SENIORS: Classwork October 13
Go to StudyWiz to get a file that contains the entire text of A & P along with (5) questions that you must answer. You may work with the person sitting next to you.
Post your answers below as comments before the end of class today.
If you finish, you may work on your homework that is posted at Schoolsville.
posted by JTF @ 9:49 AM
16 comments
16 Comments:
1. “She was a chunky kid, with a good tan and a sweet broad soft-looking can with those two crescents of white just under it, where the sun never seems to hit, at the top of the backs of her legs. I stood there with my hand on a box of HiHo crackers trying to remember if I rang it up or not.”
“this clean bare plane of the top of her chest down from the shoulder bones like a dented sheet of metal tilted in the light. I mean, it was more than pretty.”
“She must have felt in the corner of her eye me and over my shoulder Stokesie in the second slot watching, but she didn't tip.”
“The fat one with the tan sort of fumbled with the cookies, but on second thought she put the packages back. 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.”
2. “He pointed, they pointed, and they shuffled out of sight behind a pyramid of Diet Delight peaches.”
“After a while they come around out of the far aisle, around the light bulbs, records at discount of the Caribbean Six or Tony Martin Sings or some such gunk you wonder they waste the wax on, sixpacks of candy bars, and plastic toys done up in cellophane that faIl apart when a kid looks at them anyway.”
“I go through the punches, 4, 9, GROC, TOT -- it's more complicated than you think, and after you do it often enough, it begins to make a little song, that you hear words to, in my case "Hello (bing) there, you (gung) hap-py pee-pul (splat)"-the splat being the drawer flying out.”
“I uncrease the bill, tenderly as you may imagine, it just having come from between the two smoothest scoops of vanilla I had ever known were there, and pass a half and a penny into her narrow pink palm, and nestle the herrings in a bag and twist its neck and hand it over, all the time thinking.”
3. “…and I know it made her day to trip me up.”
“But there was no doubt, this jiggled them”
“A few house-slaves in pin curlers even looked around after pushing their carts past to make sure what they had seen was correct.”
“over they get lemonade and if it's a real racy affair Schlitz in tall glasses with "They'll Do It Every Time" cartoons stencilled on.”
4. He might realize that it was silly for him to quit his job over something so trivial. The humor of the last paragraph is that he tried to be a hero and the girls weren’t even there when he left.
5. The first part is when he is at the cash register and he zoned out while watching the girls and he forgot if he had already rung something up. This is pretty realisitic because we have all done something like this before where we get so distracted and forgot what we had just done. The second part is when he is watching the girls walk around the store. It’s very descriptive and it seems very realistic how the girls travel. The last part is how Lengel handles the situation seems like how most managers would handle something like that in their store. He was very calm and he never insulted the girls.
1.)"You never know for sure how girls' minds work (do you really think it's a mind or just a little buzz like a bee in a glass jar?)
"I stood there with my hand on a box of HiHo crackers trying to remember if I rang it up or not. I ring it up again and the customer starts giving me hell."
"you know, the kind of girl other girls think is very "striking" and "attractive" but never quite makes it, as they very well know, which is why they like her so much"
"She had sort of oaky hair that the sun and salt had bleached, done up in a bun that was unravelling, and a kind of prim face. Walking into the A & P with your straps down, I suppose it's the only kind of face you can have."
2.)all three of them went up the cat-and-dog-food-breakfast-cereal-macaroni-rice-raisins-seasonings-spreads-spaghetti-soft drinks- crackers-and- cookies aisle.
The store's pretty empty, it being Thursday afternoon, so there was nothing much to do except lean on the register and wait for the girls to show up again.
Lengel comes in from haggling with a truck full of cabbages on the lot and is about to scuttle into that door marked MANAGER behind which he hides all day.
1.)"You never know for sure how girls' minds work (do you really think it's a mind or just a little buzz like a bee in a glass jar?)
"I stood there with my hand on a box of HiHo crackers trying to remember if I rang it up or not. I ring it up again and the customer starts giving me hell."
