Interview Assignment Guidelines
The purpose of this assignment is to gain an understanding of another culture. You are to interview someone born and raised in a country other than the United States (and one that you are not already familiar). International students may be your best resource; however your interviewee need not be a student. Your interview is open ended and there are no restrictions on time limit or questions asked (I would assume the interview would last at least an hour). Since the goal is to understand another culture however, be sure to include questions relating to such, i.e. language, customs, traditions, food, music, holidays, dress, societal rules, etc. Any topics that are covered in your textbook and class are appropriate. When you are finished your interview, turn your interview questions and answers into a 1000-1500 word paper about the culture of the native country of your interviewee (not the person's own biography). The number of topics is not limited, but it should definitely include more than one. Below are some guidelines:
Be sure interviewee has not been in this country for more than 10 years, unless cleared by me. Your interviewee must be native to another country. If in doubt about the suitability of an interviewee, ask me.
The person must be living in this country at the time of the interview.
Please allow adequate time for this assignment. It may take multiple attempts to arrange a meeting day and time or the interviewee may need to reschedule. Do not wait until the last minute. Remember, late papers are NOT accepted.
Interviews must be done in person or in some manner where you can see each other, i.e. Skype or FaceTime. Questions asked over the phone without FaceTime or through email are not acceptable.
Be sure your paper is not a transcription of the interview, but a paper on a particular culture or aspect of a culture using your interviewee as the primary source.
Include a very brief introduction to the country and brief stats on the interviewee (age, how long they have been in this country, why they moved here, etc).
Include a thesis sentence that lists what topics will be covered in the opening paragraph and topics sentences for paragraphs and then organize your paper with headings based on the thesis sentence.
Include a conclusion.
Contact information (phone number and email) for your interviewee is required. If your interviewee will not or cannot provide this information, you will have to choose someone else. I will randomly contact 3-5 people to contact and discuss the experience.
Approach the interview with sensitivity and open-mindedness. Your goal is to learn, not judge or criticize.
Use at least three outside sources in addition to your interviewee for information. Outside sources can add to or clarify information from the interviewee. These sources must be included in a bibliography or work cited page and also cited throughout your text.
Information that is not cited throughout your text is considered plagiarism and will result in a zero and reported. Cite your interviewee throughout your paper as well--as you would any other source and include how you conducted the interview in the bibliography citation (in person interview, Skype, etc.)
You may use Chicago, MLA or APA for your citations. Keep your citation method consistent throughout your paper and be sure your bibliography and in-text citations are done correctly according to the method you chose.
Be sure to proofread your paper for spelling and grammatical errors. Have an outside source read and/or edit your paper if necessary (this service is available on campus at the writing center).
A person cannot be interviewed more than once so be sure to ask if they have already agreed to an interview with someone else.
Remember, the paper is about the culture of their country, so avoid comparing the United States or what they like or dislike about the United States.