A good interview establishes a comfortable rapport with sincere interest in someone's life story.
You can gather a life story in different ways - objectively in the manner of a reporter, historian or academic researcher or else more subjectively in a personal search for roots or as a storyteller looking for a good tale. For me, what began as a personal recollection of my grandfather's life led to my writing a children's book, The Always Prayer Shawl. Whatever your purpose, it is important that the interview itself is satisfying for everyone.
The right question asked in the right way brings out great treasures - not highly priced objects but the stories and insights that give events and objects their personal value.
I suggest it is best to gather both the hard facts, as well as personal
insights. The facts establish the objective reality, the subjective
impressions provides the ring of truth.
Be patient. An answer may seem quite short even dismissive but it may
be an initial response that can lead to a longer and fuller account.
Your quiet nod or further question may encourage your subject to go beyond
generalities or cliche responses and deeper into memory.
A general question can open a whole world.
A specific question can bring it to life
Switch between general and specific questions. A general question
can be overwhelming, leading to abstractions.
Question - Was the depression difficult for your family?
Answer - It sure was. But we learned the value of hard work. People
pulled together not like today, etc.
However a general question can introduce specific questions.
Questions - Did you have to go to work? Where did you work? What was
that like? How much did you earn? What did you miss most by leaving school?
The list of questions is a guideline and starting point to stimulate
memories. Adapt it to the person and the situation. Let your subject "warm
up" and recall things naturally. Once a story begins, add your own questions
to encourage details. One story leads to another. Return to this question
list as needed.
Video or tape recording may be better than taking notes. You
can always transcribe it if desired. Test and set up equipment beforehand
so you can have a natural discussion. (set the camera on a stand aimed
at you both in a familiar comfortable setting)
LIFE STORY QUESTIONS
A. What was your mother's family like?
1. What were the names of your mother's parents?
2. When and where were they born? Where did they live?
3. How did they make a living?
4. What are your clearest memories of them?
5. Do you recall anything either one said to you? Or did for you?
6. Who else in that family do you remember? What was he/she like?
7. Do you know your ancestry before your mother's grandparents? Do
you know other family stories about any of them?
8. What was it like for them during .... (various historical events
of the time - war, immigration, Depression, natural disaster, political
changes)
9. Did they have any special traditions? Are any still followed?
10. Do you have any special objects or mementoes of any of them? Does
the object have a story? (If not an object, perhaps there's a place or
activity reminiscent of a family member)
11. Where are the other members/branches of the family now?
12. What was your mother like? (appearance, personality, habits, common
expressions, interests, work, special memories of her). Ask similar questions
on the father's side. What was it like for you as a child?
1. When were you born? Where did you grow up? (Country, name and size
of city or town, neighbourhood, kind of home) How was that place different
than here? What did you bring with you?
2. What were your parents like? Describe them - appearance and character,
way of making a living.
3. How many brothers and sisters did you have? What were their names
and the order of their birth? (possibly dates of birth)
4. Who were you closest to in the family? Describe that person(s).
What would you do together that was special?
5. What kind of family chores did you do?
6. What jobs did you get outside the family? WHat did you earn?
7. Where did you go to school? How was your education different than
today? What was better? What was worse? Did you have any special teacher?
How did that person help you?
8. How was your life then different than a child's today?
9. What were your clearest memories of childhood? - kinds of food -
who made it, where and how?
- pets, hobbies, sports
- your favourite toy, bike or car
- favourite joke or game or practical joke.
- special movie, book, radio programs or songs
- favourite place in the house / the neighbourhood / the area (perhaps
a fishing hole, a vacation spot or a hideaway)
- how did your family spend a typical day or evening?
- family time - game, picnic, different holidays, gifts, visits, traditional
event, entertainment, storytelling,
10. Do you recall any stories told by your family? (These can be family
stories or folk tales) Do you remember folk songs or lullabyes?
11. Who were your friends, heroes, role models?
12. Did you ever get into trouble? What happened?
13. What did you want to be when you grew up?
14. Were you ever given any important advice or predictions?
D. Adulthood
1. When did you first leave home and why?
2. What kind of jobs did you have? What did you have to learn to succeed
at them? Were any very difficult? Exciting? Unusual?
3. Did you travel? How old were you? What did you see?
4. Did you ever meet anyone famous?
5. Were you ever present at an historic moment?
6. Did you ever receive any kind of award or honour?
7. Did you ever feel you were in great danger or in great need?
8. Did you ever help someone who was in great danger or need?
9. Who helped you the most in your family. Outside your family?
10. What was your family's first car?
11. When did you first ride in a plane?
12. When did you meet the one you married? Where and how? What impressed
you at that time? When did you decide to marry? What convinced you it was
the right decision? How did the proposal go? What was the wedding like?
13. What was your first home? What was your first car?
14. How did you make a living at the time?
15. What was it like to raise a family? (Discuss each child.)
16. Who were your family friends? What family events, vacations do
you remember best as the children were growing up.
E. The Present
1. What did your brothers and sisters do later in their lives?
2. Things have changed greatly since you were a child. What do you
think are important things that have not changed?
3. Do any members of your family have your traits? Which traits? Does
anyone in your present family have traits of your parents
or grandparents? Who? Which traits?
4. If you could be any age again, which age would you be? Why?
5. If you could go anywhere in the world where would it be? Why?
6. If you could talk to any person you ever knew, who would it be?
What would you talk about?
7. Is there anything that you regretted not doing?
8. Is there anything you are especially proud of?
Note Record the person giving a tour of his/her home and
memorabilia or record the person going through photos, family trees or
mementoes as they stimulate memories. Consider interviewing a friend or
relatives of the person to get insights and more stories about the person.
