American History

Talk to someone about history for 20 minutes or so. Focus on one event, era, person, etc. For 2010, you may wish to talk about the American Revolution, Colonial America, Slavery, the Salem Witch Trials, woman suffrage, discovery of the new world—anything in our textbook.

The goal is to assess what your interviewee knows about a past event or issue, where they got their information (personal experience? News outlet? Word of mouth? Family history?), and if their information lacking/bias/thorough. Compare their retelling of the past to your textbook.

Report: write 2 – 3 pages—In paragraph form, report on:

what did they say?

Can you verify their knowledge with the textbook?

Do their narrative uphold or contradict what you’ve learned or read in class?

How can you account for any discrepancies, if they exist?

What types of personal factors shape what people believe to be true about the past and their experiences? (For example, race, class, gender, economic status, geographic location or residence, sexual orientation).

Where did they learn what they know about the past? (For example, if you interview your grandmother about the 1960s and the Vietnam War, where did she get her information from—Television? Newspapers?

Friends who may have served in Vietnam?).

Format:

Your report should be double-spaced, 12 point font, times new roman, 1 inch margins. There will be a 10 point deduction for reports that do not meet the page requirement. Reports that list out questions and corresponding answers will receive no higher than a 75 on this project.