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English (U.S.)
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Narrating Japanese Cnadaian Womens Life Stories

Essay Instructions:
You will be expected to write a short review essay (1200-1500 words) that analyzes a piece of qualitative research. Your essay should review one of the articles listed below. Oral History:  Pamela Sugiman (2004) “Memories of Internment: Narrating Japanese Canadian Women's Life Stories.” Canadian Journal of Sociology 29(3), 359-88; Your review essay should devote only minimal space to summarizing the contents of the paper you have chosen. The majority of the paper should be spent critically analyzing how the paper utilizes its given methodology. You should start by making an argument about it, for example: "Sheftel's use of oral history methodology to explore the memories of Bosnian refugees allows her to provide a bottom-up perspective of how Bosnians mobilized for war that counters official narratives." You should then go on to elaborate on your argument and use examples from the paper to demonstrate what you mean. Your review can be positive, negative, or anywhere in between. Tell me how you think the author utilizes the methodology; whether or not you think they interpret their data soundly and successfully, and what the paper tells you about that methodology as a whole. You must back up your review by referencing at least two academic sources other than the paper you are reviewing; these can come out of our course readings or from your own research. You must use a coherent referencing system and include a bibliography. The essay will be graded with equal weight on:  how clearly you write and express your ideas; and  on the strength of your analysis of the given reading. You can also back up your reivew essay by referencing at least two sources her are some but you can use different too:Lynn Michell (1999) "Combining focus groups and interviews: Telling how it is; telling how it feels." In R. Barbour and J. Kitzinger (eds.) Developing focus group research: Politics, theory and practice (CR);  Hugo Slim et al. (1998) "Ways of Listening." In R. Perks and A. Thomson (eds.) The Oral History Reader (CR);  Henry Greenspan (2010) "Introduction." In H. Greenspan On Listening to Holocaust Survivors (CR);  Alessandro Portelli (1991) "What Makes Oral History Different." In A. Portelli The Death of Luigi Trastulli: Form and Meaning in Oral History (CR).
Essay Sample Content Preview:
ORAL HISTORY AND MEMORIES OF INTERNMENT
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ORAL HISTORY AND MEMORIES OF INTERNMENT
The Japanese Canadian internment was a watershed moment in the history of the Japanese community in Canada during and after WWII. Following the attack of Pearl Harbor by Japanese forces, the Canadian government began the confinement of Japanese Canadians in British Columbia. These actions emanated from the perceptions that the community was a threat to national security, and the country was at risk of espionage. However, this proved otherwise as almost all people confined were harmless, but they did not receive adequate compensation for their sufferings. For oral historians story telling is a vital aspect of the methods used to gather information that in most cases is not available in print.
Preliminary research before carrying out the interview is an important aspect of the methodology. A brief description of the Japanese Canadian internment enabled Sugiman to give evidence that preliminary research occurred and highlighted on the events that followed after the confinement began (Sugiman 2004, p. 360). The author highlights on the consequences of the internment to the extent that the Japanese suffered economic hardships after was seizure of their property by the state which was sold at auctions. There were also other violations that denied Japanese people citizenship and voting rights on the basis of their ethnicity. The biographical data include second generation Japanese Canadian women residing in Canada, the research also used information from community newspapers and archived documents (Sugiman 2004, p. 363).
Research on oral history must identify the goals and objectives of a research before a researcher chooses the methodology to use. From the onset of the research Sugiman states that the aim of the research was to explore the role of memory in bridging the gap between widely accepted account of the internment and individual recollection. Consequently, the researcher sets the interviewing technique and method of storing information based on the overall goals of the study. Thus, Sugiman chooses to have individual interviews gathering testimonies from thirty participants, because the study is mostly academic the data collection is rigorous, but there are no rigorous rules on data collection and information seeking. The researcher spent time with participants engaging in informal talk, with communication n extending beyond the internment experience.
Determining the eligibility of participants also defines the methodology applicable on the study of detention of Japanese Canadians. Consequently, the researcher sought to find information on the topic through interviewing second generation Japanese Canadian women in Ontario and British Columbia. The choice of these locations was essential because members of the community from British Columbia suffered the most as the detention mainly occurred in the area. In addition, historical records proved useful and the focus on women sought to report more on family experiences rather than the treatment of men already recorded by other researchers. Then choice of the women who were all born in British Columbia helped to define the methodology as the confinement directly affected them (Sugiman 2004, p. 362).
One of the distinguishing features of oral history is the reliance on memory, which then enriches the art of interviewing as a methodology. Oral history helps us to understand more on historical events, but some societies may cut down on the importance of this history through suppressing of histories like in the Italian society (Portelli 1998, p. 65). Thus, oral stories have not always had positive reviews, whereby information that does not seem to come from the world of academia may be dismissed as unworthy. It is as though the popularity of oral history would lead to obscurity in writing, but this perception is wrong as oral information enhances our understanding of history and facilitates writing.
Oral historians do not necessarily have to interpret events in history, but their main aim is to document information which provides evidence after recording in print. To do this the historians rely on interviewing as a method of gathering information through asking questions on their areas of interests. The interview process allowed Sugiman to provide e...
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