Assignment: John Kennedy Virtual Oral History Project
My interviewee is Clint Hill.
1. Before the assassination, what did you think about John Kennedy?
2. Describe your thoughtsand actions after Kennedy was shot.
3. What were Kennedy's wife, Onassis, emotions and what did she do after the assassination of Kennedy?
4. Did you notice anything weird prior to the assassination? Did you have any feeling that something bad is going to happen?
5. Why and who do you think might have ordered the hit? Did Kennedy have any radical political enemies?
PART ONE:THE INTERVIEW SUMMARY
In this section, you will give me a detailedsummary of the main topics covered your chosen interviewee. These do not have to be in minute detail, but they must be comprehensive enough that when you relate the interviewee's experiences and how they apply to the Kennedy era and the assassination to me, it is an authoritative enough way that I know you gave your interviewee's entire historic testimony your undivided attention.It should be a minimum of 750 words in length, double-spaced.
PART TWO: YOUR FIVE INTERVIEW QUESTIONS
(note: see step #2 on the "Read Me First" document for the timetable on submitting your questions PRIOR to your interview)
Based on the information given to you in the summary that accompanies the interviewee you have chosen, compose a list of five questions that you would ask them if this were an actual face-to-face interview and you were an oral historian interviewing this particular individual. You will frame them as if they were an actual part of an "interview transcript." Good interviewers try to ask what are called "open ended" questions, which means they can't be answered with a simple "yes" or "no," but usually require some explanation (and hence more information is given). Here are some examples:
"Describe to me what you did when you heard that the President was shot."
"Was Kennedy still alive when you first examined him?"
"Describe what went through your mind when you saw the presidential motorcade pass by you"
Thus an interview transcript of your questions on your submitted assignment when you hand it in should look like this:
Question 1). (your name): Describe what went through your mind when you saw the presidential motorcade pass by you.
(the interviewee's name): He said that Kennedy and his wifewere waving and smiling. For an instant, he turned toward him and their eyes made contact and he smiled. It was "the most thrilling moment in my life." A few minutes later Kennedy was shot. "I cannot describe the immense sorrow that fell over the city," he said. He believes that Castro had something to do with it.
So what happens if the interviewee doesn't answer your question? Like any interview in the real world, sometimes the interviewee doesn't have an answer, wasn't "at the right place at the right time," is reluctant to talk about a topic for personal reasons, etc. If your video interviewee doesn't cover your question in some form or another, then say in your transcript that they don't, and offer an explanation as to why you think that is.