Lesson Plans - oral histories

Good and Bad interview and recording techniques

• demonstration of bad and good interviews, each about three minutes long (Pearl interviewed Dustin, with Kristine acting as camera person.)

• “Bad”: Pearl asked Dustin several questions that required only information as a response, or that the interviewee wouldn’t want to answer, such as:

Where did you go to high school?

What was your most awkward moment in high school?

Did you play sports?

Did you date anyone?

Did you go to prom?

Don’t you think dances are awkward?

• While this was going on, Kristine demonstrated poor filming techniques, walking around, shaking the camera, getting the up-the-nose shot, etc.

• Then they handed the camera off to Tekla, who uploaded the film while Charlotte led the group through a discussion of what they just saw, asking them how they thought the questions went, etc.

• “Good”: Pearl asked Dustin more leading and open-ended questions, and direct questions with good follow-up questions, like:

Can you tell me what it was like growing up in Killeen?

What kind of people lived there?

What was your high school like?

Did you date anyone who wasn’t from there?

How did you handle the distance?

Watch the video for Dustin’s dramatic story about his high school prom! (as soon as we can upload it, waiting for software installation).

• After the interview was over, Charlotte again walked the group through the kinds of questions that had been asked and the different answers that those questions got, and the group offered opinions about the videographer’s techniques.

What makes a story?:

- Listen to:

1) American Life Histories from the U.S. Work Projects Administration (WPA), oral histories collected between 1936 and 1940.

-Mrs. Elizabeth E. Miller talks about the theme of “Women and Work” in 1938:

http://memory.loc.gov/wpaintro/eliza.html

-->What information/insight does this tiny story give us about Mrs. Miller’s life?

-->What insight/information does it give us about Mrs. Miller’s historical context?

-->What kind of question or questions do you think Mrs. Miller might have been responding to?

2) StoryCorps podcast, Minister Beau Harris and his daughter Popcorn:

http://storycorps.org/listen/stories/kioni-popcorn-marshall-and-her-father-minister-beau-harris/

-->Compare and contrast the two podcasts--what do they have in common? How are they different?

Group work:

• Each group had 4 people plus a mentor from our group, and they used the worksheet we provided to ask each other questions.

• At the end of the session, we got together to watch some of the videos created by the groups, which showed both good and bad interviewing and videoing techniques, but had some great stories in them.

Marlin Oral Narratives Presentation: Round 2 (new cass)

Introduction

About Us

About the Project (?) : Oral history allows us to record stories and opinions on issues from people who may not be writing the history books or news broadcasts. It helps us learn from the people around us.

Create demonstration film clip (short)

Small Group Chatter: play podcasts that Charlotte suggested last week:

1) American Life Histories from the U.S. Work Projects Administration (WPA), oral histories collected between 1936 and 1940.

-Mrs. Elizabeth E. Miller talks about the theme of “Women and Work” in 1938:

http://memory.loc.gov/wpaintro/eliza.html

-->What information/insight does this tiny story give us about Mrs. Miller’s life?

-->What insight/information does it give us about Mrs. Miller’s historical context?

-->What kind of question or questions do you think Mrs. Miller might have been responding to?

2) StoryCorps podcast, Minister Beau Harris and his daughter Popcorn:

http://storycorps.org/listen/stories/kioni-popcorn-marshall-and-her-father-minister-beau-harris/

-->Compare and contrast the two podcasts--what do they have in common? How are they different?

Scavenger Hunt

Activity/Worksheet -- the emphasis here is asking the kind of questions that get stories out of people, rather than short answers. In pairs (or threes?), students will complete the worksheet, choosing a topic and drafting some questions they can use when interviewing a subject. Then, time permitting, these pairs can match up with other pairs, and each group can take turns trying out their interview questions on others who aren’t expecting them. This will allow them to practice bridging the content (the Q&A) and the medium (the flip camera).

Sample questions: “Tell me about something that happened to you at [place]”; “Describe [person] in your own words”; “Is there anything else that you think I should know about this subject”?

Remember: A good interviewer is a good listener; show the interviewee that you’re excited to hear what they have to say; summarize what they’ve told you, and then ask for more details, for examples, and for elaboration

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Interview Activity Worksheet

Name:

You are now an interviewer. You are in charge of getting a narrative. To do this, you will need to think of questions that get your interviewees to tell stories, describe places and feelings and people, and speak their truth. The details are what count.

First, get together with your assigned partner(s).

