John Updike

The plot, setting, and characterization certainly contribute to the main theme in A&P: the allure of female sexuality and the emotions it elicits in the male psyche. The author liberally uses...

Updike's 1958 poem on the subject of a puppy's death is filled with pathos without lapsing into obvious sentimentality or a maudlin tone. A good way to approach an analysis of this poem is to...

The story "Sons" by John Updike follows several different stories about the childhood of several generations of men. Because it is divided up into different stories encompassing different lives,...

At the end of Updike's story "Separating," Richard tells his son, Dickie, that he is separating from Dickie's mother. Dickie is the last of the four children to be told about the separation, and he...

Even if we call this an illustration and a celebration of youthful rebellion, that doesn't mean that parts of the rebellion are not being satirized as well. Sammy fits a role that is part knight,...

The entire poem is built around an extended metaphor that compares life to some form of comedy act on a stage. Updike begins his poem by lamenting the fact that death marks the end of "your own...

This excellent poem concerns the theme of death, and, building on this theme, the irreplaceable tragedy it is when one human dies and how their "perfection" is "wasted" as when they die, their...

In John Updike's short story "Dear Alexandros," we can apply the characterization method to discern a lot about Alexandros and Mr. Bentley. One element of characterization is speech. We can discern...

When Sammy sees his manager, Lengel, confront the girls about their state of undress within the store, he immediately notices that Queenie, as he has mentally called her, is blushing. Sammy is...

There are several examples of conflict in John Updike's short story, "A&P." The primary one concerns the store manager, Lengel, who berates a trio of young girls who come into his grocery store...

This story is about a husband's thoughts on the demise of his marriage but he focuses on their new tennis court. He is really thinking about his lack of feeling for his wife and family. His...

Because most of the story of Updike's "A & P" takes place in the store, there is less detail about the beach, while there is much more about the store. However, the two have strong symbolic...

Your thesis sentence should include the specific theme that you want to discuss (choices have consequences) and a similar aspect of characterization between Sammy and you. Here is an example: Just...