Take your time and read, look, listen, and watch each of the following Web based projects on “lasting love.” Then post a response in the comments section. Please answer the following: Which story affected you the most? Which story affected you the least? Why?
Couple Celebrate 70th Wedding Anniversary (Louth Leader)
Golden celebration of true love (Rocky Mountain News)
Readers respond with suggestions on how to celebrate a 50th anniversary (NYTimes Travel Blog)
Danny and Annie Perasa talk about their relationship (audio from StoryCorp)
Love, The Thing Called Love (National Geographic)
Digital Journalism 1 
Annie and Dannie were the most touching. Especially because you could hear the emotion in their voices.
I loved the StoryCorp and National Geographic stories, but for very different reasons. Danny and Annie Perasa seem to have put so much careful thought and emotion into loving each other over the years. Being able to hear them speak to one another so tenderly, while knowing that Danny passed away later that month, really tugged on my heart strings.
The National Geographic story was very well written and interesting. Although it involves cold, unromantic topics like neuroscience, tests and mapping brain chemicals, it leads into the discussion with a paragraph that makes you smile. Even the last sentence in the article makes you forget the psychology vocab you just stumbled through. It gives the research real relevance to the average reader.
My least favorite was definitely the first article. It read too much like a regular news article and left we wondering so much about this couple that’s been together for so long.
The Golden Celebration of True Love impacted me the most by far. I felt drawn in by the story’s candid portraits of the different couples celebrating their lifetime of love together. I also was drawn in by the theme that the story was not just about one couple, but many couples who had been together for decades.
The story that impacted me the least was the National Geographic article. I immediately felt very turned off by two things: the style of the article being so wordy, and also because the article takes the theme of love and romance and makes it very dry and clinical.
Danny and Annie Perasa’s interview was heartwarming, primarily due to Danny’s leathery grandfatherly voice. The audio said more than the text ever could; the sound of his voice when he recollected his proposition to her was heartfelt.
While “Love, The Thing Called Love” was an interesting piece, and probably the most compelling from a scientific point of view, no one likes thinking about the female orgasm as a screening process. I think most people would rather appreciate love than learn about it.
Just about everyone is saying Danny and Annie’s story was the most compelling, and I agree 100%. Danny is so sincere describing his love for his wife. It’s the little things that matter most; those notes he left her may not seem much at first because to some people it is just a piece of paper, but those few words on that piece of paper mean so much. It was important for him to put a smile on Annie’s face whenever he could, especially when he told her ‘I love you’ as often as he did. There needs to be more guys in the world like Danny!
The one that affected me the least was the one with the couples celebrating their 70th wedding anniversary. It is neat to see that many couples having a marriage lasted so long, but there wasn’t enough detail. I felt like I didn’t get to know those couples at all by just a few sentences.
70 years! I couldn’t believe it when I saw the article but these things happen I guess. I’m twenty now and I can’t imagine meeting my future wife now especially when she’s 16 like this guy did.
All in all though 70 years of anything is quite an achievement. 70 years of marriage and still going is something totally different. Personally I think it deserves more than a newspaper article especially when 1/2 of the marriages now end in divorce in the 1st year.
I feel that the National Geographic article was the most intriguing because it gave a completely different view about love being an actual occurrence in the brain. Even though it was not how we like to typically think love works, emotionally, the description of the professor in the interview gave the human element. The audio with Danny and Annie Perasa talking about their love was interesting at first, but after a while his voice became irritating and I did not want to finish listening.
The Golden Celebration of True Love is my favorite. I enjoyed the short autobiographic stories complied together to keep my interest. I do not like the audio story because rather than waiting for some one to tell me a story I prefer to be able to skim through and read what I want. I guess I would have to admit that I do not like the lack of control I have on the intake of the story.
The audio piece about Danny and Annie Perasa affected me the most. After being married for so long, nobody would have been able to tell the couple’s story better than they did. You can hear the couple’s true emotions rather than simply reading about what a writer interprets them to be.
