Writing Up the Interviews
Listening and taking notes are skills. You become an active listener by asking questions at the same time you are writing down notes of things you see and what the person says. Observe and listen!
I. Tips for Writing up the interview
A. Begin with an accurage and exceptional quote or observation.
1.Line of dialogue
“Who’s Joe Montana?” Maybe Jennifer didn’t know who he was when she first met him, but I sure did when they walked into my class room.
2.Physical detail
The superstar quarterback looked surprisely human injeans and a black tee-shirt.
3.Self—Prior bias/First impressions
I always thought superstar athletes were self-centered jerks, but man was I wrong!
4.Theme
Football players may seem larger-than-life, but athletes lead pretty normal lives.
Speaking to our Freshman English class, Joe Montana shared this experience:
“I go to the grocery store and people come up and ask ‘what are you doing here?”
And I say “What are youdoing here?”
B. Transition tointroduce the expert you interviewed:
- Who is he or she? Why did you interview him or her: what is his or her area of expertise; how does this relate to your I-Search topic?
- Where and when did you interview him or her?
C. Outline the interview to fit the theme—include only the details that connect to your topic
D. Cut the excess!!
II. Interview Styles
A. Straight Question/Answer—ho-hum method
Question:
Answer: “ ….”
Write the exact question you asked; either quote the person’s exact response, using quotation marks, summarize his or her statements, or combine quotes with summary.
B. Monologue—more interesting approach
Interviewee speaks in first person.
I remember once when I was seven or eight my dad took me to my first baseball game. All I wanted was Stan Musil’s autograph. He grew up in the town right next to mine. My dad and I waited for the players to come out of the locker room. When Stan came out, I asked him for his autograph, but he said, “Sorry kid I don’t do autographs.” I was devastated.
At a fund-raiser after our first Superbowl, Jennifer and I were seated at the same table, and he asked me for five autographs for each of his grandchildren. Meanwhile, my wife was kicking me under the table, wanting me to joke with him. But I just couldn’t do it.
C. Status Life Detail—most interesting method
Selects details to characterize interviewee, and how he responds to the questions in order to say something about the person or his life.
I watched him fidget nervously with his wedding ring and study the floor humbly. Meanwhile Jennifer smiled widely, chatted easily, and laughed out loud, while Joe, who had faced 300-pound linemen, seemed intimidated by a small class of teens.
Once we asked him about the upside to celebrity life, he relaxed and smiled.
“At Christmas time every year, we visit the children’s floor at Stanford Hospital. We slip in secretly, so no press is alerted. We go for the kids and we take pictures with them. Well, I took a picture with one kid and tried to give him the picture, but he said, ‘No, you keep it. You and I are buddies and I want you to have it.’” Joe smiled and looked down again, touched to remember his “buddy.”
III. To quote or to paraphrase?
Never paraphrase when you have a dynamite quote–a statement that expresses the personal insights about essentials of your discussion.
It is better to paraphraseif a person is wordy or the point he is making is difficult to follow.
Direct quotes can be very important, especially if the information is complicated or controversial. The best way to accomplish this is to write detailed information in your writer’s notebook immediately upon leaving your interview. If the statement was truly dynamic, you will remember it. If not, it’s best to paraphrase what your interviewee says.
When you write up your interview, be sure to paragraph your questions and the interviewees responses into separate paragraphs, much as you would when writing dialogue in a story.
Avoid this: I asked Mr. Montana how he felt about leaving the 49ers and he answered with, “I hated to leave because I had so many amazing memories with the 49ers.”
Do it like this:
“How did you feel about leaving the 49er organization?” I asked.
“I hated to leave because I had made so many amazing memories with the 49ers,” he replied.
The Interview Write-up Scoring Criteria
____/5Opens with an accurate and exceptional quote or observation
AND
Transitions to introduce the “expert”
Mentions name of interviewee and area of expertise
Where you conducted the interview
Briefly describes interviewee
____/5 Includes relevant and interesting information—avoids minutiae
____/5 Style captures interviewee’s attitude, style, mannerisms, tone of voice, etc.
____/5 Prose is relatively free of muddled sentences and careless proofreading errors
Employs MLA format
______
_____/5 Bonus: infuses and underlines participial phrases
____/20
The Interview Write-up
Scoring Criteria
____/5Opens with an accurate and exceptional quote or observation
AND
Transitions to introduce the “expert”
Mentions name of interviewee and area of expertise
Where you conducted the interview
Briefly describes interviewee
____/5 Includes relevant and interesting information—avoids minutiae
____/5 Style captures interviewee’s attitude, style, mannerisms, tone of voice, etc.
____/5 Prose is relatively free of muddled sentences and careless proofreading errors
Employs MLA format
______
_____/5 Bonus: infuses and underlines participial phrases
____/20
The Interview Write-up
Scoring Criteria
____/5Opens with an accurate and exceptional quote or observation
AND
Transitions to introduce the “expert”
Mentions name of interviewee and area of expertise
Where you conducted the interview
Briefly describes interviewee
____/5 Includes relevant and interesting information—avoids minutiae
____/5 Style captures interviewee’s attitude, style, mannerisms, tone of voice, etc.
____/5 Prose is relatively free of muddled sentences and careless proofreading errors
Employs MLA format
______
_____/5 Bonus: infuses and underlines participial phrases
____/20