John Updike's "A & P"
Do you remember the grocery store chain A&P? The letters stand for "Atlantic and Pacific Tea Company," and the store used to be one of the most popular in the United States.
The third person narrator of a story (or poem, play, or novel) is not the same person as the author. The narrator of this story is named Sammy, which is a kid's or teenager's name; what we call Sammy's "voice," or his own particular way of thinking, comes through very clearly because he is the narrator. His "voice" reveals him to be a dissatisfied young adult male. Sammy is our first example of a narrator who is also a character. Sammy is what we call a 1st person narrator:
1st person: I am Plural: we
2nd person: you are Plural: you are
3rd person: he, she, it is Plural: they are
A first-person narrator can present certain problems; e.g., he or she may have something to hide, and so may not be telling us the entire truth, or he or she may not know the entire truth.......
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Approximate Word Count: 369
Approximate Pages: 2 (260 words per double-spaced page) |