Story Summaries
1. "Do You Remember the First Day You Were a Teacher?"
This story is about how a man became a kindergarten teacher after being wounded in Vietnam; Interviewed by previous student (Now 16 years old).
2. "I've Never Seen You Turn Anybody Away"
This story is about a man who gives free haircuts to veterans, a veteran himself; Interviewed by his hair cutting assistant, who went for a haircut one day.
3. "I Saw a Flash of Ankle and I Went Smack Dab Into the Wall."
This story is about how a woman met her future husband at a university that they both worked at; No direct interviewer, but mostly husband talking.
4. "What is Your Life Like Now, Dad?"
Two sisters are interviewing their father, who has Alzheimer's disease.
5. "Let's Talk About Miss Devine."
A man and woman remember their stern neighbor and Sunday School teacher.
Reflection Questions
1. How do these Story Corps clips fit in with some of our themes from our units?
These Story Corps clips strongly fit into the "Through Their Eyes" unit because these stories are coming from the point of the view of the people telling them. There are also parts of stories that follow the things we learned in Eras and Conflict. The one man that became a kindergarten teacher was in the Vietnam War. He got to leave the war when he stepped on a land mine and blew off most of his hand, leading him to have to wear a prosthetic hook. [His kindergarteners were really intrigued by his hook :)]. This is also similar to how a veteran gives free haircuts to veterans. His assistant, who was the interviewer, explained how he came to him for his first haircut, dirty and drunk. I wonder if he had been in the Vietnam War? When the soldiers came back from the Vietnam War, they were not welcomed and many of them became alcoholics to try to rid of the stress and depression. ...Anyways, the main units that these stories followed were Through Their Eyes, Eras, and Conflict.
2. Which of the stories that you listened to was the most impressive or interesting to you and why?
The most interesting story to me was the last one I listened to about Miss Devine, a Sunday School teacher of a man and a woman in the South. They had quite a few stories about her. I loved the one when the man explained that one day, when Miss Devine would go house to house picking up the children, he didn't want to go to Sunday School that day. He told Miss Devine that his mother didn't prepare enough clothes for him to go to Sunday School. He stated that his mother must have been so intimidated by her that she just turned around when Miss Devine responded to the boy's lie. Miss Devine asked what clothes the boy had. He said that all he had were his pajamas and tennis shoes. The man then said that she told him to put on his tennis shoes and go to church in his pajamas. The woman talked about how Miss Devine had numerous trees with fruit in her lawn, but she wouldn't give anyone fruit until it was rotten. Those were my favorite stories about Miss Devine. Doesn't Miss Devine sound like she has a strange character?
3. What are some similarities and differences in the interviews you listened to?
There are a lot of similarities in the interviews that I listened to. Most of the stories talk about positive things that have happened in the interviewees lives or how they are doing things that better themselves. The only exception is about Miss Devine, but the man and the woman were laughing and looking back on their childhood as a wonderful, fun-filled time. The biggest difference between the interviews was one interview in particular. It was the one when a man, who has Alzheimer's, is talking to his daughters. They don't really talk about specific stories but things about his life. That is understandable when he has dementia, though.
4. Are there similar patterns?
The main similar pattern I can find is the format of the story, or interview. It starts out as a "topic sentence" or summary of what they will talk about. They, of course, tell their story or talk about their lives, and then they finish off with a very positive note or good quote summarizing.
5. What connection were you able to make, the interviewer or interviewee?
I honestly don't completely understand what this question is asking, but I will do my best to answer it well. If it is asking who I make the connection best with, I would probably, after listening to the stories, connect best with the interviewee. I love story-telling, and I have many stories to tell. The connections I was able to make between the interviewer and the interviewee is that they are people that connect easily with each other and care a lot for one another. You can tell that they are genuinely intrigued and engaged in the story and finding more things about the interviewee. This is especially the case between the sixteen year old girl and her previous kindergarten teacher. Instead of forgetting him after second grade, or so, she explained also that he helped her learn to drive a car. This bond of friendship is really important in these StoryCorps interviews.
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