"you know, the kind of girl other girls think is very "striking" and "attractive" but never quite makes it, as they very well know, which is why they like her so much"
"She had sort of oaky hair that the sun and salt had bleached, done up in a bun that was unravelling, and a kind of prim face. Walking into the A & P with your straps down, I suppose it's the only kind of face you can have."
2.)all three of them went up the cat-and-dog-food-breakfast-cereal-macaroni-rice-raisins-seasonings-spreads-spaghetti-soft drinks- crackers-and- cookies aisle.
The store's pretty empty, it being Thursday afternoon, so there was nothing much to do except lean on the register and wait for the girls to show up again.
Lengel comes in from haggling with a truck full of cabbages on the lot and is about to scuttle into that door marked MANAGER behind which he hides all day.
1.
a)"The girls, and who'd blame them, are in a hurry to get out, so I say "I quit" to Lengel quick enough for them to hear, hoping they'll stop and watch me.."
When Sammy says this it shows that he is a girl watcher who has not done much dating. He is willing to quit his job for a few girls who did not even notice him in the slightest bit. He did not even know these girls, but he quit for them. The whole story he is watching them, and describing everything about them.
b) "You never know for sure how girls' minds work"
This shows that he is a girl watcher and probably has never had a date because it shows he has no experience with girls and do not know at all how they think.
c)"With the straps pushed off, there was nothing between the top of the suit and the top of her head except just her, this clean bare plane of the top of her chest down from the shoulder bones like a dented sheet of metal tilted in the light. I mean, it was more than pretty."
This quote shows that Sammy watches all the girls, and talks about every aspect of each girl.
d)"You know, it's one thing to have a girl in a bathing suit down on the beach, where what with the glare nobody can look at each other much anyway, and another thing in the cool of the A & P, under the fluorescent lights, against all those stacked packages, with her feet paddling along naked over our checkerboard green-and-cream rubber-tile floor."
2.
a) “. I stood there with my hand on a box of HiHo crackers trying to remember if I rang it up or not. I ring it up again and the customer starts giving me hell.”
He is pretty efficient and rings up the crackers just to make sure he did it.
b)“The store's pretty empty, it being Thursday afternoon, so there was nothing much to do except lean on the register and wait for the girls to show up again.”
This shows that Sammy knows the A&P is usually empty on a Thursday afternoon.
c) “Queenie puts down the jar and I take it into my fingers icy cold. Kingfish Fancy Herring Snacks in Pure Sour Cream: 49¢.”
He knows the price of the Kingfish Fancy Herring Snacks in Pure Sour Cream.
d) “What he meant was, our town is five miles from a beach, with a big summer colony out on the Point, but we're right in the middle of town, and the women generally put on a shirt or shorts or something before they get out of the car into the street.”
Sammy knows the distance from his work to the beach, and what women usually come in wearing.
3.
a) “She had on a kind of dirty-pink - - beige maybe, I don't know -- bathing suit with a little nubble all over it and, what got me, the straps were down.”
Sammy uses the word nubble a lot, which is a slang word from the 60s’.
b) “The fat one with the tan sort of fumbled with the cookies”
He uses the word fumbled.
c) “Lengel comes in from haggling with a truck full of cabbages on the lot”
Haggling is a word from the 60s’.
d) “and is about to scuttle into that door marked MANAGER behind which he hides all day when the girls touch his eye”
Scuttle is also a word from the 60s’.
1.Carl D Yellow Being an Eagles fan is like playing the lottery
2.Daniel L Blue Life is like mathematics
3.John L Blue Family is like a deck of cards
1. Note at least four of Sammy’s comments that show he is somewhat of a “girl-watcher” who probably hasn’t done much “dating.”
1) There was this chunky one, with the two-piece -- it was bright green and the seams on the bra were still sharp and her belly was still pretty pale so I guessed she just got it (the suit).
2) there was this one, with one of those chubby berry-faces, the lips all bunched together under her nose, this one, and a tall one, with black hair that hadn't quite frizzed right, and one of these sunburns right across under the eyes, and a chin that was too long.
