Paper

For this paper, you will interview someone that is quite different from yourself and is relatively unknown to you. Your objective in this assignment is to gather a sense of how that person has gone about thinking about, creating and composing her/his life. Your paper will offer your interpretation of and reflections on that life as described and composed by the other person.

The paper should include a thesis statement in the first paragraph and follow the 6-7-paragraph essay format – about 4 pages double spaced. (contact me if you need guidance on how to construct the five-paragraph essay).

Your interview questions should help elicit responses with information about how the individual sees her/his life; how she/he has met and overcome challenges; what shapes and guides her/his values, her/his philosophy of life, and goals; and what insights or wisdom s/he can share at this stage of one’s life journey.

Sample questions might include:

Where were you born? When?

What were the circumstances of your birth? Family? Birth order?

What did you like to do as a child? A teenager?

What did you dislike or find irritating when you were growing up?

School. What did you think about it? Where did you go? Did you make the right choices?

Who/what were important influences? Who/what was important to you?

Who do you identify with?

How do you identify yourself? How do you describe yourself?

Are particular social groups or categories -- racial, ethnic, religious, cultural, linguistic,

Are particular social groups or categories -- racial, ethnic, religious, cultural, linguistic, economic class, gender, sexuality, talent, etc. – important to how you think about yourself, or to how you orient yourself in the world?

How do you see yourself within the community? What kinds of connections to others are central to who you are and who you have become?

What challenges have you faced? Which do you consider your most significant accomplishments? What are you least proud of?

Do you have any regrets?

Who/what inspires you? Who do you want to become

What (if you have any) are your religious beliefs? Political beliefs? Moral beliefs? How have they played a role in your life?