Personal Histories and Oral History: An Interview with Mrs. Bennett
This 8-page undergraduate paper describes an interview conducted with Mrs. Myra Bennett, an elderly woman whose remaining grandchildren live in California. Mrs. Bennett has lived in Poland, Britain, and Canada, and has experienced much loss in her life. Mrs. Bennett, the interview subject, was asked a number of questions during the course of the interview, including “adult life would be? Can you tell me a good memory from your childhood? What kind of chores did you do growing up? What kinds of things did your mother/father do around the house/outside the house? Tell me about your experiences at school. What did you like about it? What did you dislike about it? What were your favorite subjects? What did you do for fun? Why? What were your plans for adult life when you were a child? How did you envision married life before you were married? How did your own married life compare to this vision? How is work in the household divided up? Who takes care of children? How are family decisions made? What is satisfying about family life (or motherhood)? What's challenging about it? What would you change, if you could? How did you decide what occupation to pursue? What was the best/worst thing about each job? What do you feel like you get out of your job? What would you change, if you could?”. The interview subject’s answers are integrated into the description of the interview.
