Talk+Show

Dear Talk Show Hosts and Guests:
 * __ TALK SHOW! __**

Below please find directions for staging an academic talk show. Education in any subject consists not only of memorizing facts, but also of being well-read, well-written, and well-spoken. This exercise will cover both reading (research) and speaking. Choose any of the personalities from the Life and Times of //Ebenezer D. Bassett// or from the period of U.S. History covering 1830 to 1908. There are several mini-biographies highlighted in these resource pages to choose from, or consider an historic personality that you admire, or who made a contribution to our nation’s history during the life-time of Ebenezer Bassett. Remember Bassett’s long life spanned several distinct periods in U.S. History, from the antebellum years, the Civil War years, the Reconstruction years, and the years of Jim Crow, American Expansion and Imperialism. Bassett saw and experienced much in his long life from the mid 19th to early 20th centuries. These were rich time periods in U.S. History and provide a host of events and personalities to explore.


 * 1) For this exercise everyone chooses a partner to work with. If our class has an odd number of students, there will be one group of three.
 * 2) One partner will be the interviewer. One partner will portray a person whose life, theories, accomplishments, and contributions we have studied.
 * 3) Working together, partners are to construct a three-minute question and answer session that will explore the person's life, theories, accomplishments, and contributions for being remembered as famous or infamous. Both partners should work together to create both questions and answers and should practice so that the interview proceeds smoothly in question and answer format.
 * 4) Each group will conduct their interview session in the front of the class. **BE SURE NOT TO IDENTIFY THE PERSON BEING INTERVIEWED BY NAME. THE OBJECT OF THE TALK SHOW IS TO CONSTRUCT AND ASK GOOD, INTELLIGENT, ACCURATE QUESTIONS TO SEE IF THE REST OF THE CLASS CAN GUESS WHO IS BEING INTERVIEWED.**
 * 5) You can use your text, the information in Ebenezer D. Bassett, plus at least one each of the following sources to construct your interview: encyclopedia, the Bassett book or resource pages, biography, articles, the Internet.
 * 6) Document the sources you used to create the interview in a bibliography in good form (MLA format is recommended) that you hand in as a pair on the day of the interview. The bibliography should contain the name of the person researched at the top, the name of the interviewer and interviewee, and list at least four sources for your interview of an historic figure. Only one encyclopedia source may be used. If you are interviewing a character from your text book, or from the Ebenezer D. Bassett book, you should note the page numbers your questions and answers were developed from.


 * =[|Biographical Notes on Personalities in Ebenezer D. Bassett's Life and Times]=