Like It Was> A complete Guide to Writing Oral History
Chapter III: Conducting the Interview
"Answers that are interesting include not just information, but also feelings and interpretations."(pg37)
Fact: people love to talk. Bigger fact: people like to talk about themselves. And why wouldn't they? Life is full of mishaps, coincidences, tragedy, love, loss. It's interesting and unpredictable. Not only that, life (and culture for that matter) still have a rippling affect on the past, present, and future. Interviewing the people is a great way to get a glimpse of apart of the past that you can't get from a history book.
Browns's book, @ least chapter 3, is the guru's guide on doing interviews. It maps out all the important preperations we need to make, and mind sets we need to have as future interviewees. The key to giving a good interview is to ask good questions, be a good listener, and take time to prepare your interview.
The interviewer's involvment isn't a major role, but it's an important one. The interview needs to have some purpose overall, and it's the interviewer's job to help get towards that goal, without having an overly pressing influence.
Some really good advice I got from this chapter was to jot down things you want the narrator to go back and explain, names so you can check for spelling, and questions you have. You have to keep these things in mind when you're doing an interview, because it's way too easy to lose yourself in the story. Gotta keep in mind that it's not just an interview or storytime, it's about doing justice to the narrator's oral history. It's important not to control the interview, but to make sure it doesn't go completely off course. All in all it was a very helpful chapter, and a good preview of what to except when I give my interview.
Chapter III: Conducting the Interview
"Answers that are interesting include not just information, but also feelings and interpretations."(pg37)
Fact: people love to talk. Bigger fact: people like to talk about themselves. And why wouldn't they? Life is full of mishaps, coincidences, tragedy, love, loss. It's interesting and unpredictable. Not only that, life (and culture for that matter) still have a rippling affect on the past, present, and future. Interviewing the people is a great way to get a glimpse of apart of the past that you can't get from a history book.
Browns's book, @ least chapter 3, is the guru's guide on doing interviews. It maps out all the important preperations we need to make, and mind sets we need to have as future interviewees. The key to giving a good interview is to ask good questions, be a good listener, and take time to prepare your interview.
The interviewer's involvment isn't a major role, but it's an important one. The interview needs to have some purpose overall, and it's the interviewer's job to help get towards that goal, without having an overly pressing influence.
Some really good advice I got from this chapter was to jot down things you want the narrator to go back and explain, names so you can check for spelling, and questions you have. You have to keep these things in mind when you're doing an interview, because it's way too easy to lose yourself in the story. Gotta keep in mind that it's not just an interview or storytime, it's about doing justice to the narrator's oral history. It's important not to control the interview, but to make sure it doesn't go completely off course. All in all it was a very helpful chapter, and a good preview of what to except when I give my interview.