Explain how artfully Updike arranges details to set the story in a perfectly ordinary supermarket.

2. Respond with higher-order critical thinking to the following prompts about “A & P” by John Updike.

Notice
how artfully Updike arranges details to set the story in a perfectly
ordinary supermarket. What details stand out for you as particularly
true to life? What does this close attention to detail contribute to the
story?
How
fully does Updike draw the character of Sammy? What traits (admirable
or otherwise) does Sammy show? Is he any less a hero for wanting the
girls to notice his heroism?
What
part of the story seems to be the exposition? Of what value to the
story is the carefully detailed portrait of Queenie, the leader of the
three girls?
Where
in “A & P” does the dramatic conflict become apparent? What moment
in the story brings the crisis? What is the climax of the story?
Why, exactly, does Sammy quit his job?
Does anything lead you to expect
Sammy to make some gesture of sympathy for the three girls? What
incident earlier in the story (before Sammy quits) seems a
foreshadowing?
What
do you understand from the conclusion of the story? What does Sammy
mean when he acknowledges “how hard the world was going to
be…hereafter?”
What comment does Updike—through Sammy—make on supermarket society?
*NO LIMIT ON WORD COUNT. AS LONG AS ALL QUESTIONS ARE ANSWERED*

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