John Updike's A&P
John Updike’s "A&P" features a few moments in the life of a young man who works at a grocery store. He becomes enamored of three girls who walk into the store dressed in bathing suits. The protagonist Sammy, finds that his choices lead to sometimes disappointing consequences as he is faced with having to explain awkward circumstances to his parents. Updike develops this coming of age story using details as part of the exposition, rising action, crisis, climax, falling action, and resolution. The exposition begins in the first paragraph as the three girls walk into the store. Sammy is at his register checking out other customers when he notices the girls. "In walks three girls in nothing but bathing suits. I’m in the third checkout, with my back to the door, so I don’t see them until they’re over by the bread"(Updike 12). Updike provides details about Sammy’s interaction with the girls. These details humanize Sammy. The reader can readily identify with a youngster whose attention is diverted at work. "The story opens abruptly—‘In walks these three girls’—and maintains that vernacular, conversational, ungrammatical voice throughout its 250 lines"(Peck 3). The exposition occurs in the first few sentences and sets up a serie
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Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 1161
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)
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