RESEARCH-BASED OPINION ESSAY: THE ROAD, 2006 NOVEL ‘THE ROAD’

SKILLS | Research | Information Architecture | Instructional Design | Web Design

CLIENT | Academic
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THE CHALLENGE
Research for this project included understanding the writing process of a selection of American literature writers from 1945-2006. These included reading and analyzing literature by Randall Jerrell, Tennessee Williams, Robert Lowell, Truman Capote, Allen Ginsberg, Toni Morrison and Louise Erdrich. In-depth consideration of these texts, among others set the background for the project.

THE SOLUTION
The original question posed for this project was “What is Cormac McCarthy saying about American fatherhood in his novel The Road?” First, it was immediately apparent that the focus needed to be shifted from fatherhood to parenthood because the novel could be read from a non-gendered perspective. Second, the American perspective was removed because the novel could pertain to anywhere in the world. Third, it was briefly considered to focus more specifically on widowed parenthood, but this topic proved to be too narrow, and frankly just too personal to be interpreted well. In the end, the question being asked was “What is Cormac McCarthy saying about parenthood in his novel The Road?”

To get the full scrolling effect of this site, go to lynturnbull.wix.com/theroad

THE OUTCOME
There are two things that really stand out for me in this project: that it can be oddly beneficial to exclude many research channels in order to focus on the point of the project, and that it is important to face fears over unknown mechanics to merge the text with images and web technology to create a more impactful project. I have spent a lot of effort as a student trying to research the heck out a subject before sitting down to write about it through a wide breadth of data. This project though, was the opposite, in that it focussed on one text, going over it with a fine toothed comb. I have also spent a great amount of effort in avoiding web technology, but because I saw the compelling juncture of the technology and information for this project, I had to face my fear and just get the job done.
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