Remember that this project is a new form of writing for you. Your literary journalism story will include two perspectives. On the one hand, you present your interviewee’s perspective as objectively as possible. This side of your work is ethnographic. On the other hand, 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 is less direct than the way you frame an academic essay, in which you explicitly tell the reader the significance of an event or belief; but it gives you room to represent nuanced, resonant layers of meaning.
Keep in mind that your interview subject may not have been directly involved in war. You may, for example, interview a veteran who has not been deployed, a docent in a military museum, an anti-war activist or conscientious objector, a family member of a service person, etc.
Once your interview subject agrees to work with you, re-read your Writer’s Handbook chapter “Literary Journalism,” which articulates the steps of the interview process. Steps in the chapter include: 1) starting research on your topic (the general history and cultural context, if there are any contentious interpretations of the events you plan to discuss, etc.); 2) deciding how much technology you want to bring to your interview; and 3) writing and revising interview questions. As you conduct the interview, respect your interviewee’s need for privacy by allowing him or her the right to refrain from answering certain questions. You might think about ways to rephrase such questions more tactfully.
Journalists often find that their interviews do not go as they expect. You may discover that you need to improvise: to investigate a path you had not anticipated or to postpone some of the questions you planned to ask. Often, the best thing you can do is to listen hard and ask a question based upon what your subject has said (What did you mean by that? Tell me about that.). The interview situation requires that you navigate between the story of the person you are interviewing and your own expectations in the moment. For that reason, flexibility is important. You can always return to your prepared questions.
After your interview, review your notes in private to fill in any omissions you notice or to flesh out your interviewee’s lines of thought. Then, you can begin reconstructing your interview questions and answers, along with your responses. Your story does not need to account for everything you discussed in your interview. Some of the best stories focus on one, brief moment.
Student Learning Goals