3) The longer her neck was, the more of her there was.
4) From the third slot I look straight up this aisle to the meat counter, and I watched them all the way
2. Note at least four of Sammy’s comments that reveal he is pretty efficient with his job.
1) ..and they all three of them went up the cat-and-dog-food-breakfast-cereal-macaroni-rice-raisins-seasonings-spreads-spaghetti-soft drinks- crackers-and- cookies aisle.
2) I go through the punches, 4, 9, GROC, TOT…
3) the girls were walking against the usual traffic (not that we have one-way signs or anything)
4) …and the people would by and large keep reaching and checking oatmeal off their lists and muttering "Let me see, there was a third thing, began with A, asparagus, no, ah, yes, applesauce!" or whatever it is they do mutter
3. Note at least four of Sammy’s comments that show a comical use of teenage slang of the 60s.
1) how he calls one of the girls “Queenie” because she was leading the other two.
2) The way he describes the girls. Some of the comments he makes are humorous.
3) The longer her neck was, the more of her there was.
4) When he talks about how it is okay for someone to wear a bathing suit on the beach but it’s a different story wearing a bathing suit in the store.
4. Re-read the final paragraph. This story was written in subjective narration, a short time after the incident took place, so Sammy has not become “detached” just yet. How might he feel differently years later looking back? Explain then the humor of the last paragraph.
If this story was told in a detached autobiography style the story would be different because there would not be as much details in how he explained to way the girls looked. If he was looking back on this event, he might have regretted quitting that job right then and there. In the last paragraph Sammy realizes how hard life without a job is going to be.
5. What parts (at least three) of the story seem especially “true-to-life?” This quality is known as verisimilitude. Explain your answers.
One part of the story that seems so true to life is the old lady from the first paragraph who watches every move that Sammy makes as he is ringing up her items. This happens all the time in grocery stores. You always seem to get stuck behind someone who has to find at least one thing wrong with how his or her items were rung up.
Another part of the story that seem real to life is the character of Sammy. Sammy is just a normal teenager that has a job in the grocery store to make some extra money. He is probably right out of high school and trying to figure out what he wants to do with his life.
Another part of the story that seems real is when the girls get reprimanded for being in the store with just bathing suits on. Today most stores require shoes and shirts to get service in return.
1. – “She kept her eyes moving across the racks, and stopped, and turned so slow it made my stomach rub the inside of my apron”
- “You know, it's one thing to have a girl in a bathing suit down on the beach, where what with the glare nobody can look at each other much anyway, and another thing in the cool of the A & P, under the fluorescent lights, against all those stacked packages, with her feet paddling along naked over our checkerboard green-and-cream rubber-tile floor. “
- “She didn't look around, not this queen, she just walked straight on slowly, on these long white prima donna legs.”
- “The store's pretty empty, it being Thursday afternoon, so there was nothing much to do except lean on the register and wait for the girls to show up again.”
2. – “who kind of huddled against her for relief, and they all three of them went up the cat-and-dog-food-breakfast-cereal-macaroni-rice-raisins-seasonings-spreads-spaghetti-soft drinks- crackers-and- cookies aisle.”
- “After a while they come around out of the far aisle, around the light bulbs, records at discount of the Caribbean Six or Tony Martin Sings or some such gunk you wonder they waste the wax on, sixpacks of candy bars, and plastic toys done up in cellophane that faIl apart when a kid looks at them anyway”
- “Kingfish Fancy Herring Snacks in Pure Sour Cream: 49¢.”
- “I go through the punches, 4, 9, GROC, TOT -- it's more complicated than you think, and after you do it often enough, it begins to make a little song, that you hear words to, in my case "Hello (bing) there, you (gung) hap-py pee-pul (splat)"-the splat being the drawer flying out.”
3. -“She was a chunky kid, with a good tan and a sweet broad soft-looking can with those two crescents of white just under it”
- “By the time I got her feathers smoothed and her goodies into a bag”
-"Oh Daddy," Stokesie said beside me. "I feel so faint." "Darling," I said. "Hold me tight."
