International Composition
Dr Keith Geekie & Dr Latifa El Mortaji
Fall 2010
Assignment #5: Oral History
Writing Goals:
To identify and narrow a topic about history.
To practice taking notes both from sources and interviews.
To conduct an interview
To incorporating direct quotations and reported speech into your own writing.
To punctuate correctly direct quotations from both living and research sources.
To organize a complex essay.
To practice description, narrative, and reflective writing.
Cultural Goals:
To identify meaningful moments in your country’s history
To discover research sources available to you about your country’s history.
To reflect on your country’s history and your relationship to it.
To share with others moments in your country’s past.
Discussion of the Oral History Essay:
According to The Oral History Society, "Everyone has a story to tell about their life which is
unique to them. Some people have been involved in momentous historical events like the
Second World War, but many others haven't. Regardless of age or importance we all have
interesting experiences to share."
What is Oral History?
Oral history is the systematic collection of living people's testimony about their own
experiences. It is not folklore, gossip, hearsay, or rumor.In oral history projects, an
interviewee recalls an event for an interviewer who records the recollections and creates a
historical record.
Oral history depends upon human memory and the spoken word. The means of collection can
vary from taking notes by hand to sound and video recordings.
Oral history, when done well, gives us a sense of accomplishment. Collecting oral history, we
have a sense of catching and holding something valuable from the past.
Topic:
For this paper, we will be writing “living history.”
Even though all of us live in time, and thus in history, we often don’t think of our own
memories as history. To most of us our memories are quite simply . . . memories. Many of
you may have had trouble even thinking of your own autobiography as valuable. However, to
your children and grandchildren who might read these essays, your words may fill them with
wonder as you recall bygone eras, recall towns and streets, trains and cars, friends and family
who are no more. It is good, I think, for all of us to stay connected to the times that others
have lived through that have brought us to a moment where we are living now.
This assignment asks you to record the memories of a family member or friend who is much
older than you. This person may have lived through or been witness to history itself, whether
that be fighting for human rights, fighting a war, working on a national election, being hurt
by hard economic times, being a part of some great scientific breakthrough or a great shift in
cultural norms and expectations. Perhaps that person knew and worked with someone
famous. Perhaps that person vividly recalls a time, a decade, a way of life. These are the
memories that we will be working with for the Oral History Assignment.
For instance, the person you interview may recall attending college in the 1950s, or hard
economic times in the 1930s. They may recall a time of political unrest or a particular war.
They may recall a certain way of life associated with a village, a profession, a particular
decade, a type of work done in the past. They may remember a place that is gone now or the
building of something new. The topic for this assignment is quite open. You'll just need to
identify someone you would like to interview and a topic you would like to interview them
about.
For this paper you will be researching a moment in history, conducting an interview and
reflecting on this historical moment. The interview you conduct should be with an older
member of your own family. It would be best if you could interview this individual in person
rather than over the phone, though this may not be an option. If you do not personally know
someone who is retired, perhaps your instructor will help you find someone to interview.
You may interview someone in person, one the phone, or over Skype.
You will need to include the following steps as you work on this essay:
1. Identify a topic you are very interested in that you believe a person in your family knows
something about.
2. The topic should be narrowed down (such as working in a particular place or living
through a particular decade or studying at a particular university some decades before). The
topic should also have cultural interest both to the students in your own class and to the
classes overseas. Your topic does NOT need to be on a negative event, such as memories
of a war, depression or disaster. However, you may want to write on such topics, which is
fine. But you are not required to. Happy topics are always welcome.
3. Research this event or period in time taking notes from at least four sources. You will need
this material as background information before you conduct the interview.
4. Write a list of interview questions.
5. Conduct an interview. You may use a recording device, such as your mobile phone. In the
U.S. it is unlawful to record someone without their permission, so remember to ask first and
then record.
Once you have collected your information, write a first draft. The draft should contain:
1. An introduction about the event or era that is the topic of your essay. This section of the
assignment may include library research.
2. An introduction to the person whom you interviewed and a brief discussion of how this
person is related to the overall topic of the essay.
3. An overview of what you learned from the interview.
4. An account or description of the interview in which you should include when and where
the interview took place, and direct quotations or summaries of what this person said.
5. A reflection on your feelings and thoughts in response to the person you interviewed and
what you learned from them.
6. If relevant, scanned photographs, image files, maps and any graphics that will help other
students better understand either the historical event or the person you interviewed.
