Sample ENGL 104 Quote-Response Assignment

I really like the way John Updike’s wording in "A & P" captures the character of the first-person narrator. Updike writes in Sammy’s voice, "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. You could see them, when Queenie’s white shoulders dawned on them, kind of jerk, or hop, or hiccup, but their eyes snapped back to their own baskets and on they pushed" (Updike 16). The words that convey Sammy’s character are "sheep," the way he restates ideas like "or anything" and "kind of jerk, or hop, or hiccup." The sheep comment indicates that he separates himself from conventional housewives; he’s male, he’s younger, he sees girls as more attractive, and he would of course never do anything sheep-ish in terms of conforming to social norms. His restating also conveys his masculinity and youth. He is casual and irreverent. These qualities are why the girls impress him so much. In addition to being pretty or at least charismatic, they buck the system by doing the unexpected, coming in very casually dressed in bathing suits, and they seem to enjoy the attention they get. That’s the quality he admires most in himself, rebellion, and that’s the reason he decides to stick up for them by quitting. In the end, it’s his youth that has betrayed him because he doesn’t understand that society pressures adults to stay within the bounds of social norms. He can rebel and quit, but the world doesn’t have to admire his rebellion. As the ending of the story suggests, the world from then on was going to be difficult.