- “And anyway these are usually women with six children and varicose veins mapping their legs and nobody, including them, could care less.”
4. He’s going to regret giving up his job just to impress the girls because the girls weren’t even phased by it. They were gone before he could make a move. The humor is that he thought things would work out for him, but in reality they just got worse.
5. - “But it seems to me that once you begin a gesture it's fatal not to go through with it.” : if you’re trying to make a statement its not good to back down while trying to prove a point
- When he talks about the customer giving him hell, this is true to life because I know having a job certain customers are very demanding and want everything done correctly and quickly, especially with teenagers
- "Sammy, you don't want to do this to your Mom and Dad," the decisions kids make also effect their parents because we live with them and under their rules.
1. "By the time I got her feathers smoothed and her goodies into a bag- she gives me a little snort in passing, if she'd been born at the right time they would have burned her over in Salem."
"She didn't look around, not this queen, she just walked straight on slowly, on these long white prima donna legs."
"This clean bare plane of the top of her chest down from the shoulder bones like a dented sheet of metal tilted in the light. I mean, it was more than pretty.
"You know, It's one thing to have a girl in a bathing suit down on the beach, where what with the glare nobody can look at each other much anyway, and another thing in the cool of the A and P"
2. "he pointed, they pointed, adn they shuffled out of sight behind a pyramid of Diet Delight peaches."
" After a while they come around out of the far aisle, around the light bulbs, records at discount of teh caribbean Six or Tony Martin Sings or some such gunk you wonder they waste the wax on,"
" I go through the punches, 4, 9, Groc, Tot-it's more complicated than you think.
"All three of them went up the cat and dog food breakfast cereal macaroni rice raisins seasonings spreads spaghetti soft drinks crackers and cookies aisle."
1. Note at least four of Sammy’s comments that show he is somewhat of a “girl-watcher” who probably hasn’t done much “dating.”
“She was a chunky kid, with a good tan”
“There was this chunky one, with the two-piece”
“there was this one, with one of those chubby berry-faces, the lips all bunched together under her nose”
“and a tall one, with black hair that hadn't quite frizzed right,”
“you know, the kind of girl other girls think is very "striking" and "attractive" but never quite makes it, as they very well know, which is why they like her so much”
2. Note at least four of Sammy’s comments that reveal he is pretty efficient with his job.
“I go through the punches, 4, 9, GROC, TOT -- it's more complicated than you think”
“it's more complicated than you think, and after you do it often enough, it begins to make a little song”
“and nestle the herrings in a bag and twist its neck and hand it over”
“I pull the bow at the back of my apron and start shrugging it off my shoulders”
3. Note at least four of Sammy’s comments that show a comical use of teenage slang of the 60s.
“I started to say something that came out "Fiddle-de-doo." It's a saying of my grand- mother's, and I know she would have been pleased. “
“…Queenie and Plaid and Big Tall Goony-Goony…”
“you wonder they waste the wax on, sixpacks of candy bars”
“or some such gunk”
4. Re-read the final paragraph. This story was written in subjective narration, a short time after the incident took place, so Sammy has not become “detached” just yet. How might he feel differently years later looking back? Explain then the humor of the last paragraph.
Years later, Sammy might feel like that was a stupid thing to do. Quitting his job just because of a couple girls that he will most likely never see again is not a very good idea. He will probably realize that making money is a lot more important than girls in the long run when he has no money to buy things or go places with. The humor of the last paragraph is that the girls that Sammy had just quit his jobs for weren’t even there anymore. Also he gets a bad feeling in his stomach because he knows that he did the wrong thing.
5. What parts (at least three) of the story seem especially “true-to-life?” This quality is known as verisimilitude. Explain your answers.
