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Oral History, 2004.
Shows how oral history has made important contributions to the ways in which historians understand and and interpret the past.
1,225 words (approx. 4.9 pages), 6 sources, MLA, £ 28.95
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Abstract
Oral history is an account of the past conveyed through word of mouth. Oral history tells of cultures and individuals by presenting oral commentary of events, situations, and feelings of individuals. This paper examines the importance of oral history and how it has contributed to our understanding of events over time. The paper shows how the modern form of oral history originated with Allan Nevin in his 1938 book, "Gateway to History".
From the Paper
"Oral history cannot completely compensate for the loss of first hand written accounts of events. However, according to James Hoopes, oral history at times can supply information that might have been lost otherwise because of a lack of a written record. (Hoopes, 11) Hoopes gives an example that in Latin America the people have an aversion to autobiographical narrative. It is believed to be egotistical and undignified, according to Hoopes, to talk about oneself. However, if the initiative comes from someone else, in the form of an interview, then it is perceived to be acceptable. The oral history process in Central and South America, according to Hoopes, has been instrumental in saving the personal accounting of the history of and actions of national leaders."
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Oral History and Historiography, 2008.
A research study that provides insight as to the development of the oral history of the September 11, 2001 bombings.
3,100 words (approx. 12.4 pages), 11 sources, MLA, £ 63.95
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Abstract
Academic perspectives on how we view oral history changed drastically after the advent of recording devices, the television, and movie cameras. It is much easier to reconstruct history accurately using pictures, rather than line drawings or descriptions. This research explores the hypothesis that oral history needs to be given greater historical credibility than it currently receives. The paper stresses the value of oral history as a key to getting the "big picture" surrounding an event. The literature review for this study examines journal articles that relate the events of September 11, 2001 from a number of political and social perspectives. The paper explains that its purpose is not to draw a consensus of the events, but rather to examine the effects of attitude and perspective on what will become the eventual "oral history" of this period in time.
Table of Contents:
Introduction
Thesis
Literature Review
Analysis
Conclusion
From the Paper
"The inclusion or omission of personal accounts into the historical record depends on the type of work that one wishes to produce. It is certainly easy to argue against their inclusion if one if looking for indisputable accuracy. However, this level of certainty of events is a fallacy from an academic perspective. Secondary historical accounts are often the "average" of the information that is available regarding a certain event. However, this does not necessarily make it accurate. History is influenced by many sociological, political and psychological forces surrounding it."
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An Examination of Oral History, 2004.
Offers a definition of oral history and discusses its origins.
1,164 words (approx. 4.7 pages), 4 sources, MLA, £ 28.95
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Abstract
This paper explains what oral history is and describes the elements that help define oral history. The paper examines the origins of oral histories, cites examples of oral histories, and looks at their value as a means of relating the past to the present and preserving and recognizing historical events and persons.
From the Paper
"According to Roger Arditti, the definition of oral history contains several important elements, one being that the individual and his social experience makes up a good portion of the content derived from "dictating" the past. Arditti also adds that oral history is "primarily concerned with gathering information about historical and social structures" while taking into consideration the subjectivity of the historian/researcher ("Skills Project"). Another definition for oral history, suggested by one of Arditti's contemporaries, concerns "an account of first-hand experience recalled retrospectively, communicated to an interviewer for historical purposes and preserved on a system of reproducible sound" ("Skills Project")."
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Oral History, 2004.
This paper discusses a tool of historians called oral history, the narrative of individual human lives and experiences.
1,500 words (approx. 6.0 pages), 4 sources, MLA, £ 34.95
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Abstract
This paper explains that oral history is a record of individual human lives and experiences transmuted through the filtering prism of individual narrative and the human voice that is catalogued or arranged by oral historians to reveal more about the emotional and factual texture of a particular period of human life. The author points out that, rather than the analytical lens of history, the medium of oral history provides a discursive, meandering, but emotionally connective way of accessing how history was experienced during the time it was experienced, rather than simply how history affects our lives today in the eyes of philosophers, pundits, and professional historians. The paper adds that now history must be academically validated and objective, which has caused some historians to state that the idea of oral history is a contradiction in terms.
