A&P

Use these essay questions as writing and critical thinking exercises for all levels of writers, and to build their literary analysis skills by requiring textual references throughout the essay.

Differentiation Suggestion: For English learners or struggling writers, strategies that work well include graphic organizers, sentence frames or starters, group work, or oral responses.

Scaffolded Essay Questions

Student Prompt: Write a short (1-3 paragraph) response using one of the bulleted outlines below. Cite details from the text over the course of your response that serve as examples and support.

1. Imagine the story’s gender roles were switched, such that Queenie and her friends were men and Sammy, Stokesie, and Lengel were women.

• How does gender influence the events of the story? (topic sentence)
• In the body of the essay, describe the ways the gender of each character conforms to social expectations.
• In your concluding sentence or sentences, discuss how gender roles and expectations limit the lives of the characters in “A&P.”

2. At the end of the story, Sammy tells Lengel that he quits, hoping that Queenie and her friends will overhear and understand he is doing it on their behalf.

• Does Sammy want to be authentic, or does he only want to appear authentic? (topic sentence)
• In the body of the essay, analyze what Sammy’s bold action of quitting means for his future and why.
• In your concluding sentence or sentences, discuss whether Sammy regrets his decision to quit.

3. Why does Sammy refer to the customers as “sheep” and “pigs”?

• What do the labels “sheep” and “pigs” say about the customers and their role in the story? (topic sentence)
• In the body of the essay, analyze what it says about Sammy that he uses these insults to describe his customers.
• In your concluding sentence or sentences, discuss the role of the customers as symbols of thoughtless and disconnected citizens.

Full Essay Assignments

Student Prompt: Write a structured and well-developed essay. Include a thesis statement, at least three main points supported by text details, and a conclusion.

1. Consider the role of consumerism in the story told by Sammy in “A&P.” What might readers infer about Sammy’s opinion of the shoppers in his store and the role of consumerism in shaping the people and families in his community? How does Sammy reveal his contempt for consumerism?

2. “A&P” features many examples of misogynism. Think about the language the narrator uses to describe the women and girls in the story and analyze how this language blunts his understanding of their lives and circumstances. How does Sammy view and treat the female body? What role does feminine beauty play in his understanding of the female characters in the story, and to what extent does it contribute to deeper meaning and themes?

3. Dissatisfaction with social class is an undercurrent of the conflict in “A&P.” What is Sammy’s social class? Is he similar to the people in his community? Does he like the way people live there? How does Sammy hope to change his circumstances, and to what extent does his attempt at transforming his life turn out?