Red Envelope

A red envelope labeled “Do Not Open.” What could possibly be more suspicious then that? George Pawlaczyk fooled us all today in class when he handed out that envelope. How is it that not one of us raised our hand to ask what was inside the envelope until the last five minutes of class?
Just another example of how people are too preoccupied with other things to notice what is right in front of them. I must admit I was very disappointed I wasn’t the one to question the envelope and have an extra 10 dollars in my pocket; however I found that the rest of the class was very interesting. Mr. Pawlaczyk shared with us many of his own personal stories as a journalist, and showed us some articles that were written in ways other than what the obvious approach to the story would be.

The story that most stuck out to me was the one about the soldiers’ belongings scattered along the beach after D-Day, A Long Thin Line of Personal Anguish. This article was written in a way that made it impossible for the reader to not feel any sort of emotion, or connection to the soldiers. Where the writer mentions how he picked up the small Bible from the beach, only to put it down a short while later really connected me to the story. Although it seemed strange that he did that, it made me imagine myself being there, and what I might have done or how I would react had I been there myself. . It is a clear example that there could be a different, and more appealing approach to a story right in front of you, you just have to look for it.