I also found the National Geographic story interesting because it is about a person attempting to scientifically explain something that many people feel has no logic, reasoning, or medical explanation behind it. The article that affected me the least was the travel blog, which offered little to those who aren’t in the writer’s situation.
I think any girl will say that the story that they were affected by the most was the story of Danny and Annie. It was nice to hear that there really is ‘true love’ and that love can last a lifetime. It was great hearing Danny speak in lively metaphors about love and even death. The love notes everyday are the cutest thing (ha, guys, take notes!). The story that affected me the least was the story from The National Geographic. The story was too scientific; however, if you are reading The National Geographic you would expect that. Overall that story, while it had an interesting headline, didn’t keep my attention enough.
I’m a hopeless romantic so the articles about the married couples being together tugs on my heart strings. Being in a long lasting relationship myself (soon to be 7 years in a few months) I am always faced with the same question when I talk to my friends or family “How the hell do you do it?” The study the Professor from Rutgers is doing is quite interesting but I think love has nothing to do with science and more to do with your gut. You have to ask yourself can you see yourself being with that person no matter how bad they piss you off, Is the constant channel changing a deal breaker, or any other question that pertains to your personal relationship. If you can answer yes to almost every question you ask yourself or if that person is the last person you want to talk to at night and the first person you want to talk to when you wake up I hate to tell you but….Your in love toots.
I was a fan of the Danny and Annie Perasa interview. Seeing the picture and hearing the voices and being able to match them together made the story that much more personal. Even more so, hearing the opinions, views, advice, and memories right from the mouths of the ones who lived it made it more real and authentic for me.
I’d have to say the National Geographic article was my least favorite. I hate when scientists try to biologically explain everything they come across, and reduce things to scientific terms and chemical changes. This article did nothing for me.
I would have to say that none of the stories really affected me in any way. I found the “Love, The Thing Called Love” to be the most interesting because it gave a scientific look into the matter; which is generally not a way anyone looks at it. It give an insight to how we possibly unconsciously decide who we love or have infatuation for. As for the other stories, they are just the regular run of the mill ‘we’re in love and have been for a long time’ kind of stories … nothing really all that extra special.
It seems that everyone is agreement with the audio tape of the couple talking. I can hardly disagree with that, as the audio is effective in telling a story and revealing the nature of the compassion and humanity within the story.
The least effective of all of them is the new york times travel article. It is incomplete, unsatisfying, and does not make an attempt at capturing the truth, and affection in a story.
The story that affected me the least was the “Couple celebrate 70th Wedding Anniversary”. As cool as that is that they’ve been married for 70 years, the article just wasn’t very interesting to me. The story that affected me the most was “Danny and Annie Perasa talk about their relationship”. This one affected me the most because Danny passed away just eight days after giving the interview. During the interview it explained how they had been happy together, and it’s a shame that he passed so soon after.
I really liked the audio clip the best. The audio gave of a warmer feeling than just reading the text about people who have been married for a long time. The audio invokes more emotion than text ever could. It was rather moving to hear first hand about their marriage and their love instead of hearing it from a third party.
I liked the first story about the couple celebrating their 70th wedding anniversary. Because it was straight to the point. Also because you never read about a couple that has been together for seventy years. The story that i did not like was the Danny and Annie Perasa story it did not really have much information and was not enjoyable to read in my opinion.
Hands down, the audio interview with the couple where the husband died was the most moving. It was so personal and heartfelt — maybe it was the sound of their voices, the way you could hear their love. The other articles seemed very “factual,” how the couples met and so forth — they had no soul. There seemed no earthly reason for them to be together other than that they had lasted. And the least moving, and worst article, was the National Geographic one. I’m just deeply offended by biological reductionism. It doesn’t explain anything to know which neurotransmitters are firing when you’re in love. My experience, whatever its cause, is what matters.
