Before listening to the interview: Note what you already know about the subject and/or person. Make predictions about what information this person will give you; write down any questions you have. What would you like to know about/from this person?
While listening to the interview: Note any answers to your questions you obtain from the interview, the impressions you had, the emotions you felt, and any other facts or insights you can get from the source. Also note the information or statements that you did not expect or were new to you.
After listening to the interview: Comprehension, Evaluate, and Create
Comprehension questions should test understanding of the key facts and memories provided by the interviewee or the topics addressed.
Evaluation questions may include: Is the source credible? Does s/he contradict or support other sources? Is the interview helpful in giving a sense of the history you are studying? How does the source help you understand how historians write history? How does this person’s personal experience influence his or her perspective? Does the amount of time that has elapsed between the event an interviewee is speaking about and the time of the interview influence how he or she describes that event? If so, how?
Create something, such as a journal entry or poem about the source and your reaction to it; an illustration of something the source describes; an essay describing how this source fits into the historical period; or a fictional personal letter or newspaper article drawing on information obtained from the source.