Life History of an Individual Raised in Different Culture Through an interview, collect a life history of an individual raised in a culture different from your own.
You may interview a friend, relative or a foreign student.
Prepare for interview by locating and reading something about the culture of the individual prior to your interview. Then review potential questions by visiting the Legacy Project web site: http://www.legacyproject.org/guides/lifeintquestions.pdf (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site. and http://www.legacyproject.org/guides/lifeinttips.html (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site. for tips on interviewing. When you contact your subject, let them know what to expect, e.g., kinds of questions you will be asking, that you might be video-taping them or tape-recording them (the latter are optional).
Life History of an Individual Raised in Different Culture Suggested Questions
Ethical Considerations: Note that some of the suggested questions are very personal and you should think twice before asking them if you believe the question may be offensive (e.g., how did you get along with your parents?). Before you do the interview you must inform the person you are interviewing that he or she should not answer any question they do not wish to answer. If they tell you they do not wish to answer a particular question do not press them to do so and do not ask them to explain why. Simply move on to the next question. Also, let your informant know that the paper will be read by the instructors and it should not contain any information that would reveal his or her identity.
We are only interested in those questions that reveal something about the culture, society, place, and time at different phases of the interviewee’s life history. So try to get your subject to speak about his or her culture, traditions, cultural identity, practices, customs, beliefs, etc. Given there are approximately 100 questions on the list you should read the list and use it as a rough guide to structure your questions.
Life History of an Individual Raised in Different Culture Interview
There are a variety of ways in which you can do a life history interview. You can trace a person’s life events such as childhood, youth, adulthood, and old age. Or you can focus on special events such as marriage, education, employment history, or retirement. The important thing to do is to get your informant to reflect on the his or her culture in terms of values, actual behavior and practices, expectations, rules, beliefs, and change. He or she may want to speak at length about those life events that were of special significance. Allow them to do so but be sure to encourage them to address issues about their culture and social life. Again, reading the guide should provide you with lots of tips for the interview. It might even be useful to give them a copy of the guide before the interview to stir up significant memories.
Organize your report in the following sections:
Introduction: introduces the individual and his or her background along with what you plan to write about.
Methods: Describe the method employed, i.e., interviews conducted on x occasions for y hours. What background reading did you do to prepare for the interview. Did you tape record or videotape interview? (Typically, interviews are taped with tapes transcribed—we will not follow this procedure.) Include questions used in Appendix.
Important Life History Events: Describe important life history events of your subject.
Reflection: Reflections on the culture, beliefs, values, identity, and attitudes of the subject as she or he recounts events and assigns particular significance to them. As an interviewer it is your job to steer the conversation so these issues are covered.
Conclusion: Summarize what was learned through interview process. Contrast the life history/culture of your subject with your own life, highlighting similarities and differences. How might you have approached your subject differently?
Evaluation (Total 70 pts)
Life History of an Individual Raised in Different Culture Paper Formatting
FORMATTING and TECHNICAL MATTERS
Paper includes your name, student ID number, date, and title of the paper.(2 pt)
Spell check & check for grammatical errors. DO NOT USE CONTRACTIONS OR COLLOQUIALISMS IN YOUR ACADEMIC WRITING. Remember ‘it’s’ is a contraction for ‘it is’. (6 pts)
Paper is double-spaced. (2 pt)
One-inch margins on all sides. (2 pt)
Pages are numbered AND the paper has 4-5 pages of written text. Any title page, tables, or references cited do not contribute towards this total. (2 pt)
ORGANIZATION
Includes five labeled sections (Introduction, Methods, Life History, Reflection, Conclusion). (5 pts)
CONTENT
Paper content provides substantial reflection your subject’s culture as revealed through his or her life history. (19 pts)
Paper content thoroughly describes life history.(19 pts)
CLARITY
Paper presents information in a clear and easy to understand manner. (8 pts)
PEER REVIEW
Peer Review. Have a peer (friend) read your draft paper and electronically identify problem areas. Correct your paper in light of their comments. Attach both earlier draft (read by peer, with their comments) and your new and improved final paper (5 pts)