Most of the articles were very sweet, but I think the is common with a 60 and 70 anniversary. The article that was most fascinating was the National Geographic piece titled Love, The Thing Called Love. I believe studies about why people love one another or what makes a good mate is a developing field of research. The lady who was mentioned in the article Helen Fisher is probably conducting more research sociologically and biologically about the topic of love. Love is portrayed as a happy topic, but there is more to it such heartbreak and loving someone who not interested in you. I believe more research should be conducted by the National Geographic on the topic of love and sex and the way it affects relationships with peoples mates.
My favorite article was the one with audio about the old couple, on being in love (“Love, the Thing Called Love” was a close 2nd). The audio was the factor that put the story over the top. Hearing the old guy’s grovely voice, saying how much he tells his wife he loves her, just displays a sense of emotion that can’t be taken from the other other stories.
My least favorite was “Readers Respond…” blog. It had no emotion. It was basically a “to do” list, that came off a little arrogant. “I want this, this and this for my anniversary.” The people who posted it were probably well intentioned, but compared to the other articles, it left me feeling nothing.
OK I forgot to say which one I liked the least, sorry. I disliked the forum for suggestions on where to go on a multi-generational anniversary trip. I was so bored I got through only one comment. Stories of other people’s trips with no accompanying photos is like looking through the pictures of an aunt and uncle’s trip from last month and feigning interest til your teeth are dry from smiling.
The audio story was by far the most moving. Text and photo can only tell you so much, but to hear the couple talk about their love was incomparable. It struck a note to hear their happiness, hear their voices crack when they must have been welling up, and hear them interact with each other.
The story that affected me the least was the first by Louth Leader. At first, I thought the blogging of NY Times would be the least affective, but than I realized how powerful it was to see how many people out there are happily in love and cherishing every year together. The first story was sort of shallow. Yes it is phenomenal that the couple has lasted so long but that was all the substance there really was to the story. I felt they could have done a little more, tell us about them moving around and how they worked through it, or explain what Biddy meant when she said a successful relationship has variety. I felt like I was reading just another anniversary story, and I’m sure their relationship runs much deeper than that.
I really liked the audio of Danny and Annie. It was cute to hear their entire story from their own voices. I also liked the little interjections that are difficult to capture in text. For example, I loved how Annie was reading a letter Danny had left her one morning where he started off by calling her a princess and then informed her that it was a rainy day. Danny interjected, explaining that it was a romantic weather report. This was one cute touch that made the audio work.
The least interesting was definitely the travel blog article. I couldn’t picture faces with the text, which is important in connecting with the story. Also, The answers were complicated and there wasn’t anything romantic about it at all.
The audio from Danny and Annie Perasa affected me the most. While you could not see them talking, the audio was enough to portray their version of love. The saddest thing about it was that Danny passed away in 2006. Danny’s words made you just feel for the two of them, made it easy to see why they were in love. The first article on the other hand was short, and barely conveyed the level of their story. It was a 70th anniversary and much more could have been done. Just using one photo is not enough for this topic.
Danny and Annie Perasa’s story was definitely touching and evoked the most emotion. Because I was able to listen to their accounts and hear the emotion in their voices. It’s difficult for a writer to capture real emotion of others in his/her words. The readers do not even need to interpret the words of the author to understand the emotion felt when the subjects, Danny and Annie, talk about their love for one another.
The travel blog affected me the least, as no real emotion was conveyed. I think asking for the response to readers was a great way to show how many people are actually viewing the site. The interaction may also allow more people to view the site because of interesting responses supplied. However, the anniversary story itself lacked focus and, therefore, the viewer was unable to form any opinion of the couple.
The story I liked the most was Golden celebration of true love. The reason I liked it was because I thought the writer did a good job of relating an interesting fact about each of the couples. I also liked that there was a focus on more than one couple.
The story I liked the least was the travel blog. I just found it boring.
The audio clip with Danny and Annie was the most compelling. What a sweet way to present the story! The clip showcased the personalities and loving interactions of the couple. It was definitely an “aww” moment.