One part of the story that was “true-to-life” was Sammy. You can
1.
a. “She was a chunky kid, with a good tan and a sweet broad soft-looking can with those two crescents of white just under it, where the sun never seems to hit, at the top of the backs of her legs. I stood there with my hand on a box of HiHo crackers trying to remember if I rang it up or not.”
b. “She was the queen. She kind of led them, the other two peeking around and making their shoulders round. She didn't look around, not this queen, she just walked straight on slowly, on these long white prima donna legs.”
c. “She had sort of oaky hair that the sun and salt had bleached, done up in a bun that was unravelling, and a kind of prim face. Walking into the A & P with your straps down, I suppose it's the only kind of face you can have.”
d. “With the straps pushed off, there was nothing between the top of the suit and the top of her head except just her, this clean bare plane of the top of her chest down from the shoulder bones like a dented sheet of metal tilted in the light. I mean, it was more than pretty.”
2.
a. “…all three of them went up the cat-and-dog-food-breakfast-cereal-macaroni-rice-raisins-seasonings-spreads-spaghetti-soft drinks- crackers-and- cookies aisle.”
b. “I go through the punches, 4, 9, GROC, TOT -- it's more complicated than you think, and after you do it often enough, it begins to make a little song, that you hear words to, in my case "Hello (bing) there, you (gung) hap-py pee-pul (splat)"-the splat being the drawer flying out.”
c. “After a while they come around out of the far aisle, around the light bulbs, records at discount of the Caribbean Six or Tony Martin Sings or some such gunk you wonder they waste the wax on, sixpacks of candy bars, and plastic toys done up in cellophane that faIl apart when a kid looks at them anyway.”
d. “Kingfish Fancy Herring Snacks in Pure Sour Cream: 49¢.”
3.
a. "Oh Daddy," Stokesie said beside me. "I feel so faint."
b. "Darling," I said. "Hold me tight."
c. “There was this chunky one, with the two-piece” “She was a chunky kid”
d. “…a place from which the crowd that runs the A & P must look pretty crummy.”
4. If Sammy was looking back on this event today, he may have thought he was an idiot for leaving a job that could have become his career over some stupid incident involving girls he thought were attractive. He would have had more time to reflect on what he did and would have though “why did I do that?” It’s humorous because Sammy probably thought he was going to get the girls’ attention by walking out on the job but he didn’t, and his job was replaced within minutes.
5.
a. The kids screaming at his mom getting into the car is very true to life because I know that my mom watches cashiers very intently when they are ringing up her groceries because she is one of those moms that belongs on Extreme Couponing, and I could see how on both end that the customer and the employee would get frustrated.
b. The witch watching the cashier is true-to-life because i know my mom does that especially because she belongs on one of those extreme couponing shows.
c. Sammy is an every-day guy who is very true-to-life.
1.) “She was a chunky kid, with a good tan and a sweet broad soft-looking can with those two crescents of white just under it, where the sun never seems to hit, at the top of the backs of her legs.”
“I stood there with my hand on a box of HiHo crackers trying to remember if I rang it up or not”
“You never know for sure how girls' minds work (do you really think it's a mind in there or just a little buzz like a bee in a glassjar?)”
“With the straps pushed off, there was nothing between the top of the suit and the top of her head except just her, this clean bare plane of the top of her chest down from the shoulder bones like a dented sheet of metal tilted in the light. I mean, it was more than pretty.”
2.) “and they all three of them went up the cat-and-dog-food-breakfast-cereal-macaroni-ri ce-raisins-seasonings-spreads-spaghetti-soft drinks- rackers-and- cookies aisle. From the third slot I look straight up this aisle to the meat counter, and I watched them all the way.”
“The store's pretty empty, it being Thursday afternoon, so there was nothing much to do except lean on the register and wait for the girls to show up again.”
“I go through the punches, 4, 9, GROC, TOT -- it's more complicated than you think, and after you do it often enough, it begins to make a little song, that you hear words to”
“After a while they come around out of the far aisle, around the light bulbs, records at discount of the Caribbean Six or Tony Martin Sings or some such gunk you wonder they waste the wax on, sixpacks of candy bars, and plastic toys done up in cellophane that faIl apart when a kid looks at them anyway.”
