier at the local A&P just north of Boston. After the incident when his boss embarrassed a group of young girls in the store, he impulsively decides he wants to quit as an act of heroism for the young embarrassed girls. Because he was distracted, he made an irrational decision that affected him and the people around him negatively. In “A&P”, Updike communicates the theme of thinking...
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...HOW TO WRITE A LITERARY ANALYSIS ESSAY The purpose of a literary analysis essay is to carefully examine and sometimes evaluate a work of literature or an aspect of a work of literature. As with any analysis, this requires you to break the subject down into its component parts. Examining the different elements of a piece of literature is not an end in itself but rather a process to help you better appreciate and understand the work of literature as a whole. For instance, an analysis of a poem might deal with the different types of images in a poem or with the relationship between the form and content of the work. If you were to analyze (discuss and explain) a play, you might analyze the relationship between a subplot and the main plot, or you might analyze the character flaw of the tragic hero by tracing how it is revealed through the acts of the play. Analyzing a short story might include identifying a particular theme (like the difficulty of making the transition from adolescence to adulthood) and showing how the writer suggests that theme through the point of view from which the story is told; or you might also explain how the main character‟s attitude toward women is revealed through his dialogue and/or actions. REMEMBER: Writing is the sharpened, focused expression of thought and study. As you develop your writing skills, you will also improve your perceptions and increase your critical abilities. Writing ultimately boils down to the development of an idea....
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...Sammy, is a 19-year-old working as a cashier at an A&P. The theme becomes very obvious from the very beginning of the story. Sammy thinks that most people that he sees in his store are “sheep” (“A&P – John Updike”). To Sammy, everyone is the same; boring and lacking character, “The sheep pushing their charts down the aisle…” (“A&P – John Updike”). It is apparent that he is anxious to get out of the mold that he has been stuck in, but he doesn’t know how until the opportunity is presented to him. The opportunity finally presents itself when Sammy stops daydreaming and actually breaks free from the conventions of society when he meets Queenie. By quitting his job, Sammy experiences what it means to be free from the social norm (“SparkNotes: A7P:...
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...Comparison Essay ENG 102 Online “Cathedral” by Raymond Carver versus “A + P” by John Updike In the short stories “Cathedral” by Raymond Carver and “A + P” by John Updike the protagonists experience an epiphany that change their restricted way of thinking. The main character, “Sammy” in John Updike’s, “A + P” is a teenage boy working in the town grocery store. Sammy experiences an epiphany when he decides to quit his job at the grocery store. He quit because he believed that it was wrong of his boss to treat customers poorly due to any pre-conceived notion that was determined by what the customer looks like. Raymond Carver’s main character named “the husband” in his story “Cathedral” experiences an epiphany when he realizes he has wrongly stereotyped, a visiting friend of his wife’s named “Robert” because he blind. The theme of both of the stories, “Cathedral” and “A+P” is that the main characters are influenced and motivated by other individuals within the story to change their close-minded thinking. In “Cathedral” the character Robert, served as the husband’s motivation for change when he comes to stay with the husband and his wife. The three teenage girls in “A + P”, serve as the motivation to change Sammy’s way of thinking when they enter the grocery store dressed risqué to the grocery store’s standards. Raymond Carver portrayed the husband in “Cathedral” as a cynical person from the beginning of the story. The husband’s wife enjoyed sharing her feelings and thoughts through...
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...Short Story – Cultural Analysis Group Names: __________________________________ Unhappily Ever After – Fractured Fairy Tales __________________________________ __________________________________ “A & P” by John Updike (1961) 1. Describe the narrator’s (Sammy’s) attitude toward women. List the words he uses to describe the young women. Then list the words he uses to describe the older women. * Young Women: * Words/Phrases: * Attitude: * Older Women: * Words/Phrases: * Attitude: 2. Describe the narrator’s (Sammy’s) attitude toward his job. List the words he uses to describe the store, Stokesie, and Lengel. * Store: * Stokesie: * Lengel: * Attitude: 3. Do you like the narrator or not? Explain. 4. Do you think the girls meant to cause trouble by entering the A & P in their swimsuits? What evidence is there to support your opinion? 5. Towards the end of the story Sammy quits his job. What statement is he trying to make? Does he succeed? 6. In the last line of the story Sammy says he now knows that the world will be hard for him from that point forward. Do you think he’s right about his unhappily ever after? What does he realize about the world of 1961 that makes him come to this conclusion? Short Story – Cultural Analysis Group Names: __________________________________ Unhappily Ever After – Fractured Fairy Tales __________________________________ ...
