First, prepare by determining who you will choose as the focus of the essay and get their permission to be interviewed and recorded if using a phone call or Zoom. You must choose someone who is from a former generation than your own (at least old enough to be your parent’s age, but any person who can remember events from the 1940s-80s would be ideal). You will want to get permission in writing. Here is a template you can use. You will want to familiarize yourself with the history and characteristics of the culture your interviewee is from to provide context for what you learn. The following website will help you prepare: https://writingcenter.unc.edu/tips-and-tools/oral-history/ (Links to an external site.)
Next, write out your questions. You will need to think about what you want to know before you interview the person. You can go about this in two ways: The first option is to choose a person that has a direct connection to an event that you would like to know more about. Some suggestions include:
interview a Vietnam veteran about their experience in the war (your local Veterans Affairs office can often help getting these types of interviews set up)
interview someone who was involved in a civil rights movement about their experience
interview someone who remembered what it was like to live through inflation during the 1970s
A second option is to interview an older person (same age range of 50s-90s) and ask them what the most impactful historical moment in their life. In other words, ask “what historical event made the biggest impact on you, such that you remember where you were and what you were doing when it happened?” This can yield surprising answers, so be ready for anything! Do make clear that you are not looking for a personal event, like marriage or the birth of their child — you are asking about a U.S.-history-related event.
Conduct and record the interview
Transcribe the interview (Tip: if you are doing the interview virtually via Zoom, it will automatically transcribe the recording for you if you save it in the cloud)
You are ready to write! Organize your thoughts into a rough outline for your essay. You will be responding to the following prompt: How does the individuals experiences and/or perspective contribute to the documented history of the event?
Your thesis statement should be a direct answer to this question. Depending on your interviewee’s response, you may argue that this oral history adds nuance, challenges, or reaffirms the history of the event as written in the textbook. It’s unlikely, but if your interviewee recounts something that is not mentioned in the textbook or course materials, reach out to me and I can assist you in locating additional sources.
Organize your paper to include subtopics that support the thesis. Your paragraphs should contain succinct quotes from the interviewee, followed by explanation, analysis, and interpretation. To properly contextualize, you will need to draw upon information from both the textbook and other course materials from this semester, including primary sources. You may use other sources from the FIU Library, but this is not required. Cite all examples and direct quotes using Chicago-Style footnotes. Conclude with a paragraph that ties all your analysis together.
