Ancient civilizations relied on their oral traditions to be handed down by word of mouth thus preserving their culture, family history and sense of worth.  This was the custom until history became written and preserved in books.  That is why it is important to pass down the stories of the family members through oral tradition.  Many people today do interviews with family members and other people in order to put these treasures down on paper as a permanent record. 

            This section is devoted to family interviews.  You are to interview three or more people and record the information below, as well as write these into a family history in paragraph form, using the notes below.  Not all of us are fortunate to have family members living nearby, so you may interview neighbors or family friends who are older than thirty-five.  You may also interview one siblings, preferably an older one (18 years and up). Don’t forget that you can fax your questions or email them as well to get the responses long distance.

• Interviews will be compiled in a separate report folder I will give you and turned in final draft form, written in ink or preferably typed.

• Make creative titles for each interview and be sure to use a grabber or hook opening line into each interview to catch the reader’s attention.  In order to hook the reader, focus on something interesting or funny that you can write up in the first line or first paragraph. 

• You can form your written document similar to the interview itself, childhood, adolescent, and adulthood but leave out the section headers as it distracts from the interview itself. 

·        Minimum per interview is 1 of a page typed, single or 1.5 spacing with no larger than 12 font Times New Roman, and there is no maximum length per interview.

Pre-Interview

1. Have your questions ready before the interview.

2. State the reason for the interview and what you hope to learn from it.

3. Have the interview in a quiet and comfortable place.  Try to limit the disruptions.

4. Explain how you plan to record this, if by hand on paper, on computer or by tape recorder.

The Interview

1. Start with getting background information.

2. Be sure to express interest and ask new questions if you think of one based on their response.

Types of Questions:

Descriptive - Ask them to describe and activity, place or experience.

Comparative - If they have difficulty with a question compare it to something else.  Do you like living here?  ( Compare) Do you like living here better than you did living in Kansas?

Hypothetical - A what if question.  What if you had gone on and become a doctor, what type of medicine would you have practiced?  What if you had not been injured in High School football where do you think you would be today?

Tip: Never rush an interview!  Be creative, ask new questions or change the old ones!

Do not cut someone off if they are not answering your question the way you wanted.  Be polite and when they finish ask it again or rephrase.

• Hook and opening paragraph (Pick an interesting incident or activity and highlight this to draw in your reader)

• Background and Childhood (Born and raised where? Elementary age incidents or school information)

• Young Adulthood  (Junior High, High School and College)

• Present (Current job, hobbies, outside activities, family and memories as well as future plans)

• Wrap up sentence in the final paragraph that links back to the title/ hook.

You need to organize your final draft into these categories or sections.  DO NOT LABEL THEM OR SEPARATE AS SECTIONS.  Each can be more than one paragraph.

Interview #1 is due in final draft form on __________

Interview #2 is due in final draft form on _____________