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...deviating from the norm? The short story “A&P” by John Updike takes place within a grocery store with plots depicting different themes, such as innocence and irony. The average reader will be stunned by the unusual break in tradition, as well as the ending with a twist. Sammy, the story’s main character and narrator, is represented as one who does not understand his own troubled life. He also despises others, who in so many words live a life of follow the leader. Ultimately, Sammy quits his job in protest of the unfair treatment of three girls, who have presumably violated the store’s dress code policy. It appears that this is an example where society is being too rigid and insensitive to the changing trends that our younger generations are ready to explore. Three young girls wearing bathing suits into a small town grocery store really caused a commotion amongst the store’s...
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...English 112 28 March 2012 A & P: An Analysis of the Character “Sammy” As people age, maturity and wisdom is gained through every experience. From the time a child turns eighteen and becomes an adult, they are required to deal with the realities of the real world and learn how to handle its responsibilities. In John Updike’s short story “A&P” the protagonist Sammy is a young man in 1961 New England who works in the town’s local grocery store. In a matter of a day, Updike goes from an immature boy with unrealistic ideas and fantasies, to a man who is about to realize how life altering the choices he makes can be. Sammy realizes that life isn’t always fair and that sometimes it involves the consequences that life can deal to anyone who has not had time to test a rash decision. Updike’s story illustrates that a part of growing up is a willingness to accept consequences of one’s choices, and that life's hardest lessons are sometimes learned a little too late. This story represents a coming-of-age for Sammy, as seen through his evaluations of the costumers as the story develops. Though it takes place over the period of a few minutes, it represents a much larger process of Sammy’s growth. From the time the girls enter the grocery store, to the moment they leave, you can see changes in Sammy. At first, he only notices the physical appearance of the girls: how they look and what they are wearing, seem to be his only thoughts. As the story progresses, he notices the interactions...
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...Character Analysis Sammy Text “A&P” by John Updike In the story of “A&P” by John Updike Sammy is the narrator. He is a nineteen year old young man who portrays a normal teenager by having a summer job like most teenagers do. He had a common summer job at a grocery store. He held the position as a cashier throughout the story until he ended up having a dynamic change. Throughout most of the story his actions would be considered assertive to most readers. He is very particular with every detail of all of the other characters in the story. He does with go a dynamic change from the beginning to the end of the story by becoming a very sympathetic character. The narrator early on in the story shows how he is able to see every little detail about the other characters in the story. He looks at each character in the story and almost examines what he feels they are going through in his or her life. He becomes quite interested when three girls walk in at “A&P”. He is immediately very drawn to their appearance, “They didn't even have shoes on. There was this chunky one with the two-piece-- it was bright green and the seems on the bra was still sharp and her belly was still pretty pale so I guessed she just got it (the suit)--there was this one, with one of those chubby berry-faces, the lips all bunched together under her nose, this one, and a tall one, with black hair that hadn't quite frizzed right, and one of these sunburns right across under the eyes, and a chin that was...
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...the encompassed perspectives of societal detrimental issues that indicates the need for improvement, as pointed out by Mennell (p. 2). I have to acknowledge these sources for laying a foundation that proved the societal view and responses towards creation of possible change through literacy basics in their perspective community based activities. Social and political class play critical role in shaping people’s life whereby in sometimes they can be destructive rather than constructive in the societies. The view of human nature as a basic reality received in diverse perspectives indicates the need for substantive measures in taking people’s consideration when the moral basics are involved. Formulation of substantial laws to provide governance prospects are areas that many of the authors relied on in this study have proved to require substantive corrections to guide the people who seem to encounter the hardships of accepting others, particularly with the illusive approaches on society well-being. In most cases, as seen in this study, the ones who do not like changes of accommodating everyone regardless of their race, gender, and social class may practice the detrimental activities, which lead to the victims undergoing critical moments of isolation. This leads can finally lead to unworthy circumstances and find people with restless lifestyles (Corlett, p. 8). Taunting Encompasses of American Relations to Immigrants...
