ORAL HISTORY INTERVIEW

PRE-INTERVIEW MEETING WITH MR. VILLAMAGNA

·  All students must meet with me to formulate the list of questions that they will bring with them to the interview.

·  You must bring a copy of ORAL HISTORY – List of Questions with you to that meeting.

·  You must also know the year of birth and the places lived (and what years they lived there) of the person you are interviewing when you come to that meeting.

WHAT YOU TURN INTO ME

·  A cover page with your name on it

·  Prior to the transcribed interview, include a brief biography of the person you interviewed (year of birth, relation to you, where they lived, any other relevant info)

·  A typed transcript of the interview. This should be word for word (including “uh” and “um” as well as cuss words if they are used). It is understood that this is a tedious process.

·  The format of the transcript should be the following:

John: What are your memories of growing up during the Depression?

(skip a line each time a person speaks)

Grandpa: Well, I remember that we had plenty of food. Dad used to have a huge garden that he worked on every day. (this is single-spaced)

***Notice that the names are in bold

·  Your last page should be your single-spaced one-page evaluation of the interview

HOW YOU WILL BE GRADED

·  The quality of the transcript (following my instructions, typos, spelling, margins)

·  The quality of the interview: How interesting was the interview? This includes the quality of the questions AND the quality of the responses. ***A good oral history interview has very little talking done by the questioner. Your questions should evoke elaborate responses. You should ask follow up questions when appropriate.

·  The thoughtfulness of your evaluation.

EVALUATION/REFLECTION

Reflect on your experience and answer these questions, single spaced, one page, with permission to use the word “I”.

How was this experience? Was it enjoyable? Excruciating? Explain.

Comment on the answers to the questions. What are your thoughts on their answers? Were there any answers that surprised you? What was the most interesting part of the interview? Explain.