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This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. What verb does Sammy use when describing his removal of his apron?

2. What adjective does the narrator use to describe Lengel when he states that Lengel is a church-involved man?

3. What are the final two syllables of the nonsense word Sammy utters to Lengel?

4. What does the sign on Lengel's office door read?

5. How does the person who notices the narrator's reaction to Lengel's repeated word feel about the narrator's reaction?

Short Essay Questions

1. Discuss the socioeconomic status from which Sammy's family stems.

2. In what way do food similes enter the story and for what purpose does Updike use them?

3. What clues does Sammy utilize in order to detect the class of the young woman he dubs "Queenie" (5)?

4. What details does Sammy provide about his boss Lengel?

5. How does Updike show the childlike and whimsical nature of Sammy's personality in the story?

6. How is the theme of family bonds depicted within Sammy's reply to Lengel's claim about the harm inflicted by the young women?

7. What is ironic about Sammy's claim that Lengel is the most nervous person involved?

8. Describe an example of Updike's use of metaphor within the story.

9. What is the policy cited by Lengel when he tells the young women they are in violation?

10. Describe Updike's use of foreshadowing within the story "A and P".

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

William Faulkner once famously claimed that the most important literature deals with the subject of the human heart in conflict with itself. Explain how the theme of Human versus Self is demonstrated within Updike’s story “A and P.” Create a decisive, arguable claim and prove it with quotes from the story.

Essay Topic 2

Write a critical essay about “A and P” while using the critical power theory lens of feminist theory. Use textual evidence to back up your strong, specific claim regarding the story's treatment of gender roles, the objectification of women, female empowerment, misogyny's role within society, or any other issues related to feminist theory that can be found in the novel.

Essay Topic 3

Discuss the reasons why “A and P” uses a first-person narrator and a plot that unfolds in real time. What elements of the story's themes lend themselves to these choices and what are Updike’s intended effects on the reader?

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