From the Paper
"The multifaceted nature of presenting oral narratives as a history, with all of their contradictions, enables historical understanding as a whole to be much richer. By interviewing many individuals, a historian may work against possible biases within individual perspectives. By presenting different perspectives, the reader may now judge the events and the credibility of the different sources, while still gaining a sense of the emotional intensity of what it was like to ?be there.? Presenting a variety of narratives, as done in Dublin and Licht?s article on the miners, as well as in Central City Blues, also undercuts yet another criticism of oral history as a technique, that it is more an encapsulation of the rapport between the interviewer and the interviewee than a genuine rendering of how the individual was, at the point in time he or she was describing."
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Oral History, 2004.
A definition and examination of oral history.
1,457 words (approx. 5.8 pages), 4 sources, MLA, £ 33.95
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Abstract
A brief examination of the importance of oral history in providing a collective view of a historical event. The paper explains that it can be defined as the narrative of individual human lives and experiences. The paper also briefly discusses the oral history narratives in the project/book, "Central City Blues", which involves various California jazz and blues narratives.
From the Paper
"However, one of the benefits of music and film entering the mainstream acceptance of high culture is the recognition by historians that heard, lived, and even personal experience are also a valid historical form of documentation. Writing is not all that matters, our own culture?s shift in emphasis from the world to the voice and image instructs us. Oral history is a different form of history than history recorded by those who never lived through the events, but it is still history, and an important component of understanding the past. One of the most valuable aspects of oral history lies in the fact that it is able to bring to life the physical, lived experience of individuals ?in the moment? of history, that would otherwise be lost in an overly intellectualized, analytical framework."
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Form and Meaning in Oral History, 2002.
An exploration into Alessandro Portelli's oral history methodology through his essays, including "The Death of Luigi Trastulli".
1,500 words (approx. 6.0 pages), 4 sources, MLA, £ 34.95
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Abstract
This paper begins by situating Alessandro Portelli's oral history in the context of the postwar reaction in Italy against the historical theories of the influential Neapolitan philosopher Benedetto Croce. It then proceeds to a discussion of Portelli's methodology by reference above all to the essay "The Death of Luigi Trastulli", whose starting point is the death at the hands of the police of a young Terni steelworker in 1949. The paper shows that Portelli's oral history methodology was inspired by his path-breaking discovery that erroneous memories possess historical value. It then concludes by raising some possible criticisms of the methodology.
From the Paper
"Finally, by way of conclusion, the comment might be made that Portelli's approach can seem naive. Because he seems normally to interview people whose politics he shares, he constantly seeks out factors to explain discrepancies in accounts which lend their motives a degree of nobility which they probably do not always deserve. To this reader, a fair proportion of the stories he reviews in relation to the Trastulli event have more than a hint of self-exculpation about them. One fears that Portelli's methodology, which seeks to minimize difference between historian and speaker, may, in the end, unwittingly elevate the incorrigible liar to the same status as the conscientious reporter."
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Historiography - Oral History, 2002.
This paper describes the role of oral sources in accurately recording history.
780 words (approx. 3.1 pages), 4 sources, £ 19.95
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Abstract
The paper begins with a comprehensive definition of oral history (archival tapes). It looks at the importance of interview techniques and of a knowledge of the era in question. The establishment of the credibility of the source is dealt with, as is the investigation of personal biases. The verification of the course of events is raised and the place and use of oral history records amongst other historical sources is discussed.
From the Paper
"Recording history with accuracy is a task and responsibility that has daunted man forever. Too often, history committed to text is the product of biases, hearsay and cultural mythology. The outcome is a canon of ideals and impressions based on a potentially convoluted version of the past. These discrepancies make it difficult to appreciate history as anything more than folk legend. Using oral histories to convey ideas and information is particularly useful in avoiding many of these snares."
