Blog Assignment #7: Feminist Criticism of "A & P"

Assignment: Engage with John Updike’s “A & P” using feminist criticism strategies. Aim for approximately 250 words (that’s equivalent to 1 typed, double-spaced page). Use the discussion below as a guide. Plan to point to particular pieces of evidence in the story itself in order to bolster your opinion. Make reference to particular parts of the plot, particular bits of dialog, and/or particular behaviors or interactions with other characters, female or male.

There are a number of different critical models that can be applied when reading a novel, poem, or other literary work. In fact, these different models are used by professional critics in order to determine, or pull from a work, the meaning. One very common critical reading model is Feminist criticism.

Feminist literary criticism examines:

·         diction, style, or voice of a female writer as opposed to her male writers.

·         subject matter a female writer chooses to write about as opposed to topics chosen by male writers

·         balance of power, or rather the imbalance present between male and female characters within any given plot, whether written by male or female writer

·         expression of the difference in male and female roles in society

·          differences in the power male and female characters wield (or don’t wield)

·         female experience as a whole, especially in comparison to the male experience. This includes personality, education, childhood experiences, and anything else that defines the female identity.

·          female stereotypes.

·         The backgrounds and personal lives of female authors. For instance, a feminist critic might look into Mary Shelley's own conflict between family and career or Virginia Woolf’s relationship with her husband.

Application:  As you read a particular poem or story, you will want to ask yourself,

·         How are the females in the piece characterized?

·         What role do women play in the piece?

·         Are there dominant women? Submissive women?

·         Do women play a major or minor role?

·         What attitudes are expressed by male and female characters about women?

·         How do male characters talk to and about female characters?

·         How do females talk with males?

After answering these questions, it may be appropriate to examine the author, genre, and subject matter of the piece. For example, what are or were the author's ideals on the female situation? Is the author's position impacted by the author's history? Was or is it impacted by the history of the time? What sort of language does the writer use?