Interview Assignment: American Urban Society
Task: Interview someone who was born before 1940, using the following guide. A family member would be ideal. The person need not be born in the US to be acceptable for this assignment, but he or she must have lived here at least half his or her life
FORMAT: Write a 500-word essay in narrative form, that is, tell the person's life story by organizing their answers into cohesive paragraphs. IT may be easiest to write in chronological order, that is, starting with their birth and continuing through their youth, adulthood etc. Do not submit the interview guide with answers written below the questions.
PURPOSE: This assignment provides an opportunity to view 20th century history through the eyes of someone who has lived it. We are going to discuss much of what they have experienced... and this will help you put a face to the political changes that have happened.
Why? Because grammar and spelling are important!
Article: "Grammar is my litmus test," the C.E.O. of iFixit wrote recently in the Harvard Business Review. `If job hopefuls can't distinguish between 'to' and 'too,' their applications go into the bin."
INTERVIEW GUIDE
1. When and where were you born? Were you born in a hospital?
2. In what city and state were you raised? What did your neighborhood look like?
3. What were the occupations of your parents? How much education did they receive?
4. Were your parents born in the U.S.? Of what ethnic origin were they?
5. Did your neighborhood have a diverse population? Did your ethnicity (being Polish, African-American, German, Greek, etc.) make a difference in how you were treated, where you worked, who your friends were or who you married?
6. Did you have brothers or sisters? How many?
7. Describe your childhood home.
8. Did you travel much as a child? Did you take vacations? Where did you go?
9. How did your family celebrate holidays? What types of gifts did you receive for birthdays, Christmas (if celebrated)?
10. What was your primary mode of transportation as a young person?
11. What type of education did you receive?
12. How was the economy when you were growing up? Were jobs easy to find? What types of jobs were available? What was your first job?
13. When did you first vote? Who was the president then?