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How to Present the Study of Ancient History, 2004.
Oral presentation on how best to study ancient history in America.
1,651 words (approx. 6.6 pages), 6 sources, APA, £ 37.95
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Abstract
This paper offers a plan on how to best teach the subject of ancient history. The author states that it would be nearly impossible to present every aspect of human culture and civilization up to 1650 in a single course and that it would, therefore, be wiser to emphasize those events in history that are most relevant to today?s society. The paper then states that the most effective way to present these events is chronologically and that, since the course is designed for American students, a great deal of the course should be spent on the study of American history. According to the author, the topic of early American history would address the discovery of America, original explorers, and their interactions with Native Americans, such as Aztecs, Incas, and Maya Indian groups, and the subsequent European settlements.
From the Paper
"I, however, think that a chronological study of history is most effective for a number of reasons. Firstly, time, not geography, is the basis for how civilizations develop. In other words, almost every civilization has been influenced by one of the past, regardless of how different in scope they are. For example, the United States? primary influence was that of Colonial England, but it does not end there. Colonial England has influences that date back to the times of Rome, and maybe even Ancient China. Civilizations, no matter what the time period, were not formed within a vacuum?they all had influences, whether directly or indirectly. For that reason, it is best to analyze history through time, and through the developments of the human race as a whole. By examining the entire history of man, we can put the regional developments into context."
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The Tale-Telling Tradition of Women in Caribbean Literature, 2002.
This literature essay compares two stories written by Caribbean women authors, and discusses these in relation to women's oral histories and traditions in Caribbean cultural contexts
2,650 words (approx. 10.6 pages), 8 sources, £ 68.95
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Abstract
This literature essay compares two stories written by Caribbean women authors, and discusses these in relation to women's oral histories and traditions in Caribbean cultural contexts. Referring to the post-colonial and feminist theory, the author of this paper analyzes women's writing as a reflection of traditions with story-telling, women's "voice," and histories that are particular to women and Caribbean culture.
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Michael Honey's "Black Workers Remember", 2004.
This paper reviews Michael Honey's 1999 book "Black Workers Remember: An Oral History of Segregation Unionism and the Freedom Struggle".
1,800 words (approx. 7.2 pages), 1 source, APA, £ 44.95
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Abstract
This book discusses major themes and the author's methodology in labor and ethnic studies historian Michael Honey's 1999 book "Black Workers Remember". The author points out the African-American struggle for unionization and civil rights and the connection between these two movements. The paper relates the Memphis sanitation workers strike and the impact of globalization on the employment of blacks.
From the Paper
"In "Black Workers Remember: An Oral History of Segregation Unionism and the Freedom Struggle", labor and ethnic studies historian Michael Keith Honey records the history of southern African American workers and their struggle for both a living wage and the equal rights promised by the U. S. Constitution. Relying heavily on oral histories or testimonies, Honey's book covers the period from the ...s through the ...s and centers on Memphis Tennessee. Many themes are presented in this excellent, often poignant, book that contends the labor of black ..."
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Oral Reports, 2001.
An analysis of oral reports with respect to Robert Harris's article: ?Ideas for Enhancing Oral Reports".
1,055 words (approx. 4.2 pages), 1 source, MLA, £ 26.95
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Abstract
This paper analyses the presentation of oral reports in respect to Robert Harris' article: ?Ideas for Enhancing Oral Reports". Harris offers general advice that is applicable to all individuals who might be faced with giving an oral report. The paper details tips for ways to make oral reports a success. The author concludes that oral presentations can contribute to the education of both the giver and the speaker if both members of the ?dialogue? between audience and the giver of the presentation are attentive and make use of media beyond that of the simple spoken word.