About the Interview
A useful website:
http://dohistory.org/on_your_own/toolkit/oralHistory.html
Setting up the interview:
You will set up an interview with the person you choose. Be sure you are prepared for your
interview. The more professional and prepared you are during the interview, the more useful
information you are likely to obtain.
You will not be writing about the person's entire life. Focus in on a particular aspect of the
person's life.
When you write up your essay, you will want to be sure that it has a clear point. You can't just
talk about what happened in the interview. Think about how you want to put this information
together to make it interesting to the reader. How you present the information should be
determined by what you want to communicate, not by the order it was revealed in the interview.
Getting the Interview Set Up
If you are worried about the idea of phoning or asking for an interview, keep in mind that most
interviewees are eager to discuss their areas of expertise and are often flattered by the
opportunity. The worst that can happen is the person will decline to be interviewed, and in that
event you can always find someone else to interview.
Preparing for the Interview
Write out your questions to help ensure that the interview will proceed smoothly.
Good questions permit elaboration and don't call for simple "yes" or "no" answers. For example:
• Poor: Was it difficult to live on a farm during the depression?
• Better: What was one memorable experience during your life on a farm at that time?
On the other hand, don't ask overly broad questions that can't be answered in a relatively brief
interview.
• Poor: What kind of impact did the depression have on everyone?
• Better: What kind of impact did the depression have on your surrounding community?
The number of questions you prepare depends on the length of the interview. It's a good idea to
draft more questions than you think you'll have time to ask, then arrange them from most to
least important. If the interviewee keeps to the schedule, you'll obtain your desired information.
If the interviewee grants you extra time, your written follow-up will have even more substance.
Conducting the Interview
When you arrive for your interview, you will want to be on time and prepared with a notepad and
a pen. Some interviewees will allow you to record the interview either with sound or video
equipments, but you need to ask if this is okay. Don't assume that you can.
Remember that at the beginning of the interview sime people take a minute or two to warm up,
so you might start off with one or two brief, general questions that will provide you with useful
background information.
As the interview unfolds, take notes but don't attempt to copy everything that is said. Instead,
listen carefully, and jot down key phrases and ideas that will serve as memory prompts. If you
want to capture an essential explanation or some other important material in the interviewee's
own words, ask the person to go slowly while you copy them down. However, this should be
done infrequently. Listening carefully is still your best strategy.
When the interview is over, thank the person for talking to you. You may also offer to supply a
copy of the finished report.
Reflecting on the Interview
As soon as you complete your interview, expand on your notes by filling in details, supplying
necessary connections between points that were made and your reactions. Also, make notes
about the atmosphere. What was the place like where you conducted the interview? How were
you received? What was the mood of the interview? Often how something is said is more
important than the words that were actually used. These details may come in handy as you are
working on your essay, and if you write down this information now, you will have it to work with.
Don't rely on your memory.
How do I ask the questions?
1. In general, have a list of topics in mind, not specific questions, word-for-word, and not a
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specific sequence. You may, however, want to have a start-up list of questions to get
your interviewee and yourself comfortable before you change to your topic list.
Do plan the topic and form of your first substantial question after the "settling down"
phase. Ask a question that will prompt a long answer and "get the subject going."
Ask easy questions first, such as brief biographical queries. Ask very personal or
emotionally demanding questions after a rapport has developed. End as you began, not
with bombshells, but gently with lighter questions.
Ask questions one at a time.
Allow silence to work for you. Wait.
Be a good listener, using body language such as looking at the interviewee, nodding, and
smiling to encourage and give the message, "I am interested."
If necessary, use verbal encouragement such as "This is wonderful information!" or "How
interesting!" Be careful, however, not to pepper the interview with verbal encouragement
such as "uh-huh," said at the same time that the interviewee is speaking.
Ask for specific examples if the interviewee makes a general statement and you need to
know more. Or you might say, "I don't understand. Could you explain that in more
detail?"
Ask for definitions and explanations of words that the interviewee uses and that have
critical meaning for the interview.
Rephrase and re-ask an important question several times, if you must, to get the full
amount of information the interviewee knows.
Unless you want one-word answers, phrase your questions so that they can't be
answered with a simple "yes" or "no." Don’t ask, "Were you a farmer on Denny Hill
during the 1930s?" Ask stead, "What was it like farming up on Denny Hill during the
1930s?" Ask "essay" questions that prompt long answers whenever you can. Find out not
only what the person did, but also what she thought and felt about what she did.
Ask follow-up questions and then ask some more.
Be flexible. Watch for and pick up on promising topics introduced by the interviewee,
even if the topics are not on your interview guide