The Paring Knife By Michael Oppenheimer

Running head: LITERATURE
LITERATURE
Name of the Student:
Name of the University:
Author Note:

LITERATURE1
PART ONE
Part one is going to be structured by providing a detailed comparison and contrast on
three short stories, which include “A & P,” “IND AFF or Out of Love in Sarajevo,” and
“Lust.” The comparison and contrast will be based on their particular point of view and
characterization, which will help the readers to stimulate their ideas appropriately. The
primary aim is to demonstrate the main protagonists by introducing the main themes, motifs
and symbols in order to support the analysis on characterization and to deliver the
differentiation adequately. The process of writing fiction is not as hard as it seems like, in
fact, there several ways an author can utilize a few rules such as creating three-dimensional
characters in a plot, showcasing a separate perspective, providing motivations to the
characters, emotional conflict and revitalizing the context with significant themes. The
essential elements in order to build the fiction are plot, characters, setting arrangement,
symbols, imagery, conflicts and different perspectives. The process of writing and reading
fiction is equally beneficial to review the characters and their significant roles in fiction. It is
associated with exploring the hidden depths and various meanings. It is based on the cycle of
traveling in one’s life and the experiences that occur in their individual lives through the
respective plot and setting (Kidd and Emanuele). A small introduction will be provided on
the summary of each short story and the contrast will be structured at the end of part one. It is
necessary to know and understand the plot in order to channelize their individual
characterization and point of view. The main focus will be drawn upon the characterization of
the short stories and the author’s perspective through their individual narration along with
their particular protagonist.
A & P is a short story written by John Updike, where the main protagonist is a
nineteen-year-old clear who works at a grocery store in a small town in New England. On
one beautiful day, Sammy, the protagonist, gets attracted to one of the girls among the three

LITERATURE2
girls who walked into his grocery store wearing bathing suits (Devi). The girl’s name was
Queenie, who was the most attractive among them. He immediately moved into his
dreamland. The primary theme of this story is the initiation, and the main character Sammy
revives a vision while stepping into a wild world (Kristoff).
IND AFF or Out of Love in Sarajevo is a short story written by Lauren Lozano, and it
highlights a story based on a twenty-five-year-old student, who has completed her graduation
(enotes.com). She is having an affair with a forty-six-year-old professor named Peter, who is
already married. The narrator is crazy in love with him, and they spent their time while
traveling around Europe, where they enjoy the mesmerizing sights and ear-soothing sounds
(enotes.com). The central themes of this story are dealt with love and ill-fated affair and
another theme is based on love versus infatuation.
Susan Minot is the writer behind an incredible masterpiece named as ‘Lust’ and has
generated several interesting characters in order to bring about the plot of the story. Minot
successfully produces uniqueness through such physical appearance (Mauldin). The
utilization of her actions and feelings are appropriately projected so that the readers can
stimulate their ideas and can transform their thoughts by allowing the author’s perspective to
visualize the story.
The narrator is an unnamed character who is seventeen years old and has been
sexually active since the age of fifteen. She is acquainted with a lot of bad habits such as
alcohol, smoking tobacco along with marijuana (Mauldin). The narrator highlights the
features of social conception based on sex and lust and it has been observed that sexual
pleasure is quite different from men than of women. The main themes that Minot has
showcased are related to gradual disintegration as well as the devaluation of a woman’s soul
through the progression from childhood till puberty (Mauldin).