From the Paper
"One of the most dreaded tasks a teacher can assign for some students is to give an oral report. The idea of getting up in front of people and speaking to them paralyzes them with fear. This can be true even if they are relatively extroverted and relaxed people in more informal social situations. To watch a person give a bad oral report can be almost painful as giving one. If one is in the audience, one is tempted to look away, to stare at one?s desk, rather than listening to information that is rambling, incoherent, and poorly presented. How does someone avoid giving such a poor report? In his article, ?Ideas for Enhancing Oral Reports,? located at the Virtual Salt Website on the World Wide Web, Robert Harris offers advice for those faced with such a task."
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Intellectual Property in Oral and Literate Cultures, 2001.
Why intellectual property rights exist in literate cultures and do not exist in oral culture.
2,500 words (approx. 10.0 pages), 11 sources, MLA, £ 52.95
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Abstract
This essay is an in-depth analysis of intellectual property law in an historical context. The specific history can be divided into two periods of cultural development, orality and literacy. The concept of intellectual property (individual ownership of creative work) was not present in oral cultures, but it is enshrined in law in literate cultures. This essay draws on the works of communications scholars like Walter Ong and Dan Lacy in order to establish these facts, and then proceeds to analyze them using one of Marshall McCluhan?s most famous insights, that ?the medium is the message.? What this essay shows is that the medium of information preservation in oral cultures is fundamentally different than that of literate cultures. One medium supports the concept of intellectual property, and one does not. In other words, the medium determines the morals of the time. What is considered theft in literate culture is just sharing in oral culture. This examination of intellectual property in historical context is especially relevant today, with the current legal disputes over intellectual property in the music industry.
From the Paper
"At this moment in 2001, intellectual property is a hot topic. The right to own an idea is being debated in fields as disparate as medicine and the music industry. In historical context, however, intellectual property is a relatively new concept. The first modern copyright law only emerged in 1710 and the People?s Republic of China did not have a copyright system until 1991. In contrast, the first known cave painting dates to 31,000 BC. Humans have been creating for thousands of years, but those expressions were only defined as personal property quite recently. The exact moment of this definition is still debated by experts: some say it came with the first copyright law, some say it began with the printing press in 1436, and others say that it emerged with ?the artist with a markedly individual personality? in 6th century BC Greece (Ploman and Hamilton 5). Regardless of the specific point of division, copyright as we know it today was not present in ancient oral cultures (Bettig 11) and is not present in modern oral cultures like that of the Balinese (Ploman and Hamilton 4). Why the concept of intellectual property is evident in highly literate cultures and not in oral cultures can perhaps be best understood in terms of the social and political context of their respective historical periods. One explanation that emerges is that the chosen mediums of oral and literate cultures are qualitatively different and that each engenders a different set of social norms to guide intellectual production. What this paper seeks to do is to pursue this line of questioning by discerning what the medium was for each culture, analyzing the nature of each medium, and, finally, explaining how the medium determined whether or not the concept of intellectual property emerged."
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Value of Oral Tradition, 2005.
This paper discusses the value of oral tradition, making use of Alistair MacLeod's writings.
1,800 words (approx. 7.2 pages), 6 sources, £ 49.95
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Abstract
In this article, the writer discusses that for Alistair MacLeod, oral tradition helps in finding identity and finding meaning in lost roots. The writer points out that in King's stories, oral tradition creates a link with the next generation and is the main way to keep the Native culture alive. The writer notes that the kind of knowledge that comes from oral tradition is precious. Once it is gone it cannot be replaced. Further, the writer claims that oral tradition is more than history because it creates bonds with the past that keeps people human.
From the Paper
"Oral tradition is simple but it is very rich because of the information it contains. Oral history is "a field as ancient and richly varied as humanity. Its living roots lie in the oral traditions of aboriginal peoples, which bear not only their histories, but also their ways of understanding the world and their place in it". Oral tradition gave more than knowledge about the world. It offered a way of living."
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