Plot Structure in “A&P”

[Ms. Miller, MAED & MA]

Discuss how the sequence of events dictate the plot structure of “A &. P.”

[wesleyn]

A&P by Upd**e is written in a linear format the way the story goes in chronological order. The story starts in the beginning and does not go out of order (like a story that starts in the middle or the end). A&P begins with the narrator admiring and analyzing the girls who walked into the store: “In walks these three girls in nothing but bathing suits. I'm in the third check-out slot, with my back to the door, so I don't see them until they're over by the bread”. This scene is the exposition. Next, Lengel, the store manager calls out the girls about their attire saying, ”Girls, this isn't the beach.'' This is the climax of the story. Thinking he is doing something moral and heroic, the narrator quits his job on the spot to defend the girls. This part of the story is the falling action. When he walks out of the store, the narrator feels lonely saying “my stomach kind of fell as I felt how hard the world was going to be to me hereafter”. This is the resolution of the story. Not only is this short story linear, but it can also be described as a flashback since the story is a recollection. For example, the narrator recollects this story by saying, “Now here comes the sad part of the story, at least my family says it's sad, but I don't think it's so sad myself.” This shows that the story takes place in the past and the narrator already experienced it. The narrator breaks the fourth wall by talking directly to the audience. Overall, I believe that the author chose to write this story in a linear format because it is the most straightforward way to get the message across. The story is not very complex so it makes sense that it is formatted in a simple, direct way. Additionally, I do not think that the author thought about making the story linear. I think he wanted to write a simple story with a simple plot structure.- Wesley N

[elian]

The short story "A & P" by John Upd**e presents its sequence of events in a linear format that makes the message of the story simple to address. We know that the story is being recalled since in a certain instance he mentions how his family finds a part that is sad. The story starts with the group of girls walking in meanwhile the narrator is looking at them. The narrator views the girls as people he wants to stand out to. This part of the story would be the exposition and rising action. Later when the manager calls out the girls for how they were dressed, the narrator felt the need to take action to defend them. This would be the climax since this was when the character had to face what he thought was his antagonist. He decided that quitting his job would be a great way to defend them. This would fit the linear format as the falling action to the climax. It wasn't until the narrator walked outside the store that he realized the truth which was that as confident and secure he could be, he couldn't have the validation that he thought he could get. This is shown by the change of seeing girls his age at work, to the mother with kids outside of his workplace. One can't get everything they want, which was the simple message that was trying to be delivered. This part served as the resolution to the story, even though it wasn't such a happy ending for the narrator.

[amaka]

The short story A&P by John Upd**e was narrated through a linear perspective through the eyes of Sammy, the main protagonist. The plot becomes very fragmented in the middle by Sammy’s stream of consciousness makes a hyper-reality sort of situation. The narrator, Sammy, is shown presenting his morals/ideals on how the outfits the girls who come into his store wears is not appropriate in terms of dress code. There is a shift from the structured linear perspective to a Flashback as Sammy recounts the preceding event (rising action to climax of the story) where he outright quits his job to defend the girls from his manager who also did not like how they dressed. Sammy sees it as he is doing something heroic and the girls will praise him for it but they just leave. These turn of events to the conclusion shows Upd**e’s usage of a “coming of age” like story as Sammy’s choice of quitting was his first leap into the real world. He made up his own perceptions/imaginations of these girls in order to become a savior and inserting himself into the story. However, what he failed to realize was life is not based off one’s imagination; it is real and does not follow a set script and the end quote “… my stomach kind of fell as I felt how hard the world was going to be to me hereafter” summarizes this thought in whole.

[amaka]

Sept 1, 2022 19:23:14 GMT -8 elian said:

The short story "A & P" by John Upd**e presents its sequence of events in a linear format that makes the message of the story simple to address. We know that the story is being recalled since in a certain instance he mentions how his family finds a part that is sad. The story starts with the group of girls walking in meanwhile the narrator is looking at them. The narrator views the girls as people he wants to stand out to. This part of the story would be the exposition and rising action. Later when the manager calls out the girls for how they were dressed, the narrator felt the need to take action to defend them. This would be the climax since this was when the character had to face what he thought was his antagonist. He decided that quitting his job would be a great way to defend them. This would fit the linear format as the falling action to the climax. It wasn't until the narrator walked outside the store that he realized the truth which was that as confident and secure he could be, he couldn't have the validation that he thought he could get. This is shown by the change of seeing girls his age at work, to the mother with kids outside of his workplace. One can't get everything they want, which was the simple message that was trying to be delivered. This part served as the resolution to the story, even though it wasn't such a happy ending for the narrator.

I agree with how you brought up the end with the mother and her kids outside his workplace instead of the girls he defended because of how he was seeking validation from them but could not get it in the end. The whole “you cannot get everything you seek” is a vital lesson learned at the end of the story and though this was not a conventionally “happy ending,” it still ties up the loose ends of the story we as readers are missing. I also liked the “confident and secure” part that the narrator had. I personally did not catch that until this analysis.