Return to Oral History in the Classroom

ADDITIONAL ADVICE FOR THE HISTORICAL ANALYSIS PAPER

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• Introduction (no longer than 1 page)
  
  
• Introduce your understanding of what is oral history and your interviewee and topic.
  
  
• Establish a clear, underlined thesis for the historical value of your interview.  Make sure your interview is present (by name) in this introductory paragraph.

 
 

• What is oral history and what is its value in the study of history? 
  
  
• Consider Carr, Schlesinger as well as Don Ritchie’s thoughts about history and oral history. 
  
  
• I also suggest you return to your Progressive Period notes and look at the article titled “Little Big Horn from the Indian Point of View.”

 
 

• Assess your experience as an oral historian, what did you do well, what mistakes did you make, what would you do next time. (This is the chance to analyze your own work as an oral historian and demonstrate what you learned with respect to being a historian, not in regard to the content of history.)

 
 

• What does your interview say? (Brief summary as well as focus on those areas you have selected as the most important or revealing.) 
  
  
• Carefully select the major points that your interviewee makes about the period or event you are examining. (What was important to them?)
  
  
• Compare the interview to your contextualization and/or Garraty.

 

• What is the historical value of what was said by the interviewee? 
  
  
• How does the individual fit into the whole of history? 
  
  
• Consider the two most important words for oral historians: credibility and verification.
  
  
• You must quote from your transcription (i.e., Whitman 5) as well as use evidence from the sources you examined in the historical contextualization to support your interpretations.

 
 

·       Conclusion and some final thoughts on history, oral history and your interview (Consider what would be next if the project were to continue).