The Visit Envelope Threads

The Visit Envelope Threads

Created by Cheryl Morris

ENVELOPE 1: Consider the following topic as you read, and record pertinent passages onto index cards or slips of paper. Write legibly as these will be shared with others and used in a number of ways. Typing is an option. Along with the passage (carefully quoted), include your name, the chapter and page numbers, and the date you recorded it. Do not share your passages with anyone until you are told to do so.

Knowledge–Knowledge (and the lack of it) is at the heart of the play. Record passages that reflect this idea.

ENVELOPE 2: Consider the following topic as you read, and record pertinent passages onto index cards or slips of paper. Write legibly as these will be shared with others and used in a number of ways. Typing is an option. Along with the passage (carefully quoted), include your name, the chapter and page numbers, and the date you recorded it. Do not share your passages with anyone until you are told to do so.

Utilitarian values- Utilitarian means “having regard for utility or usefulness rather than beauty, ornamentation, etc.” How does this work reflect those values?

ENVELOPE 3: Consider the following topic as you read, and record pertinent passages onto index cards or slips of paper. Write legibly as these will be shared with others and used in a number of ways. Typing is an option. Along with the passage (carefully quoted), include your name, the chapter and page numbers, and the date you recorded it. Do not share your passages with anyone until you are told to do so.

Isolation-Record passages that reflect isolation and its effect on society.

ENVELOPE 5: Consider the following topic as you read, and record pertinent passages onto index cards or slips of paper. Write legibly as these will be shared with others and used in a number of ways. Typing is an option. Along with the passage (carefully quoted), include your name, the chapter and page numbers, and the date you recorded it. Do not share your passages with anyone until you are told to do so.

Staging-Durrenmatt once said, “In undertaking to write a play I must first make clear to myself where it is to take place….The real decisive point in all this is that, to quote, Max Frisch, the playwright is composing WITH the stage….and this is one of the reasons I write plays.” Record passages that reflect this belief.

ENVELOPE 6: Consider the following topic as you read, and record pertinent passages onto index cards or slips of paper. Write legibly as these will be shared with others and used in a number of ways. Typing is an option. Along with the passage (carefully quoted), include your name, the chapter and page numbers, and the date you recorded it. Do not share your passages with anyone until you are told to do so.

Authority—What is the role of authority and how is it portrayed in the play?

ENVELOPE 7: Consider the following topic as you read, and record pertinent passages onto index cards or slips of paper. Write legibly as these will be shared with others and used in a number of ways. Typing is an option. Along with the passage (carefully quoted), include your name, the chapter and page numbers, and the date you recorded it. Do not share your passages with anyone until you are told to do so.Do not share your passages with anyone until you are told to do so.

Progress/retrogression—Consider how the idea of progress is presented in the play.

ENVELOPE 8: Consider the following topic as you read, and record pertinent passages onto index cards or slips of paper. Write legibly as these will be shared with others and used in a number of ways. Typing is an option. Along with the passage (carefully quoted), include your name, the chapter and page numbers, and the date you recorded it. Do not share your passages with anyone until you are told to do so.

God—In what ways is the idea of “God,” or even just religion, developed and presented in the play?

ENVELOPE 9: Consider the following topic as you read, and record pertinent passages onto index cards or slips of paper. Write legibly as these will be shared with others and used in a number of ways. Typing is an option. Along with the passage (carefully quoted), include your name, the chapter and page numbers, and the date you recorded it. Do not share your passages with anyone until you are told to do so.

Family /community—Durrenmatt’s play is based on the relationship of one man to his community. Locate passages related to family or community. What elements are necessary to a community or a family? How are they portrayed within the play?

ENVELOPE 10: Consider the following topic as you read, and record pertinent passages onto index cards or slips of paper. Write legibly as these will be shared with others and used in a number of ways. Typing is an option. Along with the passage (carefully quoted), include your name, the chapter and page numbers, and the date you recorded it. Do not share your passages with anyone until you are told to do so.

Past/Present—Locate passages relating to the past and the present, and/or the relationship between the two.

ENVELOPE 11: Consider the following topic as you read, and record pertinent passages onto index cards or slips of paper. Write legibly as these will be shared with others and used in a number of ways. Typing is an option. Along with the passage (carefully quoted), include your name, the chapter and page numbers, and the date you recorded it. Do not share your passages with anyone until you are told to do so.

Nature of man—Durrenmatt’s play is a social satire commenting on, among other things, the nature of man. Locate passages that touch upon topic of the true nature of man.

ENVELOPE 12: Consider the following topic as you read, and record pertinent passages onto index cards or slips of paper. Write legibly as these will be shared with others and used in a number of ways. Typing is an option. Along with the passage (carefully quoted), include your name, the chapter and page numbers, and the date you recorded it. Do not share your passages with anyone until you are told to do so.

Bankruptcy—The word bankruptcy literally means a lacking of something significant. Record passages that demonstrate ideas about bankruptcy, considering all possible meanings of that word.

ENVELOPE 13: Consider the following topic as you read, and record pertinent passages onto index cards or slips of paper. Write legibly as these will be shared with others and used in a number of ways. Typing is an option. Along with the passage (carefully quoted), include your name, the chapter and page numbers, and the date you recorded it. Do not share your passages with anyone until you are told to do so.

Inevitability—Locate passages that relate to the concept of fate, inevitability, and/or the inability to act. Do we have control over our own destinies and actions, and if so, to what extent?