Linda Shopes “What is Oral History?”

Shopes, Linda.

“What is Oral History?”

Questions for Reading and Discussion

1. What is oral history, according to Linda Shopes?
2. How do historians use oral history?
3. What does Shopes say about the role of the interviewee?
4. Who is the interviewer? Why is this important?
5. What are pre-set and iconic stories?
6. What does Shopes say about the circumstances of the interview?
7. 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.”