A & P by John Updike

The author uses a casual style with the tone of a teenager.  He maintains the present tense.  
The A&P is Sammy's boring, uneventful world until these girls walk in.
The author is showing the difficulty of adolescence.  

• style
• irony
• literary device
• setting

-He quits his job to impress the girls but goes outside to find them gone.
Sammy is bored at first but gets his hopes up only to be disappointed in the end.  His tone does shift.
Overall Tone:  miserable (for Sammy) but humorous (for the reader).

• style
• irony
• literary devices
• setting

"Queen" represents a stereotype "queen bee" that Sammy would love to have.
"No sale tab" on the register represents his ultimate defeat which reinforces the theme.

• style
• irony
• literary devices
• setting

1st person
Author and Sammy do not withhold information from the reader.  Sammy shows his humor and slightly rebellious attitude.

• Suspense
• Irony
• Theme
• Point of View

Sammy vs. Himself
Sammy vs. Society
The one event is the girls coming into the store.
Unhappy and ambiguous

• Roles
• Purpose
• Conflicts
• Irony

Adolescents can often live in a "fantasy" until they experience a sudden revelation about their place in an unfair world.
A "coming of age" story in which the character hopefully learns a lesson and matures, a device often used in young adult fiction.

• Irony
• Suspense
• Point of View
• Theme

His "relationship" with Queenie.
He quits his job.

• irony
• protag/antag
• language
• suspense

Situational irony is used.  He quits his job to impress the girls but goes outside to find them gone.
Sammy is bored at first but gets his hopes up only to be disappointed in the end.  His tone does shift.  
Overall tone is miserable (for Sammy) but humorous (for the reader).

• True
• False

Sammy is dreamy, but Queenie is detached and in her own world.
She is in the story to reinforce his character and create conflict.  Stocks and Legel also add to his conflict.
Sammy learns a painful lesson, but does he change?  No.

• True
• False

Protagonist = Sammy
Antagonist = "Queenie and her friends"

• True
• False