The story that affected me the least was the blog entry looking for suggestions on how to celebrate a 50th anniversary. I felt like the post had no emotional connection for me and was actually quite dry and boring and the readers’ comments were easily skipped over. It needs a “human factor” to it.
The story that affected me the most was the audio piece with Danny and Annie. It is a prime example of 2 people in love and makes you believe that you too could have a happy ending. It provides a sense of hope to its readers and most vividly displays the point of the story.
The story that least affected me was Couple Celebrate 70th Wedding Anniversary. The article is vague and boring with little attention to details. There is only one photo provided and there is no real point to the story. I thought it was going to be much more detailed with more of a point. It was not appealing and I had trouble finishing it.
The story that affected me the most was the audio clip of Danny and Annie. Hearing the voices and the sincerity of their love created a more emotional attachment to them as characters. I was able to get a sense of what they were like and their personalities.
The story that affected me the least was the one titled “Couple celebrate 70th Wedding Anniversary.” It was written like a straight news story without any character or emotional appeal. It did little to draw me in as a reader or hold my attention throughout.
The story that most resonated with me was the story about Danny and Annie, of how they met, and the story of their very first date together. It added a truly human side to the story, as the couple have been married for several years. It was sad, though, to learn that Danny passed away in 2006. In The Thing Called Love, the author gives you a historic look on love from here in the west, to other countries and cultures like India. Also, it gives you a more entertaining look into the love & lust part of romance.
I liked the story with the audio clips. It was just interesting to hear 2 people that have been together for so long to speak with passion about one another. The first article on the other hand was very boring
Danny and Annie’s story affected me the most. They seem like they were such a cute couple and I think it was very effective audio. Hearing their own voices telling how much they love each other seemed so genuine and even funny!
The story that affected me the least was the NYTimes blog on “a 50th wedding anniversary.” It didn’t seem to say anything new or interesting, as it was just a someone posting a question and others answering, which is fine, but it just could not compete with the emotional intensity of some of the other pieces.
My favorite article was the Danny and Annie Perasa story. The audio clips made them come off the page and become “real people,” a couple you might see in the supermarket or sharing breakfast at a cafe. Their personalities shone through and I felt like I knew them after listening. I thought that a photo and text would suffice for an anniversary article; after this I know that the multimedia aspects of online stories benefit any kind of story.
The story that affected me the most was the audio story about Danny and Annie. They had such awesome back and forth dialogue, with great quotes and their personalities were so vibrant I am glad it was in audio instead of text.
The one that affected me the least was the travel blog asking readers to help find a place to celebrate their anniversary. I mean it was nice, but I have no perspective on it so it doesn’t matter to me, and it didn’t grab my attention in any way.
I liked the first one about the couple celebrating their 70th wedding anniversary. The reporter got very good details about the amount of children they have, and their names, and that they have 33 grand, great-grand, and great-great grand children. Also the detail that they got a surprise party was also very good reporting.
The story that affected me the most was the National Geographic piece. While only a brief excerpt, I was interested enough in that small taste to want to read the full article. The actual science behind love is something that I’m willing to read more about in greater detail.
The story that affected me the least was the Travel Blog about how to celebrate a 50th anniversary. It was informative for those looking to celebrate an anniversary, but personally, since I haven’t been married for 50 years, I found no appeal to it.
I like the third story about danny and annie perasa. it was refreshing to here how two people who are so close to the end find everyday happiness with each other and thats all that matters. letting them tell the story worked real well also, i didnt think it would but it was prob the best way to tell the story.
I didnt care much for the reader response story about 50th anniversary ideas. ive never been married, let alone married for 50 years, so i could care less about 50 year anniversary ideas.
The one i liked the most was the audio clip of Danny and Annie. It was better to hear them actually tell us of their life and experiences. All the other articles were very boring with very few details for such a long marriage. The National Geographic article on scientific love was the least interesting. People don’t want to hear, or care, about how the mind works and what makes them fall in love.