After the interview The person may continue thinking about your
questions afterwards. Leave the question sheet. Call back. You may learn
more. Use the next opportunity to clarify details.
The questions we ask of others we can also ask of ourselves. Take the opportunity to gather your own life story.
Ask yourself these questions to recall and organize your own early memories. I used similar questions to recall details from my own past which led to me writing This Business With Elijah, interconnected tales set in Winnipeg's immigrant Northend.
My children's illustrated book THE ALWAYS PRAYER SHAWL (Boyds Mills Press) was inspired by a specific question. In preparation for my son's Bar Mitzvah I came across my grandfather's prayer shawl. I wrote the story to explore why my grandfather's tallis was so important to me and to "introduce" my grandfather to my son. In the book a grandson asks a simple general question - "Grandfather, were you ever a kid like me?" The book tells his life story with the shawl as its central symbol. Later when I adapted the book into a play I used such questions to develop characters and scenes.
Researching the past outside of your family can also be rewarding. The
White Stone in the Castle Wall Tundra Books is an illustrated children's
book that was inspired by stories from the past but not my own past. It
came from a tour guide's colourful tales about Toronto's eccentric Sir
Henry Pellat and his grand castle, Casa Loma built in 1912.
SHELDON OBERMAN is a writer, teacher and storyteller. He has
published eight books for children and adults. He presents stories, addresses
and workshops for schools and conferences.
Sheldon Oberman 822 Dorchester Ave Winnipeg R3M 0R7 204 478 1644
GATHERING THE "LIFE STORY" OF A LOCAL BUILDING
We can gather the life story of a person.(see earlier notes)
We can also learn about the "life" of a local building.
This research can lead to factual reports and fictional
stories.
Take a Tour And Enter a New/Old World
I took a tour of Casa Loma, a "castle" built in 1912 by Sir Henry Pellatt.
My tour guide was a wonderful storyteller with colourful descriptions about
Sir Henry's life, his times and the construction of Casa Loma.
The tour guide's story of the building gave life to the entire historical
period - how the rich and poor lived; how they worked, played, their
homes, their clothing and vehicles, what the city was like to live in and
walk through at the time, and the exciting rise and fall of Sir Henry Pellatt
himself.
A Single Detail Can Spark a Great Idea
One detail struck me; Sir Henry offered the people of the city a dollar
for each field stone they brought for his wall. He bought 250,000 of them.
This historical fact inspired by the presence of the actual building
combined with a personal observation - I noticed there was only
one white stone in the wall. This inspired a story of a Scottish
immigrant boy who struggles to bring that white stone to Casa Loma and
what he learns about the value of work. It also became a walking tour of
the old city from the poorest neighbourhood to the wealthiest.
THE WHITE STONE IN THE CASTLE WALL (Tundra 0-88776-333-2).
Set a Fictional Tale or "News" Story in an Actual Local Building
Students can learn about a famous local place or even a neighbourhood
fire hall, theatre or house. Take a tour, read local history books,
old newspapers or have a visit from someone who knew the area at the time.
It is useful for students to know about the assignment before a
tour or visitor's talk. With some preliminary info, they can ask better
questions. Combine historical information with a sense of how
people lived at the time. Students' stories or reports will be richer
in both history and colourful detail if it comes from a real
sense of place. This can also lead to a deeper valuing of neighbourhood
and community.
Try Your Own House or School
A student can create a great story set in his or her own house or
school. Who was there years ago? Consider how people lived when the
building was new. Imagine an exciting event that might have happened in
the rooms, the yard and street.
A woman mentioned how she had a one minute tape recording of her mother
singing a favorite song. It is her most precious memory now but it seemed
almost too silly to bother recording at the time.
Imagine if someone had taped a typical family gathering of yours twenty
years ago - not just a few highlights but the whole thing - in real time.
It is the very ordinary sensations of typical family interactions that
can be the most precious or the most revealing. It's our history. It's
what shaped who we are today. And not all of it is endearing, but that's
what makes it all the more important - no one comes from the perfect family.
It's also the cracks and flaws that give us our distinctive character.
This season, try taking an unobtrusive real time video of a family gathering.
The formal shots of speeches and unwrapping presents are all fine an good
but a "real time informal" video shoot gives you something quite different.
Set the video camera on a tripod in a corner before people arrive, turn
it on when they enter and leave it alone. You won't get everything and
everybody but you will get a lot more than you would as a nosey paparazzi.
If you don't pay attention to the camera soon no one else will either.
Occasionally shift the tripod to a different corner perhaps between
courses but always unobtrusively. And after the meal, you might take it
to the kitchen and the rooms where people are sitting around but never
aiming or pointing it. Simply rest it on a table or keep it cradled in
your arms, with the viewfinder positioned so that you only need to glance
at it to put people in frame.
Stay natural. People will be aware of being taped but if you stay focused
on the conversation, the novelty will quickly wear off and everyone will
behave as they normally do. And that's what you want. A Slice of Life.
When the evening is over, it's fun to "debrief" by slipping the video
into the VCR and see what you have. Sometimes the most incidental shot
may capture a great gesture or expression or some characteristic interaction.
"There she goes - Look - she always does that!"
Remember to take off the clip from the cassette so as not to record over it. You might even want to make a copy for relatives. (Many video rental stores charge under $10 or you recopy it yourself by hooking 2 VCRs together. You can also do a rough editing this way) If you ever decide to do a good edit, you might find someone in the family to take it on as a project. Add some favourite music, some narrative or a pan of family photos and maybe some titles. You will have a great family gift for next year or for ten years down the way.
Sheldon Oberman offers workshops in various ways to gathering family memories and stories.
SHELDON OBERMAN is a writer, teacher and storyteller.
He has published eight books for children and adults.
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