Interview Book Project

For this project you must read a biography or autobiography. You can read about any person you would like. Think of someone you are interested in and find out if there is a biography written about that person. You can read about an actor/actress, musician, athlete, politician, just about anyone you can think of.

This project will require you to know almost everything about “your person.” Instead of a typical presentation, I will be interviewing you as if you were your person. Attached is a list of possible questions you will be asked during your interview. As you are reading the biography, use this list to take notes of important information. This is just a general list and you should also be prepared with specific information on your person’s life. During the interview you may only have index cards to refer to if needed. You will not be writing a report or turning in anything. Your grade will be based on how well you know the life of your person during your interview.

The interviews will be conducted starting Thursday, November 20. All students’ projects will be checked for completeness on that day, but not everyone will be able to be interviewed that day. Each interview will last approximately 3-5 minutes.

If you have any questions or concerns, please talk to me as soon as possible. I am very excited for this project and I hope you are too. Once you’ve chosen your book, you must first show it to me. Many biographies were written many years ago and are very outdated and therefore, not appropriate. Also, I’m not putting a minimum number of pages the book must have, but it must be at your reading level; no elementary, thirty page biographies please! Once your book has been approved by me, please fill out the below contract, sign, have a parent sign, cut off and return. The contracts are due on Wednesday, October 29 with your book. For every day you fail to turn in the contract, you will lose one point off your final project grade!

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I will be reading _______________________ by __________________________ and will be prepared for an interview about the life of __________________________ on November 20.

__________________________                             ________________________

Student Signature                                                 Parent Signature

Below are possible questions that may be asked during your interview. Remember, these are just a few questions to consider. Make sure you have adequate notes (on index cards only) on specific incidents in your person’s life prepared for the interview. You never know what I’m going to ask! During the interview you will be pretending you are your person. Therefore you should know ALL about their life!

1. When and where were you born?
2. What was your childhood like?
3. Where did you go to college?
4. What was your first job?
5. Were/Are you married? Divorced? Remarried?
6. Do you have children? If so, how many? What are their names?
7. What was/is your career?
8. What important people influenced you in your life?
9. Have you won any awards/tournaments/etc.?
10. What is your proudest moment?
11. Tell me a story about something exciting that happened in your life.
12. Did you influence others to follow in your footsteps? If so, who?
13. Where did/do you live during most of your adult life?
14. When did you die and why? If you’re still alive, what are you doing right now?

I can’t wait to learn all about “your” life! Make sure you read carefully-there’s a lot to know! Remember you can use index cards to refer to during the interview, but nothing else! Good Luck!

Rubric for Biography Interview

1. You were well prepared for your interview. It was evident you completed reading your biography and had note cards with all the important information about your person.

                0             1             2            3             4         5

2. During the interview you had good body posture: you weren’t fidgeting, your hands weren’t in your pockets, etc.

                0             1             2             3             4           5

3. During the interview you spoke loudly and clearly and maintained eye contact with the interviewer and the audience.

                0             1             2             3             4             5

4. You were knowledgeable about your person, answering all questions with ease and little reliance on note cards

                   0         1         2         3         4         5

Total: ______/20 _______%