John Updike

Some fancy that it is easiest to believe that things mean precisely what they appear to on the surface. However, to understand the world and thoughts of others in a more profound way, it is necessary to accept the fact that things may not always be just as they seem. It is imperative that one adopt this same attitude when reading poetry. One poem in particular that exemplifies this is John Updike’s “Telephone Poles”. Within the work, telephone poles are compared to trees by way of extended metaphor. “Telephone Poles” conveys the message that when nature is destroyed to make way for technology is harmful to nature itself and humankind as well by using an extended metaphor; this is enhanced and made clear by Updike’s usage of supporting metaphors, similes, verbal irony, and imagery.

A&P is a story about a 19 year old teenage boy that works at a supermarket and acts childish. In this story Sammy’s attitude is sexist and judgemental towards the customers coming in and out of the store. When the three girls walk in the store half naked with their swimsuits on, Sammy is shocked because he hasn't seen anyone wear swimsuits in public place before. The girls are in the aile’s shopping and Sammy is examining them to see how they shop and how they act, he says “ Sheep's pushing their carts down the aisle” (Updike page 17 A&P) he refers to the girls as sheep’s.

The story, A&P by John Updike, begins with the narrator, Sammy, checking out groceries when he notices three pretty girls stroll into the supermarket, dressed in nothing but skimpy bathing suits. As the pretty girls cruise the aisles, they are gawked at with varying levels of disapproval and lewdness. Sammy, on the other hand is intrigued by their confidence. He is especially intrigued by the girl he concludes to be the leader of the pack, whom he nicknames to be Queenie. Eventually, after strolling the aisles of the store, the girls finally make their way to Sammy’s cash register.

At 11 years old, I sat outside Mr. Tilman Singleton’s porch waiting for my piano lesson. From outside the front door, I could hear the frustrated comments and the occasional bangs of his hands pounding on the piano. Slowly, I stood up off the bench and opened the door. “You never improve! This is trash and you know it. Your lesson is over. Next Victim.” I assumed the victim was me. At first glance, my piano teacher Mr. Singelton was a tall, startling skinny, man with thinning hair and a large pair of glasses. I still remember what he wore my first lesson: turquoise dress pants perfectly creased, and a pink plaid button down shirt. Every outfit looked straight out of an 80s magazine. He was the definition of eccentric. Today, I will be commemorating my former piano teacher Tilman Singleton; the man whose character, perseverance, and friendship will forever inspire my musical dreams.

In The Piano Lesson, by August Wilson, Berniece struggles with her personal connection with the piano. Her families past reveal her relationship with the piano. The piano meant a lot of things to a lot of different people over the years. The piano is a complex and multilayers symbol; its meanings are both personal and political. For example, Berniece was affected by the piano positively and negatively. She had a sentimental connection with it and never wanted to get rid of it. But the piano had a lot of history behind it and it also carries a lot of meaning to it. Berniece stopped playing the piano for a while because of all the spirits inside of it and how they started to haunt other people. Berniece saw Boy Willie getting attacked by Sutter’s ghost and that made her realize she needs to let go of the past and play the piano again. But what was ironic is that she tried her best to forget the family history that came with the piano, she can never let go of her families past no matter what she does. This reveals that people should come to good terms with their past and learn to overcome it.

In August Wilson’s Piano Lesson Berniece struggles with the past of her family and the violence that is within her family. She de-contextualizes the piano by not telling Maretha about her relatives, whose images are carved into the piano and keeping her in the dark when it comes to her family and the past. With Berniece struggling to keep Boy Willie from selling the piano for land she slowly starts to realize that maybe the uplift that the family needs is just remembrance of their family and their past. The piano is symbol for the legacy or past of relatives and by playing the piano at the end of the play shows that remembering your family’s past or carrying on their Legacy in the smallest way shows that wherever they are that they’re rejoiced

John Updike is viewed by his readers as a progressive voice in his work that promotes feminist issues. He makes these issues stand out more evidently, rather than hidden, in order for the reader to realize how women are viewed in society. From reading Updike’s A&P, the story sends the message to readers of genders working together to strive for equality. If readers do not carefully and actively read A&P they may miss key messages about the power men hold over women, not just in society but in literature as well. Even though Updike’s A&P seems to be a story about a teenager finally standing up to his boss and quitting the job he hates, the tone used reveals the hidden message on how women are in a male-oriented world. The relationship between both men are women are shown as unequals, men on the top and women always below them, Updike makes sure to open up the reader 's eyes in realizing the way females are being treated unfairly.

