Exploring The Mind Of A 1960s Teenage Boy - 1329 Words

Paper II Draft III Exploring the Mind of a 1960s Teenage Boy â€Å"AP† (1961), written by John Updike, explores the social conventions of the early 1960s and delves into the mind of a teenage boy named Sammy. Over the decades, occurrences that are considered socially â€Å"acceptable† have changed drastically. For example, in 2015, it is nearly commonplace to spy girls walk into stores in just their bathing suits—even in Thomasville, Georgia, despite the fact that the town is two hours from the nearest beach. However, in the 1960s, the much more conservative time in which the story â€Å"AP† is set, such an act was quite scandalous. The short story tells of one summer day when three teenage girls wandered into a small-town AP grocery store, wearing†¦show more content†¦Ã¢â‚¬Å"The one that caught my eye first was the one in the plaid green two-piece. She was a chunky kid, with a good tan (18)†¦Ã¢â‚¬  He calls this girl simply â€Å"Plaid† because of her swimsuit. Next, he spies â€Å"†¦a t all one, with black hair that hadn’t quite frizzed right, and one of those sunburns right across under the eyes, and a chin that was too long (19)†¦Ã¢â‚¬  This girl he refers to as â€Å"Big Tall Goony-Goony† because not only was she tall, but she appeared to fit his prototype (â€Å"imagined appearance†Ã¢â‚¬â€yes, I’m bringing psychology into my paper) a â€Å"goon.† Finally, Sammy spotted â€Å"†¦the third one, that wasn’t quite so tall. She was the queen. She kind of led them, the other two peeking around and making their shoulders round (19).† True to the way he described her, Sammy called this girl â€Å"Queenie† because she appeared to be the leader of the group—their queen. It was immediately obvious that Sammy was drawn to this girl because while he briefly described the other two, he spent a large amount of time throughout the story describing and assessing the character of Queenie. Throughout the story, Sammy is quick to make inferences on the people’s personalities, including the girls. When Sammy first noticed the girls, he inferred that Queenie was the leader, and â€Å"†¦you get the idea she had talked the other two into coming in here with her, and now she was showing them how to do it, walk slow and hold yourself straight (19).† Sammy viewed these girls as if they were extremely