Order ID 6463784949 Type Essay Writer Level Masters Style APA/MLA/Harvard/Chicago Sources/References 6 Number of Pages 5-10 Pages Description/Paper Instructions
History 105 Oral History Assignment
Prof Helton, Ohlone College, Fall 2020
For this assignment, you will conduct an interview of a resident of California about their historical experiences. This person could be a relative, friend, instructor, or colleague. The interviewee should have lived in California for several years. They do not need to be a U.S. citizen.
Finding a Person to Interview
You will want to choose a subject who will have interesting things to say, and to develop questions that will bring out those points in which you are interested.
If appropriate, I highly recommend interviewing a member of your family. An interview such as this can be a great opportunity to learn more about your own history, as well as California’s history.
After you have chosen your interviewee, you will need to ask permission to conduct the interview. Let the interviewee know that this is for a class assignment, and that you will be writing an essay to turn in to your professor. The interview will not be published or shared elsewhere. If you want to record your interview, please be sure to ask permission of your interviewee in advance (if they don’t give permission, don’t record). Set up an appointment for the interview, and be sure to show up on time. Your interview will probably take at least an hour of your subject’s time, depending on your questions.
If you have difficulty finding someone to interview, please let me know.
Developing Questions
Your goal in the interview is to deepen your understanding of California history by getting a personal perspective on historical events. Your interview questions should therefore focus on both the personal and the historical. Generally, you want to keep your questions fairly broad, so that your subject will be able to answer fully. Avoid yes/no questions.
Your questions should be focused primarily on understanding how your interviewee has experienced life here in California. How has California shaped them, and how have they been shaped by California?
Your first questions should establish basic personal information about your subject. You should ask about demographic background, level of education, where the subject was
born and raised, family background (economic class, number of siblings, parents’ profession and level of education) etc.
Then, ask questions about historical events and trends. Below are some suggestions for question topics:
- The Great Depression in California
- World War II in California
- Vietnam
- The Civil Rights Movement
- Protest Movements in California in the 60s and 70s.
- Feminism / the Women’s Movement
- Changes in the roles of women during the subject’s lifetime
- Involvement with / opposition to the labor movement
- Impact of race or racism on the subject’s life
- Impact of religion on the subject’s life, and how that religion is perceived in California.
- Immigrant experience, if relevant.
Conducting the Interview
- Views on immigration and how it has shaped California
- The role of pop culture (radio, TV, music) in the subject’s life
- Subject’s opinion of various presidents, governors & their policies
- Subject’s political affiliation
- Changes in California’s landscape and communities over the years
- Changes in American / Californian politics during the subject’s life
- Questions particular to the specific community (ethnic, racial, religious, etc.) to which the subject belongs.
- Differences between how young people live today and how they lived “back in the day.”
Before the interview begins, be sure to have your subject to sign the release form attached. Also take time to set up your recording equipment, if you are using it (be sure your batteries are charged in advance). Even if you do record, you should take handwritten notes, in case your tech crashes.
Please aware that you may be asking some personal, controversial and difficult questions. Please be sensitive to your subject, and be aware that things you think are straightforward may not be. Avoid loaded questions (“feminism is stupid, isn’t it?”) and save your most controversial questions for the end of the interview, so that the subject has had time to become comfortable with you. Also, monitor your responses to questions, and be careful of your body language and facial expression to be sure you remain neutral. Your purpose here is to collect information and to learn from another person’s perspective, not to judge your subject.
Remember at all times to be respectful, polite and objective. This interview is about your subject, not you.
After the interview, you should send a thank you note to your subject, thanking them for their time and assistance. You might also share your write up of the interview with them.
Some great tips for interviewing family members (and many of these are useful for non-family as well) can be found here: https://www.library.ucla.edu/destination/center-oral-history-research/resources/conducting-oral-histories-family-members
Writing Up the Interview
After you have conducted the interview, write up a four to five pages essay in which you present the results of the interview. In your essay, please address the following issues:
- Summarize the main points of the interview.
- Place the events of your subject’s life in historical context. For example, if your subject lived in Berkeley in the 60s, give some background on what was happening in Berkeley during that period. Then consider how, or if, your subjects life fits in to the larger context.
- If you use outside sources to explain context, be sure they are scholarly and be sure to document them.
- What about the interview surprised or intrigued you? What did you learn that you didn’t know before?
- Were the experiences of your subject typical of their times? How do you know this?
- How do the experiences of an individual differ from the experiences of a generation or culture?
- What are the benefits and pitfalls of oral history as a method of historical research?
Requirements (these count towards your grade):
- Oral History Check In
- DUE: September 28
- For this assignment, turn in a 1-2 page progress report on your interview. Include the following information in your report:
o Who you intend to interview.
o When and where you intend to conduct the interview.
o A list of the questions you intend to ask. You should include around
15 –20 questions. Be sure your questions are California-focused.
- Final Oral History Essay
- DUE: December 7
- For this assignment, turn in:
- A copy of the signed release form (scan or take a photo and upload it).
- Your 4-5 page essay, with content as described above.
- Be sure your essay is properly formatted according to the requirements described in the class syllabus.
- If you use outside sources in the essay, (and you should, to establish context) be sure to cite them and include a bibliogrpahy. You do not need to cite your actual interview.
- For the final project, you do not need to turn in your questions and answers – just the essay.
Ohlone College Oral History Interview Release Form
Prof. Jennifer Helton
jhelton@ohlone.edu
This form is to state that I have been interviewed by
_______________________________ (name) on _______________________ (date) on
my recollections of California history . I understand that this interview will be used in a class project at College. This interview will not be published or distributed outside of the class
__________________________________________
Signature
__________________________________________
Date