We had to read this short piece on what is oral history, and what I got out of the article is that oral history are interviews that are either formal or informal and can be recorded on tape. I first believed that oral history was stories from other people from their oral languageknow with my family, my mom and grandparents will tell me stories about their lives and their parents lives and so on and its all through the oral language nothing is written done its just based off of their oral stories. I feel that informal oral history is when its not planned out or for a particular scenario rather htan a formal oral hisotry which is regardign a specific topic or a important topic that has significance importance to humakind. After reading the article, I came to a better understanding of what oral history exactley is. The article mentioned a lot about interviewing and interviews which plays a role in oral history but I think what people take in consideration is the reliability of have the conversation taped. The article mentions, " Unquestionably, most people throughout history have learned about the past through the spoken word", which I defiantly agree with. I feel we read this because of our upcoming assignment and the interviews we will be doing for the assignment.
Lia Dunn
11/14/2011 12:18:08 am
Oral history can be such a broad topic unless it is specified. Like you a year ago I thought oral history was just passing down information whether through relatives, friends, etc. But when I ahd a history class last year I really got to understand what oral history is. Documentation is key and for awhile now has to be recorded through tape. 11/14/2011 02:05:46 am
I REALLY liked how you discussed "formal and informal interviews." At first I wanted to say I think an informal interview is better. Now that I think about it, formal and informal interviews both have their advantages and disadvantages - BOTH resulting in a good interview.
Eileen O'Mara
12/2/2011 10:58:08 am
You quoted the article saying "Unquestionably, most people throughout history have learned about the past through the spoken word" and like you I agree with this point. Hearing stories is one of the best ways to learn stories, but one thing for us to remember is that as stories are past down from generation to generation things can be altered. Stories can be altered by who is telling the story and what their views are. Oral history can be documented through interviews which can be very helpful for learning about different topics. Leave a Reply. | AuthorI am a senior at Rowan University where I am dual majoring in Elementary education and writing arts. I am also working on my reading endorsement certificate. ArchivesDecember 2011 CategoriesAll |
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