Next, choose one of these three topics:

a. Places and Spaces: Your object, if you choose this prompt, is to get your interviewee to talk about spaces around Marlin that mean something to them. Without directly asking any of these questions, you want to get your subject to:

- describe what a particular place or space in Marlin looks like in a vivid, visual way

- tell a story about a time they were there (their first time, the last time, a meaningful time)

- talk about their feelings about this place (the effect of their experiences there or what will happen to this space on their emotions)

b. The Town Celebrity: Your object, if you choose this prompt, is to get your interviewee to talk about a person who is notorious around town. Without directly asking any of these questions, you want to get your subject to:

- describe how this person looks in a vivid, visual way

- tell a story about a specific encounter they have had with them (and/or what usually happens when they encounter them)

- talk about how they feel about this person (the effect of good or bad experiences with this person on their feelings about them)

c. Things to Do around Town: Your object, if you choose this prompt, is to get your interviewee to talk about things people do in Marlin or nearby. Without directly asking any of these questions, you want to get your subject to:

- describe this activity in a vivid, specific way

- tell a story about a time when they were doing this activity (playing this game, or eating at this restaurant, or whatever)

- talk about how they feel about this activity (how they enjoy it, or how comfortable it is, or how they feel frustrated about it)

To get your interviewee talking, you must work hard to compose open-ended questions which can’t be answered with a simple place, name, or idea. You want stories, remember, not short answers.

Step 1: Write your chosen topic (a, b, or c) here:

Step 2: Think of an open-ended question you could start with, and write it out (every word of it) here:

Step 3: Now imagine that your interviewee is resistant. Maybe she stops after giving you just a brief response in Step 2. Write two or three follow-up questions you could use to try to get your subject to open up.

Step 4: Now you and your partner(s) are ready to practice! We’ll match you up with partners to interview, and you can try out the questions you’ve written above. You should see where these questions succeed and where they fail. After you practice, think about how you could re-write these questions to get the stories you want--and maybe other stories too!

NEW MARLIN DOCS

Follow-up Lesson Plan

In the first workshop, the students began practicing skills that would help them use available technology to become more connected to local histories. They developed interview questions, interviewed their peers about their town, operated a flip camera, recorded interview responses, and downloaded videos to (lab?) computers. The purpose of this follow-up lesson is to encourage these students to continue practicing the skills that they began using in the first lesson while teaching them about the elements of storytelling. By better understanding what makes a story a story, the students will be better prepared to encourage interview respondents to tell stories. They will also better understand what to look for when they are deciding what parts of videos to highlight and what parts to cut through video editing.

What makes a story a story?

Plot (conflict, climax, resolution or beginning, middle, end)

Setting (details! Set up the story. Where does it happen? When?)

Characters (how do the characters usually interact with other people, what do they look like, what is their routine? The character should learn something or change by the end)

Language and style (No rules. Stories don’t need to use fancy language. Allow respondents to express themselves in a way they might if they weren’t on camera)

How to tell stories from personal experience or hear-say: not fairy tales set in imaginary place and time - rather, emphasize local setting, landmarks, famous events. Story does not have to be original - local histories are told and retold. Encourage people to tell their version of it.

Activity: ? anecdote or fable? have students find the elements of the story?

IF POSSIBLE, with the OK of Fred and Lisa, I think we should show the students the Marlin documentary trailer, with the intent of getting them to identify the elements of a story by asking them what story the trailer is telling about their town. Maybe this is a little contentious, but I would like to give them the opportunity to discuss the trailer’s representation of their town--does it comport with their experience of living there? What stories might they tell that would reinforce or perhaps complicate the version of Marlin in the trailer? I think that showing the trailer would serve two important purposes: it would provide a sense of purpose (and maybe a touch of glamor?) to our oral history training, plus it would provide them with a better sense of how oral history narratives lend themselves to arguments. Even if some of the kids take issue with how the trailer represents Marlin, this could be fertile ground for a discussion of the features and power of narratives.

If we can’t show the trailer for some reason, or perhaps in addition to showing the trailer, I think it would benefit the class to have them watch/listen to more examples of a successful, short, powerful oral history narrative. In addition to discussing aspects of stories, I think they need more positive examples of what to shoot for.

I recommend these StoryCorps podcasts:

http://storycorps.org/listen/stories/frank-lynch-and-antonio-douglas/?sms_ss=email&at_xt=4ce2eaf035d626d3,0

http://storycorps.org/listen/stories/carol-jacques/?sms_ss=email&at_xt=4ce2eaab01ce3327,0

What kind of questions encourage storytelling?