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...Stylistic Analysis of ‘Everyone Worth Knowing’ NAME: April King STU ID: 1200015542 PHONE: 13******* EMAIL: 18********@QQ.COM Contents 1. Plot summary 3 2. book review 3 3. stylistic analysis 5 3.1 narrative technique 5 3.2 lexical level analysis 5 3.2.1 Extreme words and exaggerating words 3.2.2 Standard, common and concrete words 3.2.3 mind words 3.3 Semantic (or rhetorical) Analysis 5 3.3.1 Parallelism 3.3.2 contrast 3.3.3 repetition 3.3.4 paradox 3.3.5 irony 3.3.6 simile 3.3.7 synaesthesia 3.3.8 climax 3.3.8 imagery 3.4 syntactical 7 3.5 textual level analysis 7 3.5.1 writing techniques 3.5.1.1 fdt (Stream of conciousness) 3.5.1.2 fds and ds 3.5.1.3 Direct Characterization and Indirect Characterization 3.5.1.4 internal conflict 3.5.1.5 change of literary form 3.5.2 paragraph level analysis 4. referrence 9 Like The Devil Wears Prada, Everyone Worth Knowing is essentially a morality play in which an unglamorous young single woman is suddenly thrust into a glamorous New...
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...O’Connor in “A Good Man is Hard to Find” addresses this and draws a parallel to the modern moral dilemma of what it takes to be saved. Written in 1953 and based upon her Roman Catholicism roots, O’Connor conveys how each family member gracefully accepts the previous generation’s quirkiness and cynicism to maintain family unit. Although the younger generations do not respect older ones as much as their parents, her stories have characters that convey her message of religious distrust through each character’s deceptive actions and secular thoughts. Similarly, most of O’Connor’s stories make reference to the good and bad by such subtleness as creatively naming the kids after an outlaw and a founder of a major religion. By such obscurity, she wants to draw a parallel between the true believer and the hypocrites that appear to be religious in actions (May). Like a mirror’s reflection, O’Connor’s story contains several undertones of grace in how the characters are developed in the story. From the grandmother to the Misfit, there is a “forewarning of mortal death in the story as the family travels on their last trip before meeting the Misfit that carries out the heinous crime of killing the family” (Pence). Each object and person represents each side of the moral equation. Since each event draws the family and reader closer to the final demise, O’Connor portrays the juxtaposition between the religious fraudulence, personal redemption and Christian salvation. Written in 1953, Flannery...
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...International Relations Theory The new edition of International Relations Theory: A critical introduction introduces students to the main theories in international relations. It explains and analyzes each theory, allowing students to understand and critically engage with the myths and assumptions behind each theory. Key features of this textbook include: • discussion of all of the main theories: realism and (neo)realism, idealism and (neo)idealism, liberalism, constructivism, postmodernism, gender, and globalization two new chapters on the “clash of civilizations” and Hardt and Negri’s Empire innovative use of narratives from films that students will be familiar with: Lord of the Flies, Independence Day, Wag the Dog, Fatal Attraction, The Truman Show, East is East, and Memento an accessible and exciting writing style which is well-illustrated with boxed key concepts and guides to further reading. • • • This breakthrough textbook has been designed to unravel the complexities of international relations theory in a way that allows students a clearer idea of how the theories work and the myths that are associated with them. Cynthia Weber is Professor of International Studies at the University of Lancaster. She is the author of several books and numerous articles in the field of international relations. International Relations Theory A critical introduction Second edition Cynthia Weber First published 2001 by Routledge Second edition published 2005 by Routledge...
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...Education of Artists: Art and Story CONTENTS SECTION ONE: Marcel’s Studio Visit with Elstir……………………………………………………….. David Carrier SECTION TWO: Film and Video Narrative Brief Narrative on Film-The Case of John Updike……………………………………. Thomas P. Adler With a Pen of Light …………………………………………………………………… Michael Fink Media and the Message: Does Media Shape or Serve the Story: Visual Storytelling and New Media ……………………………………………………. June Bisantz Evans Visual Literacy: The Language of Cultural Signifiers…………………………………. Tammy Knipp SECTION THREE: Narrative and Fine Art Beyond Illustration: Visual Narrative Strategies in Picasso’s Celestina Prints………… Susan J. Baker and William Novak Narrative, Allegory, and Commentary in Emil Nolde’s Legend: St. Mary of Egypt…… William B. Sieger A Narrative of Belonging: The Art of Beauford Delaney and Glenn Ligon…………… Catherine St. John Art and Narrative Under the Third Reich ……………………………………………… Ashley Labrie 28 15 1 22 25 27 36 43 51 Hopper Stories in an Imaginary Museum……………………………………………. Joseph Stanton SECTION FOUR: Photography and Narrative Black & White: Two Worlds/Two Distinct Stories……………………………………….. Elaine A. King Relinquishing His Own Story: Abandonment and Appropriation in the Edward Weston Narrative………………………………………………………………………….. David Peeler Narrative Stretegies in the Worlds of Jean Le Gac and Sophe Calle…………………….. Stefanie Rentsch SECTION FIVE: Memory Does The History of Western Art Tell a Grand Story?…………………………………… Eugene E. Selk...
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...1 { { { Management Communication in Transition This book will argue that management communication is the central skill in the global workplace of the twenty-first century. An understanding of language and its inherent powers, combined with the skill to speak, write, listen, and form interpersonal relationships, will determine whether you will succeed as a manager. At the midpoint of the twentieth century, management philosopher Peter Drucker wrote, “Managers have to learn to know language, to understand what words are and what they mean. Perhaps most important, they have to acquire respect for language as [our] most precious gift and heritage. The manager must understand the meaning of the old definition of rhetoric as ‘the art which draws men’s hearts to the love of true knowledge.’”1 Later in the twentieth century, Harvard Business School professors Robert Eccles and Nitin Nohria reframed Drucker’s view to offer a perspective of management that few others have seen. “To see management in its proper light,” they write, “managers need first to take language seriously.”2 In particular, they argue, a coherent view of management must focus on three issues: the use of rhetoric to achieve a manager’s goals, the shaping of a managerial identity, and taking action to achieve the goals of the organizations that employ us. Above all, they say, “the essence of what management is all about [is] the effective use of language to get things done.”3 The job of becoming a competent, effective...
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...Carolina at Chapel Hill in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of a master’s from the School of Journalism & Mass Communication Chapel Hill 2010 Approved by: Dr. Lois Boynton Dr. Patricia Parker Dr. Dulcie Straughan H TE D FIGHTING THE SOCIAL MEDIA WILDFIRE: HOW CRISIS COMMUNICATION MUST ADAPT TO PREVENT FROM FANNING THE FLAMES CO PY Copyright © 2010 Allison R. Soule ALL RIGHTS RESERVED ii RI G H TE D ABSTRACT Allison R. Soule: Fighting the Social Media Wildfire: How Crisis Communication Must Adapt to Prevent from Fanning the Flames (Under the direction of Dr. Lois Boynton) When a nine-month correspondence seeking reparations for musical instruments damaged by United Airlines employees stalemated, Canadian musician Dave Carroll took action online. Utilizing the video-sharing Web site YouTube, Carroll narrated his ordeal went viral generating a torrent of negative YouTube comments about United, commentary from the mainstream media, and more than 3 million views the first week of its launch. United Breaks Guitars embodies the new phenomenon of a social media wildfire in which the rapid proliferation of information through social media causes severe reputational damage to organizations whose crisis communication plans are ill equipped to handle online dilemmas. CO iii PY Using symbolic interactionist theory, this case analysis explores the phenomenon in detail and provides suggestions for how organizations must re-evaluate...
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