For this assignment, you should be interviewing a person who has expertise about a topic you are interested in. Please note that you should be conducting an actual interview; you should not be summarizing an interview conducted by someone else.

Part #1: Choose a Research Topic and an Interviewee

Youdo not need to submit this portion in writing, but you do need toaccomplish this in preparation for your research assignment.

Inpreparation for your research proposal letter in the next topic, youwill need to choose a topic for your proposal. This research proposalletter will be directed to an audience who can create change(Congressperson, business administrator, or other similar audience). Inthe proposal, you need to suggest a change or a solution to a currentproblem. Examples of strong proposal topics would be things like fundingideas for an animal shelter, starting a recycling program in acommunity, suggesting a better plan for public transport, or anotheridea that interests you. You will be proposing solutions for theseissues. Choose a topic that you are passionate about and for which youwill be able to develop at least one solution. While this informationshould be enough for you to choose a topic, please consult theassignment sheet within Topic 7 if you have more questions about thisassignment.

Once you choose a topic, it’s time to choose a credible expert tointerview on that subject. In other words, you should avoid choosing aninterviewee who is a close friend or family member unless that persontruly is an expert in the field. This credible expert should have 10+ years of experience in his or her discipline. Choosean interviewee who not only could offer some specific details about theproblem but one who may also be able to offer suggestions of aplausible solution. Use the information contained in the lessonpresentation to secure and conduct a successful interview.

Part #2: Summarize and Synthesize Your Interview

Whenyou summarize and synthesize, you take the smaller pieces (the sectionsof the interview) and develop them into one cohesive piece. Doing thisexercise will help you prepare for the research proposal letter, whereyou will need to incorporate at least a few ideas from the interview.

To successfully summarize and synthesize, you might find it helpful to follow this sequence for your essay:

1) Provide Background Information:
Inyour introductory paragraph, introduce your audience to yourinterviewee. What is his/her name? What is his/her experience? ifrelevant, where is the interviewee employed?

2) Summarize the Interview:
Whileyou want to avoid the all-too-predictable question and answer format,you should provide information about what you learned from theinterview. Take a look at your original questions, group them intocategories, and use those categories to build your body paragraph(s).Also, you may note the interviewee’s reactions in your summary as well.Was the interviewee nervous about answering a question? Did he/she seemknowledgeable in the subject matter? Make this summary work for you byincluding whatever details and responses you feel are important and willhelp you when you write the research proposal.

3) Synthesize the Interview:
In the conclusion, synthesize the interview. To synthesize justmeans that you should consider all of the information you gathered fromthis interview and draw conclusions. What did you learn from theinterview? How did the interviewee and/or the interview help you gain adeeper understanding of your topic? Other findings?

Nosource citations are required for this assignment, but please reviewthe rubric to get a better idea of how you will be assessed.

The guidelines for this assignment are as follows:

Length: This assignment should be a minimum of 350 words.

Header: Include a header in the upper left-hand corner of your writing assignment with the following information:

• Your first and last name
• Course Title (Composition II)
• Assignment name (Interview Summary)
• Current Date

Format:

• MLA-style source documentation and Works Cited¹
• Your last name and page number in the upper-right corner of each page
• Double-spacing throughout
• Standard font (Times New Roman, Calibri)
• Title, centered after heading
• 1″ margins on all sides
• Save the file using one of the following extensions: .docx, .doc, .rtf, or .txt

Underline your thesis statement in the introductory paragraph.