Introduction

The writing you have done for Humanities Core to this point has largely been thematically and formally prompted. You will now undertake more independent research, and your prompts will encourage you to pose these questions yourself. Learning to ask evocative questions is the key to this assignment: a journalistic story based upon an interview with a person who has, in some way, been affected by war. An interview is a specific genre that requires you to navigate between the story of the person you are interviewing and your own expectations.

Your Writer’s Handbook chapter “Literary Journalism” offers you detailed steps in conducting the interview process. You can start either by choosing someone whose experiences you would like to know more about (your “interview subject”), or choosing an event or idea about war that interests you. You have many options available to you (e.g., family members, neighbors, roommates, teachers, members of your religious community). Your only constraint is that you cannot use your parents as interview subjects. Your prewriting will help you decide what kinds of questions you want to ask (e.g., about experiences living as a civilian in a war zone, about specific forms of camaraderie experienced in a branch of the armed forces, about an individual’s memory of a war-time event). Finally, your Writer’s Handbook details ways of eliciting productive answers, and how to incorporate secondary research into your journalistic process.

Once you have completed the prewriting and interview stages of your project, it is time to draft your story. As you write, remember that this genre differs from the academic essays you have written this year, and from your op-ed piece. With literary journalism, you show how an event carries meaning by using literary devices (such as metaphor and detailed description) that can offer compelling interpretations of your topic. This approach may be less direct than your approach to academic writing, in which you explicitly tell the reader the importance of an event; but it allows for multi-layered, nuanced, resonant articulations of meaning.

Note: Your instructor may allow you to do this work in writing, sound recording, or video; but be sure to check first.

Assignment

First, conduct an interview that poses questions about someone’s specific experience of war. Then, reconstruct a narrative about your interview subject’s point of view by integrating material from your research. In the process of reconstructing, your goal is to “show” rather than “tell” the significance of this experience of war.

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 30% of your writing grade.

The Writing Process

Closely re-read your Writer’s Handbook chapter “Literary Journalism.” As you are deciding on a topic, keep in mind that your topic may not be an event of war, but can center on philosophies and responses to war, civil disobedience, memories of war, even works of art. Once you have decided on a topic, 1) research what has been written on your topic and if there are differences of opinion, 2) decide how much technology you want to bring to your interview, and 3) conduct the interview according to the tips in your Writer’s Handbook chapter. After your interview, you should 4) go over your notes in private as soon as possible to fill in any omissions or to flesh out lines of thought. Finally, 5) begin drafting by reconstructing your interview subject’s answers and your responses. As you write and revise, consider how best to show, rather than tell, your story.

Student Learning Goals: