3 pages outline xzpq

I. Introduction

A. Attention getter: When I was two years old, I went on a road trip from my home state of Texas to New York and the Canadian border with my dad, my mom (who was five months pregnant at the time), and my two sets of grandparents. Despite being on the road everyday for basically a month, the day we finally got back to our house, I looked up at my mom and said, “Where are we going today?”

B. Revealed object: Because of my love for travel and odd fascination with mail, my ideal souvenir for every trip was a postcard. And these postcards are some that I bought myself on my Road Trip experiences and also some that were sent to me from friends on their trips.

C. Speaker credibility: Some of my parents’ favorite memories are on Road Trips and some of my own memories are also from these great and crazy experiences. Also, I’ve collected postcards since I can remember so I feel like I’m pretty knowledgeable on the subject and part of the American Road Trip culture.

D. Thesis: Postcards have represented travel and seeing new places for over 100 years and the American road trip culture is still one of the most fun and un-changed American activities since cars were first made.

E. Preview of main points: I’m going to tell you a little about the American road trip culture and also how deeply it means to me and maybe even encourage you to take a trip on your own.

II. Body

A. Culture object represents

1. So postcards itself started in the late 1800s, early 1900s and became pretty popular because they were cheap, fast, and some have really pretty photos or designs on them. Road trips and the American road trip culture started at around the same time, obviously when cars started to be developed and become popular and the first known cross-country road trip was in 1903. To me at least, road trips are as American as hot dogs, baseball, and apple pie. From families with young children driving through states to go somewhere like Disneyland, to crazy college kids looking to get away, members of the American road trip culture are everywhere. The only commonality is the sense of adventure, some good snacks always stashed in a car, and usually a pretty good mix-tape with great songs waiting to be jammed out to.

2. Postcards are a great representation of road trips because obviously they show new and interesting places. Also, I feel that postcards are uncomplicated like road trips. Compared to taking a plane where you have a set time to be at the airport and your plane might leave you if you’re late, you can go at your leisure with road trips. You get to basically decide when you want to leave and you can take detours to see extra things on the way.

B. Why I identify with this culture

1. I obviously don’t remember it but my first road trip was driving back and forth from Texas to California when I was 9 months old. So, basically I’ve been in the American road trip culture for my entire life. As I already said, I went from Texas to New York. I’ve been back and forth from Texas to California a million times in the process of moving from one to the other. I’ve also driven from here to Washington state and last year I went with a group of friends from here to Wyoming.

2. To me, the voyage to the place was half of the experience. That’s why road trips mean so much to me, because I think that’s the only way you can really experience America. Postcards have also meant a lot to me. Getting postcards for myself gave me a sense of pride because it was an actual object showing the cool places I had been. When I was little, it was also a measure of friendship. All my friends knew I loved postcards, so I would measure how much I liked my friends based on how pretty their postcard was.

III. Conclusion

A. Review thesis: Road trips are one of the most fun American activities and the American road trip culture is one of its longest lasting cultures and I think postcards are also very special.

B. Review main points: Both road trips and postcards have been popular for over 100 years and are way better than just taking a plane somewhere. I also talked about my past experiences with these two things and why my love and almost obsession with them is so big.

C. Memorable closer: So I encourage all of you, if it’s possible, to one day get up and leave your troubles at home and go on a trip of a lifetime, become a part of the American Road trip culture, and maybe send someone a postcard while you’re at it.