Oral Life History Interview - Report Example

Oral History Interview Introduction In the life that we live, everyone has a story to tell from inside out (Atkins, 2007). If this happens so, then personal experiences have an order as the memoirs of our life situations line up into fascinating stories. The objective of oral history is to listen to these stories. This is because in its capacity, it revolves around collection of living people’s testimony of their own experiences in life (Ritchie, 2003). For prosperity, oral history stands as a crucial exercise since everyone’s story is unique. Oral history is thus the methodical compilation of living people’s acknowledgment on how they faced and experienced life. This is not an exercise of fallacy but rather an attempt that tries to purify its findings, analyze them, and induce them into their correct historical context for the purpose of future significance to others (Whitman, 2004). In the real life event, oral history projects, as the interviewee recollects information for the interviewer as he records the entire process in order to have a well-framed historical record. This is purely depended on human memory and the spoken word to possess something valuable from the history. Oral history has a sequence 1. Formulation of the central question or issue How has it been in our family when you were growing as a little girl, as a vibrant woman and now when you are a grandmother? 2. Planning the project through considering products such as, budget, publicity, evaluation, personnel, equipment, and the time boundary Before the real issues of oral interview crops up, it is always good to prepare through proper planning of what the interview would require to carry it to completion. On the side of equipments, one may require a notepad or notebooks, pens and pencils, tape recorder (a plug in microphone if necessary), and other necessities. Among these requirements, tape recording and note taking is the most common means of recording used by research to get the best of folk life and oral history. The tape recording comes first as the most practical way of storing the bearer’s stories and experiences in a manner that is more complete and accurate. It comes as essential for its role in capturing details such as inflections, tone, pauses, and other refinements of performance. Another person as part of the personnel may serve as of value especially when you need the assembling of the instruments while preparing your interviewee for the real event. The extra person may as well serve to help record by writing and capturing the initial nervy details when the interviewee has not settled on the wired microphone. To make the oral history preparation tangible, the presence of the camera is a necessity. For example, if you are documenting a process, it allows one to capture the visual record such as the time when the grand mother is stitching or reading an archaic family Bible. A video camera may also help to capture a special community event or visually record a crucial family process. The period depends on the intensity of the research process. It may at least two days, as in my oral interview process, four days, or five days in order to create interlude moments with the interviewee. This may help to sustain the interviewee into lively sessions throughout the oral interview. 3. Conducting of back ground research. Seeking permission from my parents was the first initiative to get my aging grandmother ready for the oral exercise. It also made it easy to allow the memory of grandmother to reminisce on her life as a young girl, as a middle-aged woman and the now when she is late at her years. The process of recording information would have to be a tape recording and note taking in order to take care of the feeble granny’s voice when it is not clear since s he understands the purpose of the interview is to recollect the long-standing family history as she remembers it. This would serve as a factual memoir for our prosperity in the family generation. This reason rejuvenates grandmother so much since she understands the benefit follows. 4. The real interview Having done the necessary preparation, the time came for the real interview. The advantage of the interview is that the grandmother does not need a rapport since I am her beloved granddaughter. We already connect in so many ways. As everything is set, the process is set to begin: Family Folklore a) Q. Grandmother, what do you know about the family name Eekong’? A. It carries the virtue of determination that even runs through in you. Everyone in the family has no chance to be lazy. b) Q. Has this undergone any changes up to date? A. Mmmh, not that much but some of your aunties have been blamed of not performing at their matrimonial homes. c) Q. Are there any naming traditions in our family? A. Of course, every one’s name is a souvenir to something affiliated to this family. Like you case, your name means the beautiful one. d) Q. Do you know the history of how our family came to these islands? A. Our history is of gatherers and farming. In earlier times, our great fathers could occupy any land provided there was no one. That when, in the process of looking for a fertile land, they found themselves in this island. e) Q. Are there some traditions in our family and what’s their importance? A. Yeah, but the most important one is the ‘nuuka’. This is the remembrance of our virtues and family philosophy. It happens once a year in every June 20th. This serves to remind us who we are, and what lays ahead for us as a family. f) Q. At your age, do you still feel as part of this greater philosophy in our family? A. I am the symbol of the generation of my time. I join the past and the future that you now live to celebrate. g) Q. Are there some images that you keep that tell more about our family history? A. So many of them ( as she searches from the old weary leather bag. She exposes a huge heap of out dated family photos. May camera at last gets the best of the moment.) h) Q. Granny, you really are a perfect history of our family. Thank you very much as I look forward into another interview in another day. Thank you so much and live forever granny. A. (Smiling) that why I live, to make sure that I retell and protect our prosperity. I may die now since I have an assurance of the history is safe with you. Always welcome my daughter. (The interview ends with grandmother helping me pack my accessories, she stares at the camera for so long, a sure sign of how time and technology have surpassed her feeble age). 5. The processing of interview As the collected the information is on tape and paper, it now becomes the ripe time to settle and come up with quality ways on how the oral history on tape benefits my research. After a two days rest, I gather my instincts to listen attentively form the tape as granny recalls the details of our history. I write down the areas of thorough editing on my note pad for further compounding of the oral report. I also plan to make a family audio visual for the entire family to watch when ready. The rest of the materials find themselves in a well-documented booklet that carries only the paramount details of our family. 6. Evaluation of research and the interview The oral interview rates itself as a success even though the interviewee’s sound in the tape could not well elaborate clearly on some issues. Playing and repetitive playing of the tape was the only sure way to capture the true picture of the history as seen through the tape. The sample question carries deep the itinerary of the family and one can rate them as substantive enough to constitute a quality oral report. 7. Organizing and presenting the results The written report is sewn in a family memoirs book as the presentation of this document would serve as the source of history for the family members to know and even take care of those who would grace this great family tree. The second source of report is the edited audiovisual clip that I filmed in a tape. The authenticity of the granny’s voice as she recounts the issues in our family becomes the tangible reason as to how this oral history collection serves to unite and preserve the family philosophy for the better. The final collection, both in audio CD and in written form is now available for the greater viewing, reading, and memorizing for the great family of ‘nuuka’. 8. Storage of the final products in the archrival Since the family has no permanent archive, the best storage would go to the researcher. The best archive I can accord my family is the box that I have used to store all the oral reports I get from different disciplines. Grandmother’s memoirs remain safe in my custody, as history stays alive in the CD as long as the world can exist. This oral report highlights the essential tenets of life span where the theories of knowledge, skill and value and ethics. This helps to describe human behavior their social, biological, social, psychological, and cultural systems (Whitman, 2004). It opens one’s mind of how deep rooted a family can be contrary to the external characteristics one sees. It highlights the significance of cultural and folklore diversity as part of human development. In tracing the interviewee’s life development chart, as an adult, her intellectual ability has decreased as well as reasoning and her motor skill (Ritchie, 2003). This is coupled with the threat of limitation on her physical status and mortality. Her reflection of life is of one that lived with integrity and wisdom thus a benefit to the family (Atkins, 2007). Therefore, the family has become a place where she finds purpose, the love of being affirmed and valued in return. References Atkins, A. (2007). Creating Minnesota: A history from the inside out. St. Paul, MN : Minnesota Historical Society Press. Ritchie, A. D. (2003). Doing oral History: A practical guide. Oxford : Oxford University Press Whitman, G. (2004). Dialogue with the Past : Engaging Students and Meeting Standards through Oral History. Lanham: AltaMira Press. Read More