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). Instead of telling Leroy 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, 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" 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).  

Explaining Quote Suggestions
Explain how quote is connected to the topic sentence -- focus on the language used: consider the following

• Repetition, repetition, repetition
  • Words associated with negative view: "hesitation," "chump," "scoffs," "lack of satisfaction," "contrast," "humdrum."
• Having a bit of fun with descriptive words to give your writing a pulse
  • 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"
• What's the connotation/symbolism of specific words? 
• Give it a name ("traditional values," "said path") and explain how the word/s conveys it.
• How does the imagery, tone of the quote/word create meaning?
• Give it a name ("chump" again, "simple series of choices") and explain how the imagery, tone, etc. conveys it.
• What's the psychology/motivation of a character?
• Give it a name ("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
• "9-5," "white picket fence"
• "If . . . then" sentence patterns
• What connections to historical events would deepen a reader's understanding of your argument?
• "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