3.) "Fiddle-de-doo."
“…Queenie and Plaid and Big Tall Goony-Goony…”
"Darling," I said. "Hold me tight."
“on these long white prima donna legs”
4.) He might feel different looking back years later because he will realize It was just a silly insignificant job he had in high school and how silly and also stupid it was to quit his job for those girls he hardly knew. Looking back I think he would laugh at his mistake. The humor is of how immature and unaware he is of the world and his future.
5.) “ She's one of these cash-register-watchers, a witch about fifty with rouge on her cheekbones and no eyebrows, and I know it made her day to trip me up. She'd been watching cash registers forty years and probably never seen a mistake before.”- You always have the stubborn older ladies who do watch the cash registers like vultures. I believe they do thrive on people making mistakes.
The description of the dynamics between the 3 friends. There always seems to me a leader who is the “prettiest,” followed by two or more not as perfect girls.
Also not allowing or wanting people without shoes and shirts to come into stores. I know from experience that places, especially down the beach, do not want customers coming in without shoes or shirts. It seems to be a known thing nowadays.
1. line 1 : "You never know for sure how girls' minds work (do you really think it's a mind or just a little buzz like a bee in a glass jar?)"
line 2 : "you know, the kind of girl other girls think is very "striking" and "attractive" but never quite makes it, as they very well know, which is why they like her so much"
line 3 : "I stood there with my hand on a box of HiHo crackers trying to remember if I rang it up or not. I ring it up again and the customer starts giving me hell."
line 4 : "All this while, the customers had been showing up with their carts but, you know, sheep, seeing a scene, they had all bunched up on Stokesie"
2. line 1 : "“I go through the punches, 4, 9, GROC, TOT -- it's more complicated than you think, and after you do it often enough"
line 2 : "all three of them went up the cat-and-dog-food-breakfast-cereal-macaroni-rice-raisins-seasonings-spreads-spaghetti-soft drinks- crackers-and- cookies aisle."
line 3 : "I stood there with my hand on a box of HiHo crackers trying to remember if I rang it up or not. I ring it up again and the customer starts giving me hell."
line 4 : "the girls were walking against the usual traffic (not that we have one-way signs or anything)"
3. line 1 : "The one that caught my eye first was the one in the plaid green two-piece. She was a chunky kid, with a good tan and a sweet broad soft-looking can with those two crescents of white just under it, where the sun never seems to hit, at the top of the backs of her legs"
line 2 : ". But there was no doubt, this jiggled them."
line 3 : "Queenie puts down the jar and I take it into my fingers icy cold. Kingfish Fancy Herring Snacks in Pure Sour Cream: 49¢." - it doesnt note slang, but it notes the definite difference in price in our time and theirs.
line 4 : "and pass a half and a penny into her narrow pink palm" - they still had half dollars.
4. Sammy viewed himself as the girl's hero for quitting his job, which is comical because he wasnt at all. If he had written this as a detached autobiography years later, he would have realized that quitting his job did not make him a hero at all. He also would have realized that quitting his job at the A&P wasnt the end of the world. He was wondering what he was going to do now that he was out of a job. He would probably realize later on that his job at the A&P was not going to sustain him for the rest of his life.
5. The first part of the story that seems "true-to-life" is when Sammy checks out the girls. What I mean by checking out the girls is looking them up and down and almost judging them in a way. He critiques them and notices things about them thats almost mean which I feel is relevent in a way because guys still do the same things to girls today. The second part is when the girls get talked to by the manager about how they are not dressed decently. Thats true to todays life because we are not able to walk into stores in just bathing suits. The third part of the story that is true is when Sammy feels heroic for quitting his job for the girls, but they dont pay attention to him. I feel like boys do things in order to impress girls, and we pay no attention to them at all.
1) “The one that caught my eye first was the one in the plaid green two-piece. She was a chunky kid, with a good tan and a sweet broad soft-looking can with those two crescents of white just under it, where the sun never seems to hit, at the top of the backs of her legs.”
