Shopes, Linda.
Questions for Reading and Discussion
- What is oral history, according to Linda Shopes?
- How do historians use oral history?
- What does Shopes say about the role of the interviewee?
- Who is the interviewer? Why is this important?
- What are pre-set and iconic stories?
- What does Shopes say about the circumstances of the interview?
- How to evaluate oral history interviews?
Good quotes:
“The best interviews have a measured, thinking-out-loud quality.”
“In an interview, the voice of the narrator literally contends with that of the historian for the control of the story.”