Bambara’s The Lesson

This one has no suggest article or sample essay. You can find any article that you like. Same as "A&P", just find an article that you like and talk about it. Sam,ple Journal # 11 “A&P” “A&P” written by John Updike, is about an eighteen year old guy who works at the local grocery store, named A&P. He attends to a cash register as he explains his surroundings and the people he assists. Three girls walk into the store, which grab his attention and admiration because they are only wearing bathing suits. Although the story may have an apparent theme surrounding the interest of the opposite sex, the story grasps the idea of the youthful rebellion during the 1960’s. The theme is based upon societies society’s norms and how the narrator’s youthful perception conflicts with the larger socio-cultural conditions as well as sex roles and the limitations placed upon them. The narrator shares a common understanding with one of the three girls; he refers to her as “Queenie”. The name he assigns to her represents her leadership amongst her two friends on the micro level, which are engulfed by the grocery store’s macro cultural influence. Nice pointHe describes the normal shoppers as “sheep”, “pushing their carts down the aisle—the girls were walking against the usual traffic.” This shows the girls’ defiance against societies norms. right The narrator puts into the light the conformity of everyday life of people heading down one direction, not to disturb normality. . yes In the story there are many references to objects and things in the shape of a square. The squares are a metaphor for conformity and how everything in the story around the narrator was that of squares. . goodFor example, the store that he worked in was a big box, and inside the box was his checkout “slot”, the floors were checkerboard, the products are in boxes. Good observations To describe the level of absurdity the girls’ physical appearances produced within the confines of this store, he adds that the “fluorescent lights, against all of those stacked packages” only added to the visual displacement of the girls. While on the other hand, if they were outside the confines of bureaucracy their existence would be glossy and unnoticed. Similar to that of being at the beach, “where with the glare nobody can look at each other much anyway.” Hmmm—can you explore this comparison a bit more? The idea of blinding, or whiting out, electric eyes, etc. After his boss demands the girl’s leave because their attire is inappropriate for the store, he tells his manager he quits. But, what he’s really quitting is the idea of a society that embodies him. He puts down his apron with his name stitched into it, symbolizing how he is a fabric engrained into society and exits the building. Nice When he is outside he notices his doings have gone unnoticed, the girls are gone and the lines of “sheep” continue to move through the lines of which he just abandoned. His youthful rebellion for his beliefs have been gone unheard, unnoticed, and unaccepted, similar to that of the youthful girls. Robert Peltier writes in “Short Stories for Students, Gale Research, 1998”, “The 1950s were to some extent years of conformity, of marching in step, and also (it is said) years of sexual repression. Married couples portrayed on television and in the movies had to have twin beds.” This is a good quote that explains the relevance of the time period in which this story was written. It aids in the understanding of the historical upbringings, which lead to the outbreak of these youthful rebellions. Similar to that of this story, where teenagers were tired of being in such a governed state of living and would risk it all just to have a voice, even if it didn’t make an immediate impact.Yes—how might some of this “marching in step” and sexual repression be seen in the story? Pts.: 10