After submitting the History Project proposal, complete the next step, which will be for option A, conducting the interview; and for option B, initiating the research for your topic. Now, Googling is not the same as research. Research begins in the library. E-books, or electronic books from the library and academic journal articles should be the first place you go to. Ask one of our librarians if you need assistance. When all hope has been lost, then look for credible resources on the internet. Option A Oral History Directions:
This next part of this Oral History project is to interview an older relative or the person who has been approved for the interview from your proposal. You will use this information to create the story of their life. You will be doing the work of a historian, learning as much as you can about the individual you interview and putting together a cohesive narrative of their life into the larger historical narrative based on their childhood, family, daily life, dreams, struggles, and contributions. Here is the link for the Interview Questions. MUST WATCH VIDEO: https://gcccd.instructuremedia.com/embed/d3781e0e-d56f-4cdd-8fca-c441cd94dcdf Remember the following guidelines when you conduct your interview:
Ask open-ended questions: Try and avoid questions that can be answered with yes or no; you will get more complex and interesting responses if you ask open-ended questions.
Be flexible*: Feel free to improvise and follow new lines of thought during your interview.
Accurately record answers: Write down/type exactly what your relative says; do not paraphrase their answers. It is helpful to record the interview; ask your relative if you can record the interview.
Be non-judgmental: Listen with empathy and non-judgmentally to the responses.
Be as unbiased as possible: Do not impose your own views. Be sensitive to how they describe the forces that have shaped their life.
*If the individual you are interviewing does not want to answer the questions you are asking, I would strongly suggest choosing a different individual to interview. Short and incomplete answers will not provide you with enough material to create your Oral History project’s final submission.
List the following information about your relative at the top of interview transcript:
Relative’s name
Age
Gender
Race/ethnicity
Country of origin
Type the first two answers from the interview and then type out that you will provide the rest of the information for the creative narrative. Make sure to write down their words; do not paraphrase them.
Ideally, you should have at least two pages worth of material from the interview. If it is less than a page, then reconsider your interviewee as you will not have enough information for the creative narrative.
After conducting the interview, you will need to go through their answers and see how you can tie in their experience into the larger historical narrative. Option B: Research Outline with Resources
Write a 2-3 page outline that includes the following information: The main point (argument/thesis), the possible paragraph topics, a full citation for each library and other media resource, and some examples from the library and media sources that will be used in your paper. The Bibliography/Work Cited needs to be included and it does not count in the page length requirement.
1. The main point (Argument/Thesis) is the answer to your research inquiry. For example, This paper will look at ______ issue, which is comparable to events that happened _______. Many times we usually put the main point in the conclusion, which is good too, but providing the reader (me) with the main point in the introduction helps the reader (me) follow the structure of the paper. 2. Use the following links to understand how to create an outline:
https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/general_writing/the_writing_process/developing_an_outline/types_of_outlines.html
Is your outline going to be perfect? No, it is not. I want to see that you have started the research, that you are structuring the research, that you have the resources to support your argument. But Professor, I hate outlines, I do better writing a rough draft. Yeah, me too, lol. If you write a rough draft, make sure that the main argument is in the introduction and that their is a clear structure of the rough draft in the body paragraphs with examples from the library/articles in the rough draft. 3. For the bibliography, find at least TWO library books (e-books)/journal articles. If using Wikipedia, look at the resources used at the very bottom of the page. We all use Wikipedia and some scholars are actually fact checking the information. Just keep in mind that I am torturing you in looking for research materials from the library. That is part of the Historians Craft. There are some other websites that I have provided that can be used. If in doubt, please let me know and I will check it out but I trust your judgment.
Please contact our Librarian’s for assistance on finding sources for your topic. At Cuyamaca College: cuyamaca.librarians@gcccd.edu At Grossmont College: https://www.grossmont.edu/library/library-instruction.php The bibliography should be in MLA format. History Majors should use Chicago Style (It’s really easy and way better than MLA, lol).
Here are some acceptable websites that you can use for your research:
worldhistory.org
thoughtco.com
khanacademy
And podcast:
BBC Radio 4: In Our Time
Digital Hammurabi
Bio Graphics, Kings and Generals, History Hack, Crash Course are also good You Tube channels
Use this link for MLA assistance:
https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/research_and_citation/mla_style/mla_formatting_and_style_guide/mla_formatting_and_style_guide.html
For Chicago Style:
https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/research_and_citation/chicago_manual_17th_edition/cmos_formatting_and_style_guide/general_format.html
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