“I stood there with my hand on a box of HiHo crackers trying to remember if I rang it up or not.”
“You never know for sure how girls' minds work (do you really think it's a mind in there or just a little buzz like a bee in a glass jar?) but you got the idea she had talked the other two into coming in here with her, and now she was showing them how to do it, walk slow and hold yourself straight.”
“With the straps pushed off, there was nothing between the top of the suit and the top of her head except just her, this clean bare plane of the top of her chest down from the shoulder bones like a dented sheet of metal tilted in the light. I mean, it was more than pretty.”
2) “….and they all three of them went up the cat-and-dog-food-breakfast-cereal-macaroni-rice-raisins-seasonings-spreads-spaghetti-soft drinks- crackers-and- cookies aisle.”
“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.”
“The girls had reached the meat counter and were asking McMahon something.”
“The store's pretty empty, it being Thursday afternoon, so there was nothing much to do except lean on the register and wait for the girls to show up again.”
3) "Oh Daddy," Stokesie said beside me. "I feel so faint."
"Darling," I said. "Hold me tight."
“….Queenie and Plaid and Big Tall Goony-Goony (not that as raw material she was so bad), leaving me with Lengel and a kink in his eyebrow.”
“I started to say something that came out ‘Fiddle-de-doo.’”
4) He may realize he was stupid for quitting his job just to impress a group of girls. The last paragraph is humorous because he believes the world is going to be so cruel even though he is only nineteen years old.
5) One part of the story that is realistic is the part where the group of girls walks around the store thinking that they are cool. This is realistic because most younger kids try acting “cool” to impress people. Another realistic part of the story is when Sammy gets distracted by the girls and can’t remember if he rang up a customer’s items. This is realistic because anyone can lose track of what they are doing when they focus on something else. A third part of the story that is realistic is when Sammy quits his job to impress the group of girls. This is realistic because everyone has done something stupid trying to impress someone.
1. While on the field the player felt dizzy and needed a candy bar to counteract his hypoglycemia.
2. The pain from the back surgery was so insufferable; I needed heavy painkillers to numb the feeling.
3. The counselor acted as an intermediary for the husband and wife who were having marriage issues.
4. When the prisoners were treated with no respect, they became increasingly malevolent toward the correction officers.
5. The neonatal child had to be placed in an incubator until he was strong enough to be taken home.
6. The CEO of the company acted as if he was omnipotent and that nothing could touch him.
7. The tool seen on the infomercial was shown to be very multifaceted in the many demonstration performed by the host.
8. The glass on the president’s limo is impenetrable by any type of gunfire.
9. The small area in my basement acts as a sort of sanctum were I can relax.
10. After being out at sea for many hour, had a feeling of vertigo while walking on the street.
1. "She was a chunky kid, with a good tan and a sweet broad soft-looking can with those two crescents of white just under it, where the sun never seems to hit, at the top of the backs of her legs."
"It was bright green and the seams on the bra were still sharp and her belly was still pretty pale so I guessed she just got it (the suit)"
"this one, and a tall one, with black hair that hadn't quite frizzed right, and one of these sunburns right across under the eyes, and a chin that was too long."
"And then the third one, that wasn't quite so tall. She was the queen. She kind of led them, the other two peeking around and making their shoulders round. She didn't look around, not this queen, she just walked straight on slowly, on these long white prima donna legs."
2. "Another cool of the A&P, under the fluorescent lights, against all those stacked packages, with her feet paddling along naked over our checkerboard green-and-cream rubber-tile floor.”
“…Without a pushcart, back my way along the counters, in the aisle between the heck-outs and the special bins.”
“I go through the punches, 4, 9, GROC, TOT – it’s more complicated than you think, and after you do it often enough, it begins to make a little sing, that you hear words to, in my case.”
“…And then all three of them went up the cat-and-dog-food-breakfast-cereal-macaroni-rice-raisins-seasonings-spreads-spaghetti-soft drinks- rackers- and- cookies aisle.”
3. “…And the plump one in the plaid, that I liked better from the back – a really sweet can.”