Review of first lesson? Open-ended questions, follow-up questions, requests for details, active listening?

How to encourage respondent to embellish through narrated details, gestures, facial expressions and voice. To repeat. To interact with interviewer.

Activity: Choose your own adventure (see worksheet below). Provide a list of respondent answers followed by 2-3 interview follow-up questions. Have students select the best one. Discuss as a group.

Activity: ? Model a dull and direct tale, then one with details, gestures, facial expressions. Provide the students with a dull and direct tale. Ask them to embellish it.

How to find and excerpt a story through video editing.

What technology do students have available? Anyone know how to do video editing?

"Choose your interview adventure" worksheet/powerpoint: Marlin Oral History Workshop 2

What do you like to do when you're not at school?

Discussion: Starting with easy questions

I don't know. I guess I like to spend time on facebook. I like to eat too.

a) What is your favorite color?

b) What do you like to eat?

Discussion: Follow-up questions.

"Tell me more about…"; "What else…"

I like barbeque. And I like cornbread and sweet tea.

a) I like cornbread too. Who makes the best cornbread in town?

b) You've got good taste. I bet cornbread makes you feel better when you're sad.

Discussion: Avoiding bias. Avoiding leading questions.

"Tell me about the first time you had barbeque" instead of "I guess if you like barbeque, you must be from Texas"

Eli at Eli's Restaurant makes some pretty good cornbread.

a) Tell me more about Eli's restaurant.

b) Is Eli's Restaurant the best restaurant in town?

Discussion: Open-ended questions versus yes-or-no questions to elicit an extended response

"Tell me about…?"; "How…?"; "Why not...?"

Eli's Restaurant is a pretty laid back place. Eli is one of the friendliest guys in town. He won't let you walk by without stopping to say hello. Everyone in town goes there. Except for that new lady on Cherry Blossom lane. Everyone else stops in for some sweet tea or pie. It doesn't look like anything special, but boy that place can get lively sometimes.

(Analyze?: Setting and character details)

a) What's your favorite kind of pie?

b) That's so interesting! Tell me about a time you went to Eli's restaurant.

Discuss: Verbal and non-verbal encouragement. Asking for a story.

I was on my way to church for choir practice. I was kind of in a hurry, so tried to sneak by Eli's without stopping to chat. I had hardly gone three steps past the restaurant when I heard it. "Hey! Where are you hurrying off to?" Sure enough, I'd been caught. Feeling pretty shy, I started to explain my rush. The next thing I knew, Eli was pushing me in the front door. "I made some pecan pie that you can have a slice of if you help me move some boxes in the back," he told me. Now, I'm a sucker for pecan pie, but I could hardly tell Eli I wouldn't help him either, you know? So I moved the boxes and ate some pie. No sooner had I polished off the last bite that Mrs. Jones and the whole choir were walking in! I was expecting to be in some kind of trouble, and she did give me a surprised look, but the next thing I knew she was buying us all a round of pie. I guess the church was getting a new piano and she wanted to celebrate. Needless to say, I had my fill of pie that day.

(Analyze?: Plot - Conflict, climax, resolution)

a) You said everyone in town goes to Eli's. Some people say that Eli's restaurant may have to close soon. What do you think about that?

b) I think it's so unjust that Eli's restaurant may need to close soon, don't you?

Discuss: Restating or summarizing. Asking for an opinion/thought. Again, avoiding leading questions.

"You said…"; "I heard you saying …. Is this correct?"

That makes me so upset. Some building code guy in a uniform comes by and next thing we know, they want to take Eli's from us? I'm sick and tired of losing everything that's good to rules I think are silly. Bill's uncle is a carpenter, but his back's been giving him trouble, so I'm not sure he can help fix the roof. I guess if that building guy comes again, I'll give him a piece of my mind.

Possible direction changing questions:

a) You mentioned a new woman in town. What do you know about her?

b) All that talk of food is making me hungry. How about we talk about facebook some? Why do you like spending time on facebook?

c) How did you get involved with the choir?

Partner work. Have students pair up. Each person should ask a question to their partner. Based on the partner's answer, write a follow-up question. Repeat until you have 5-6 questions. Switch roles. Reconvene and discuss.

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As an alternative/addition to this wonderful interviewing activity, what about having each of them work independently to think of a story (in response to prompts we provide) that they can tell in 5-7 minutes? Then we could have them record each other on the flip cameras, then project a few of the videos and discuss them. We could talk about the features of narratives in terms of the student videos.