The Road: Envelopes

My initial reaction to the "envelope" assignment was that of distaste. I did not really like the idea of stopping every couple of pages to record something significant. In addition, these significant passages/excerpts were going to be difficult to hunt down among the monotony of the gray and ash of The Road. Well, I am glad to say that I have been proven wrong. First off, the task of finding significant and meaningful passages was not difficult in the least. After a fair amount of reading and analyzing, I came to realize that most every page had something relevant and intruiging to offer, per McCarhty's writing. I actually found myself finishing my 5 quotes/passages in the first 20 or so pages of the reading. Secondly, the recording of these important passage had an immediate effect on the following class, allowing me to actively contribute through my findings. Lastly, these excerpts have given me an adequate base for my paper. Not only do I NOT have to rifle through the book again to find things of significance, but I already have a great knowledge on how my thesis and paper will be structured. I think that in the future, whenever I am encountered with a challenging read/assignment, like The Road, I will construct a system similar to the "envelope" in order to keep my ideas organized and actively flowing throughout the entirety of the assignment.