In addition, Norma frequently doesn't answer Leroy's questions but brings up other subjects.  For example, Mason shows Norma's lack of communication when she doesn't answer Leroy after he questions, "Am I still king around here?" (620). Instead of telling Leroy what she is feeling, Norma avoids telling her husband how it is.  

In addition, Norma frequently doesn't answer Leroy's questions but brings up other subjects.  For example, Mason shows Norma's lack of communication when she doesn't answer Leroy after he asks her, "Am I still king around here?" (620). Leroy is obviously feeling threatened ("still king" with a question mark), but instead of placating him, or telling what she is feeling, Norma avoids directly answering the question and instead tells him "I'm not fooling around with anyone" (620).  This avoidance can lead to problems because she adopts a defensive tone -- "I'm not" -- and in the process, brings up the idea of infidelity.  If Leroy hadn't been thinking about that, he certainly is now, and this distrust, along with the antagonism of her defensiveness, can lead to tensions in a relationships.  These are the kind of stresses that can tear a couple apart.

Thesis: John Updike's "A&P" is a critique of American society because of Sammy's negative view of the dominant tribe within A&P, his acquired sympathy for the girls, and his struggle against the majority.

Sammy's struggle begins with his poor image of the customers and workers of A&P. He often refers to the customers as "sheep" when he speaks of them as groups, an idea reinforces when Sammy notes "the sheep pushing their carts down the aisle- the girls were walking against the usual traffic (not that we have one-way signs or anything)- were pretty hilarious" (pg. 410, paragraph 5). One does not need to that example to know sheep all think alike and follow each other blindly. This "sheep" mentality is not limited to the customers. Acknowledging that he and his coworker Stokesie are similar (he's married with two babies chalked up on his fuselage already, but as far as I can tell that's the only difference" [pg. 411, paragraph 9]), he also scoffs at Stokesie's dream of someday becoming a manager. With that being said, it's no surprise Sammy's opinion of Lengel is not much better, using words such as "dreary and "gray" to describe him. His description of the sheep and his coworkers blend together to paint a lackluster, monotonous landscape within A&P; a cycle of predictability that Sammy does not fit.

Thesis:  John Updike's "A&P" illustrates a critique of 1960's through the narrator's negative view of the dominant tribe within A&P, his sympathy for the girls, and his struggle against the majority.

Sammy's place among the tribe of A&P allows him a negative view of his coworkers and customers. In the early 1960's, a young man of his age would have been expected to secure a job and marriage. Updike provides hints to Sammy's hesitation to follow said path through the strong contrast.  Stokesie serves as a glimpse into a possible future.  He is described by Sammy as "married with two babies chalked up in his fuselage already, but as far as I can tell that's the only difference. He's twenty-two and I was nineteen this April" (411). Despite their similarities, Sammy seems to view him as a chump because of his marital status, and scoffs at Stokesie's managerial aspirations, suggesting a lack of satisfaction in that possibility. Lengel, the store's manager, also provides an important contrast as the embodiment of traditional values. Painted as "pretty dreary, teaches Sunday school, and the rest" (412), Updike sculpts a figure that represents the humdrum results of the 9-5, the religious influence that permeated through 1960's America, and a suggestion that the whole package -- imagine the button-up shirt, the white picket fence, the meat loaf awaiting in the oven- comes vacuum-sealed within a simple series of choices (See Stokesie). 

However, most of Sammy's displeasure is concentrated on the customers of A&P whom he dubs "sheep." Being a member of the staff, coupled with his dislike of the day-to-day American lifestyle, gives him a vantage point where he observes their repetitious cycle of behavior in an almost comedic light: "the sheep pushing their carts down the aisle [ . . . ] were pretty hilarious [. . .]" (410).  To make their complacency clear, Sammy thinks "I bet you could set off dynamite in an A&P and the people would by and large keep reaching and checking oatmeal off their lists" (410-411). The derogatory connotations attached to the term "sheep" connects to people on auto-pilot, going mindlessly about their business. Sammy's attitude allows the reader to see not only the fallacies in this "dreary" lifestyle, but also how he is different from these people.

Explaining Quote Suggestions
Below you'll find a particular explanation technique listed in a bullet point with a reference to the sample paragraphs above as an illustrative example.

• Requoting words from the quote
• Example 1: "still king" and "I'm not" reinforce the ideas the writing is building towards.
• Example 2: note how the repetition of "dreary" in the last sentence of the second paragraph ties back to the first paragraph helping reinforce the connection between them and Lucia's argument.
• Repetition, repetition, repetition
  • Example 1: Words associated with lack of communication: "avoid," "avoidance," "antagonism."
  • Example 2: Words associated with negative view: "hesitation," "chump," "scoffs," "lack of satisfaction," "contrast," "humdrum," "sheep," "auto-pilot," "mindlessly."
• Having a bit of fun with descriptive words to give your writing a pulse
  • Example 1: "If Leroy hadn't been thinking about that, he certainly is now"; "the kind of stresses that can tear a couple apart."
  • Example 2: Where to start? "Tribe among the A&P"; "view him as a child"; "the whole package -- imagine the button up shirt, the white picket fence, the meatloaf in the oven  -- comes vacuum sealed."
• Talk out the connotation/symbolism of specific words
• Example 1: Give it a name ("lack of communication," "avoidance," "defensive") and explain how the words in the quote convey it.
• Example 2: Give it a name ("defensive," "traditional values," "said path") and explain how the words in the quote convey it.
• Describe how the imagery, tone of the quote/word creates meaning
• Example 1: Give it a name ("threatened," "placating") and explain how the story illustrates this point.
• Example 2: Give it a name ("chump" again, "simple series of choices") and explain how the imagery, tone, of a particular word or phrase from the story conveys it.
• Explain the psychology/motivation of a character
• Example 1: Label it ("defensive," "stresses") and explain how the quote illustrates this quality in the character.
• Example 2: Label it ("scoffs," "hesitation", "lack of satisfaction") and explain how the quote suggests this.
• Use an analogy to help readers understand what you're trying to say
• Example 2: "9-5," "white picket fence"
• "If . . . then" sentence patterns (see Example 1)
• What connections to historical events would deepen a reader's understanding of your argument?
• Example 2: "the religious influence that permeated through 1960s America"
• How could the definition of a specific word help readers' understand how it proves the point you're making?

To kick you into a sentence that uses one of the techniques listed above, try using a verb from the following list to shift into argument.

Sample sentences might follow these patterns: the blanks can be filled with "label" words -- avoidance, stress, threatened, pain,  -- that provide a descriptive term you can then define or explain.