“Lengel comes in from haggling with a truck full of cabbages.”
“Policy is what the kingpins want.”
“Queenie and Plaid and Big Tall Goony-Goony.”
4. With years later, Sammy would feel differently about his whole experience at the A&P; he would possibly see his past experience as more of a joke and humorous matter than right after he quit. He would finally become detached emotionally after years have passed by; which means that he can openly talk about anything that happened at the A&P, involving the girls, his manager, and everything else that was going on in the store. In the last paragraph, it was funny because Sammy was the one who quit and yet Lengel had to take over his work.
5. Sammy’s parents got him the job since they were friends with Lengel; that’s true to life because a lot of teenagers can get job hook ups via their parent’s connections. Another thing that seems very true to life from this story is how there is a “register watcher” (customer) who complains if something isn’t right, just like some customers in reality. And lastly, Sammy uses very good detail when he states, “and pass a penny into her narrow pink pal, and nestle the herrings in a bag and twist its neck and hand it over, all the time thinking.” That shows the structure of work at a grocery store, which relates to true life. If you don’t do something right or as the manager says, then you won’t survive.
1) Note at least four of Sammy’s comments that show he is somewhat of a “girl-watcher” who probably hasn’t done much “dating.”
a. There was this chunky one, with the two-piece -- it was bright green and the seams on the bra were still sharp and her belly was still pretty pale so I guessed she just got it (the suit).
b. there was this one, with one of those chubby berry-faces, the lips all bunched together under her nose, this one, and a tall one, with black hair that hadn't quite frizzed right, and one of these sunburns right across under the eyes, and a chin that was too long.
c. The longer her neck was the more of her there was.
d. She had on a kind of dirty-pink - - beige maybe, I don't know -- bathing suit with a little nubble all over it and, what got me, the straps were down.
2) Note at least four of Sammy’s comments that reveal he is pretty efficient with his job.
a. …and all three of them went up the cat-and-dog-food-breakfast-cereal-macaroni-rice-raisins-seasonings-spreads-spaghetti-soft drinks- crackers-and- cookies aisle.
b. . I go through the punches, 4, 9, GROC, TOT…
c. . …and the people would by and large keep reaching and checking oatmeal off their lists and muttering "Let me see, there was a third thing, began with A, asparagus, no, ah, yes, applesauce!" or whatever it is they do, mutter.
d. . …and another thing in the cool of the A & P, under the fluorescent lights, against all those stacked packages, with her feet paddling along naked over our checkerboard green-and-cream rubber-tile floor.
3) Note at least four of Sammy’s comments that show a comical use of teenage slang of the 60s.
a. The term he uses for one of the girls who is the leader, “Queenie.”
b. She was a chunky kid, with a good tan and a sweet broad soft-looking can with those two crescents of white just under it…
c. The longer her neck was, the more of her there was.
d. "Darling," I said. "Hold me tight." Sammy is goofing around with Stokesie.
4) Re-read the final paragraph. This story was written in subjective narration, a short time after the incident took place, so Sammy has not become “detached” just yet. How might he feel differently years later looking back? Explain then the humor of the last paragraph.
a. If the story was a detached autobiography, there wouldn’t be as much detail to support the description of the situation. For an example, he may not describe the girls and list every item they were wearing. Looking back on this event, he may realize how it was unintelligent to quit his job for girls who could care less about and who he’ll never see again. The humor in the last paragraph is how he quit his job for the girls, who he never sees again. Also his manager is now the cashier and Sammy is without a job.
5) What parts (at least three) of the story seem especially “true-to-life?” This quality is known as verisimilitude. Explain your answers.
a. The cash register- watcher gives Sammy a hard time for ringing up the crackers twice. Sometimes mistakes are made and people have to yell and criticize so much about the cashier.
b. The relationship between Sammy and Stokesie. They work together and get along together which could happen at a grocery store where other people work.
c. When the manager gives the girls a warning for their lack of clothing in the grocery store. Today’s grocery store require and shirt and shoes to enter.
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