The simple rhyme suggests that the paper can leap and jump about like a child. The connotation of the word "abandon" adds to this suggestion of unrestrained movement or activity. The words "dint" and "din" are alliterative, and the suggestion is that the "din" of the piano broadcasts its sound far and wide. In line three of stanza two there is both internal rhyme and assonance in "man", "band", and "hand". Updike tells us that the piano has a sense of pride in its ability to produce its own music, unassisted by any human hand. Of course there is irony in this because it was a human who originally programmed the piano. The last two lines of the second stanza are extremely rhythmic, and closely imitate the sort of rhythm that comes from the piano as in the line: "The tones I turn on from within." The words "tones" and "turn" receive especially heavy stress and we can imagine the strings of the piano being struck forcefully by the

It has become a fact of life that our world is governed categorization. There is nothing in our realm of awareness that has not been labelled or ranked. These practices originated from the basic human conditioning for survival and understanding. However, they soon developed into numerous attitudes, behaviors, judgments and systems of policies that have constrained and segregated our population (Kadi). Heeding the ominous effects of these systems of classification, John Updike utilizes his short story “A&P”, as a reflector of our society. Updike exercises the literary elements of a condescending tone, commonplace setting and the characterization of Queenie to showcase the influence of classism in our country. Updike’s

Both Poems are faced with the problematic situation of inner hassle. Piano’s narrator struggles with his oppression of his emotions in sentimentality. When he is listening to the sounds of the chant from the women singing he says “In

There are many ways to analyze a literary work. These ways are called Schools of Criticism or Critical Theories. Schools of criticism occur when groups of readers and critics come together and declare allegiance to a similar core of beliefs. And, when they do, they ask a particular set of question about a literary work. Each different way of analyzing a literary work elicits a different set of questions.

Title Piano represents music, which is used to convey all sorts of emotions. Paraphrase Stanza 1) The author remembers his mother's singing, which brings back his memories from childhood. Stanza 2) As the emotions overflow, he recalls details from his past.

In the film, The Pianist, Roman Polanski depicts the struggle of Wladyslaw Szpilman, a polish pianist to survive World War Two against all odds. The central theme of the film, that humans are capable of creating both beauty and destruction, forces the viewer to question human nature and reflect on the beauty of music and destruction of war. Polanski manipulates our emotions through the extensive use of a variety of techniques such as: lighting, characterisation and sound. Music is used to evoke an emotional response in the audience while lighting is used to contrast the Germans and Jews . The true-to-life characterisation creates an accurate representation of the war and as such enhances the effect of pivotal events on the audience.

As a thirteen-year-old I could only watch game shows for so long, and that day I could not take anymore. I couldn 't sit still and needed to hear more than Steve Harvey and the Family Feud theme song, so I wandered into her sitting room that always felt a little warmer than the rest of the house. Sometimes I would sit on the couch by the window and feel the sun’s heat hit my face and watch the cars drive by. Sometimes I played with her giant record player, but vases covered it that day, so I went to her old piano. Dust covered sheet music and instruction books filled the bench of the piano. I flipped through them and found songs I knew, and I became determined. That day I decided I wanted to learn the piano.

After dispiritedly claiming that there are no trains, or chances, passing at night, the speaker addresses, “Though the night is still for sleep and dreaming” (line 6). Even though the speaker is upset that no trains have passed by, there is still hope, because the speaker can now rest and imagine of what “trains,” or opportunities, may come. The hard “e” sound in “sleep” and “dreaming” is an example of assonance, which sets an enchanting mood. The “th” sound in “though” and “the” creates a mood and expresses a melody, through alliteration, just as the “s” sound in “still” and “sleep.” The devices used in this line establish a mood of hopefulness and a tone of comfort.