Papers should be 3-4 pages in length and written in a creative format (see below
Papers should be 3-4 pages in length and written in a creative format (see below). It should incorporate your relative’s interview answers and effectively tell their story.
Students should complete the following steps:
1. Use your interview transcript as the foundation for writing your 3-4 page paper. Papers should be at least 3 full pages long.
2. Cite the ideas/information/words you use from the transcripts. Put the interviewee’s last name and the page number from the transcript at the end of the sentence in parentheses. For example, (Hernandez 3).
3. When you write the paper, remember that it should reflect the experiences of your relative, as well as the time and place they lived. Choose the point of view and writing format that will best tell the story of your relative.
Tell a story:
You are telling the story of your relative and you want to present this in an interesting, creative, and respectful way.
Make sure to incorporate the exact wording from their answers as much as you can so their voice and personality is clear in the paper.
Please do not just list all of the questions you asked and your relative’s answers, make sure to tell their story.
Depending on the interview answers, you can tell a longer story or a just part of your relative’s story. For example, if your relative talks a lot about a particular time period or part of their life, you can write about just that part.
Be creative:
Find an interesting way to tell your relative’s story.
Please do not write an essay-style paper.
Choose a point of view and creative format for your paper.
Point of View (POV):
1st person POV – you write the paper as if you are your relative, using their answers to the questions you asked)
3rd person POV – you write as a narrator and talk about your relative’s story, using their answers to the questions you asked)
Creative Paper Formats:
Newspaper Articles (1st and/or 3rd person POV)
Short story (1st and/or 3rd person POV)
Testimonio/Autobiography (1st person POV)
Diary/Journal Entries (1st person POV)
Letters or Emails (1st and/or 3rd person POV)
Dialogue with flashbacks (1st and/or 3rd person POV)
Graphic novel (1st and/or 3rd person POV)
Have a different idea? Ask your instructor ?
4. Include at least one scanned photograph of your relative, at the beginning or the end of your paper. You can include more images if you would like (family photos, family trees, etc.)
Leave a Reply