The writing you have done for Humanities Core to this point has largely been thematically prompted. You will now undertake more independent research. Researching and asking evocative questions are the keys to this assignment--a journalistic story based upon an interview with a person who has, in some way, been affected by war.
Before conducting your interview, it is critical that you read your Writer’s Handbook chapter “Literary Journalism” for step-by-step instructions on the interview process. These steps will include doing preliminary research, developing and revising questions, informing your interviewee about confidentiality, and preparing (if necessary) your technological equipment. You should choose your interviewee because he or she is someone whose war experiences you would like to know more about. You have many options available to you (e.g., family members, docents working in local war museums, veterans, neighbors, roommates, teachers, members of your religious community). Your only constraint for this assignment is that you cannot interview your parents.
The goal of the interview is to write a literary-journalistic story about your interviewee’s past experiences and present responses to these experiences. Your story should show the perspectives of your interviewee as well as your own.
Conduct an interview that explores someone’s experience of war. Then, in the process of reconstructing your interview, write a story that reflects his or her point of view at the same time that you show your own views on the significance of this experience.
Note: Your instructor may allow you to complete this project as a sound recording or video, but you must first ask permission if you wish to do so. This assignment must be 4 pages in length if written, or 5 minutes in length if presented as an audio or video story. It counts as 25% of your writing grade.
