Value Essay Comment Instructions

I would like your Value Essay comments to answer the following four questions:

I - What does the author seem to be saying about what is valuable, and what he or she most strongly values?

II - Which of the two objects/priceless moments described in this essay did you find were most vividly and clearly described? Reference one specific part, anecdote, scene, or description that you thought was particularly well done.

III - In general, what is one of this essay's overall strengths? It could be its organization, word choice, writing style, introduction, conclusion, etc.

IV - What is one piece of advice that the author might consider for future writing assignments? This should be phrased constructively (try doing ------- next time, consider --------) or inquisitively (what do you think would happen if you -------------?)

Comments should be about two paragraphs (6 to 10 well-written, informative sentences). Your comments should appear below the story you are responding to. When asked to choose an identity, click "other," then sign your comment with your first name and last initial. Comments not posted according to these instructions will be deleted.

I would like you to respond to a minimum of two essays per class (6 total). The essays will be up by the end of school on Monday, Oct. 15th.

* Please bring a printed copy of your comments to class on Tuesday, Oct. 16th, as I will check them then. Your classmates and I thank you for your valuable feedback.

Six comments = a "check"

Nine comments = a "check plus"

For general information about posting blog comments, please click here.

Journalism and the digital revolution

Despite being a former newspaper reporter who has always preferred reading a paper copy of the day's events to an electronic one, I must say that the purchase of my first laptop ($699 w/ zero percent financing for 12 months) is making me a possible convert. Since I graduated from UMass Amherst with a journalism degree in 2000, the field has literally transformed itself.

Journalists now blog live, are expected to be proficient in Internet publishing, and are required to meet deadlines faster than ever. As online audiences grow and print subscribers dwindle, the papers that make it will be the ones that provide the clearest, most timely, most accurate, most accessible online content.

While I do enjoy reading live reporter blogs and articles with clickable hyperlinks, I still enjoy reading the print edition of The Boston Sunday Globe, accompanied by a cup of freshly brewed Dean's Beans coffee.

I write more about this affinity here, in an example of an essay assignment I modeled for my students that was inspired by a Socratic seminar discussion of Steinbeck's The Pearl.