Running head: 46196- INTENSIVE INTERVIEW 1

Author’s Name: __________________________

Institutional Affiliation: _____________________

Running head: 46196- INTENSIVE INTERVIEW 2
Introduction
The essay is about the oral historical interview conducted with one of my family members. My informant was

my grandfather, Walter Ellen, aged seventy-nine. He was born on 26 September 1943 in the small village of

Queensland. He was a very good student and has always secured good marks in his education. Moreover, he has

detailed knowledge about the history and he is a very good poet. He got married in the year 1965 with my

grandma, Alice Walter; a sensible and a caring woman. He served in a reputed organization for more than

thirty- three years and retired at the age of sixty-three. The topic I have selected for interview is the education

life of my grandpa. He told me about his early education, about his school and much more.

The report given below is actually grounded on an interview that was undertaken on 14th of October, 2016 at my

grandpa's house that means it was face to face communication ("Oral History Interviews: Family History and

Folklife (The American FolklifeCenter, Library of Congress)", 2016). 3 pm in the afternoon I went to my

grandpa’s house to conduct this interview and the duration was approximately 30 minutes, it means it was

completed at 3:30 pm. I have conducted an oral history interview with him and really it was such a nice

experience for me. I conducted this interview with my grandfather in English. I also record the answers of my

grandpa in the voice recorder for analyzing his interview in the future.

Mr. Walter’s was a very responsible child from his childhood and his dream was to become a writer or a poet

that is why he always wanted to get the education so that he can achieve his dream. But at that time people do

not emphasize on their children to take admission in the school and get some knowledge. The basic reason was

that the education was not so important for them. But my grandfather, Walter Ellen, insisted and he started his

early education in the ordinary school which was located near to his house, at a distance of 0.5 km. He always

loved his school and most of his teachers. When my grandpa’s dad took him to school for the admission he was

really very excited. On that day, he felled that he was a very lucky person as his biggest dream come true. On

the first day of his school, he met so many new children. Most of them were of the same colony where my

grandpa lives and others were from different colonies that cover a large distance from their home to come

school to learn knowledge. He also met his teachers which were going to teach different subjects to him. He
Running head: 46196- INTENSIVE INTERVIEW 3
was very happy in the school and enjoyed a lot. My grandpa also made so many friends in the first two weeks

that he spent in the school ("Oral History Interviewing Tips - Family Tree Magazine", 2011). Talking about so

many good and bad things that he faced in the schools, he also told me about the subjects that he liked the most

in the school and about the least favorite subjects as well. According to him, in his school, he never liked

mathematics. As it was very difficult for him to understand math from the beginning because he always got

confused while solving problems. He was not so intelligent in mental math and most of the times find out the

wrong answer to the question in the class. Another reason for disliking this subject was the strict behavior of the

math teacher. Mr. Walter got so many punishments in the class just because of his weak math. Along with his

least favorite subject, he also told about his most favorite subject. As his dream was to become a poet that is

why from the beginning, his interest was in English. He always enjoyed English class in his school and read the

poems very pleasantly that was given in the English course book. Moreover, he also told about his favorite

teacher Miss Rosie who taught him English. The reason behind liking his English teacher was her graceful

personality and her sweet bonding with her students. She was a very kind teacher who loved all the students of

her class. Mr. Walter also told that she always treat her students as her children. When Walter was a child, he

also disliked his one of the teachers, Sir Abraham, who taught him Math till grade 6. He was a very impolite

individual and all the time shouted when he enters in the class to show his annoyance toward the students that is

why he was the teacher who I disliked the most ("“Why Don’t Students like School?” Well, Duhhhh…” 2016).

Also, he mentioned his best friends as well as opponents that were in the school. Mr. Walter was blessed that

God has provided him with the caring and loving people in the shape of the friends that helped him throughout

his educational life and still at the age of seventy-nine they are in contact with him ("good and bad", 2016).

Following techniques were applied while conducting the interview with Mr. Walter (Layman, 2009):

 Point out the goals

 Make a questionnaire
Running head: 46196- INTENSIVE INTERVIEW 4
 Set the timings and the appropriate location

 Collect photo albums of my grandpa childhood

 Recording Audio and taking notes

When I decided to conduct an interview with the granddad regarding his early education life, first I draw

attention towards the goals that were necessary to be accomplished for the given task ("Oral History

Interviewing Tips - Family Tree Magazine", 2011). Then I wrote more than 50 questions that I was going to ask

from Mr. Walter so as to get the appropriate answers which were needed to complete a successful interview.

After that, I called my grandpa and set the suitable timings and location in which he was available to give a

comprehensive interview. Mr. Walter’s memory was evoked by displaying him the photograph album. During

the talk, all the responses given by him were recorded in my tape recorder because it is very helpful to use the

oral interview in future.

Conclusion
I enjoyed a lot while conducting this interview as it tells me so many different things about my grandfather. I

loved this conversation because it takes me to my childhood when I heard about his experiences in the

education life.

            
Running head: 46196- INTENSIVE INTERVIEW 5

References
good and bad. (2016). Mnsu.edu. Retrieved 16 October 2016, from
http://www.mnsu.edu/comdis/kuster/Infostuttering/goodbad.html

“Why Don’t Students Like School?” Well, Duhhhh…. (2016). Psychology Today. Retrieved 16 October 2016,
from https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/freedom-learn/200909/why-don-t-students-school-well-
duhhhh

Oral History Interviewing Tips - Family Tree Magazine. (2011). Familytreemagazine.com. Retrieved 16
October 2016, from http://www.familytreemagazine.com/article/13tips-for-oral-history-interviewing

Layman, L. (2009). Reticence in Oral History Interviews. Oral History Review, 36(2), 207-230.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/ohr/ohp076

Oral History Interviews: Family History and Folklife (The American FolklifeCenter, Library of Congress).
(2016). Loc.gov. Retrieved 16 October 2016, from
https://www.loc.gov/folklife/familyfolklife/oralhistory.html