The Interview

1st April, 2020

Day 1 

CHAPTER 7 – THE INTERVIEW

-By Christopher Silvester

Learning Objectives –

• By the end of the lesson, students will be familiar with the prominent personalities talked about in the chapter.

• Students will be able to comprehend the chapter with the help of vocabulary assistance provided to them in the blog.

• Students will be able to understand the key points about Interview mentioned by the author and will be able to do self-assessment through the questions given to them at the end of the blogs.

Dear Students

I hope by now you are getting comfortable with learning through the digital platform.

This blog focuses on a chapter from Flamingo titled THE INTERVIEW written by Christopher Silvester.

Christopher Silvester was born in 1959. He has written for several newspapers and magazines, including the Evening Standard, the Guardian, the Observer, the Independent on Sunday, Esquire, GQ and Vanity Fair. He is also the editor of the Penguin Book of Interviews: An Anthology from 1859 to the Present Day and the author of The Pimlico Companion to Parliament.

You must spend time in reading and comprehending the chapter. After you have gone through it, read this blog for better understanding of the main concepts in the chapter.

There are two parts to the chapter. Part 1 focuses on what an interview is and Part II is an actual interview where a popular author Umberto Eco is being interviewed by a journalist named Mukund Padmanabhan. In this blog I have identified for you some key points that there are in part 1.

Part 1

Introduction – Look back in your memory and remember of the last interview you read on a digital or print media platform. As an educated tot, each one of you would have read quite a few interviews in your life. Think about the importance of reading an interview and the importance of taking someone’s interview. Think from both perspectives, of one where you read an interview about an eminent personality or one where you are being interviewed.

Would you be comfortable sharing or answering extremely personal questions about yourself to the world? Is it justified to form an opinion about someone just based on an interview they gave? Would there be a dearth of knowledge in the world if journalists stop taking interviews? These are some of the questions you must pause and think about and try and answer before you proceed further.

Vocabulary –

Now let us look at a few new words that you will come across while reading the chapter and try and extrapolate them in a different context.

NEW WORD	MEANING	SENTENSE
Extravagant	Excessive or elaborate	Residents were warned not to be extravagant with water, in view of the low rainfall this year.
Unwarranted	Not justified or authorized. never done or known before	He accused the police of using unwarranted brutality
Intrusion	Entrance by force or without permission or welcome	This newspaper article is a disgraceful intrusion into my private life.
Lionized	Give a lot of public attention and approval to (someone); treat as a celebrity.	Modern sportsmen are lionized a bit too much
Condemnatory	Expressing strong disapproval	He was justified in some of his condemnatory outbursts
Assault	Attack someone physically or emotionally	The roar of city traffic is a steady assault on one's nerves.
Vile	Morally bad; wicked	This vile policy of ethnic cleansing must be stopped.

Since by now you are well acquainted with these words, we shall proceed to read some of the key Points in Part 1 of the chapter.

INTERVIEW:-

A) Some Facts stated in the chapter about Interviews

B) Some Opinions shared by the author about Interviews.

A.) FACTS

• Invented over 130 years ago

• Common in Journalism

• Educated people would have read interviews

• Celebrities are always interviewed

B.) OPINIONS

- Different opinions about interview

- It has different functions, methods and merits

• Opinion 1 -

1. It is a source of truth

2. It is an art

• Opinion 2 –

1. Some celebrities dislike it because -

• Interviews interfere with their personal life

• Interviews decrease/steal their aura or soul by trying to look too deep inside

• V.S Naipaul thinks-

1. People lose a part of them

2. People are wounded

• Lewis Carol thinks-

1. Horrified of the person who takes interviews

2. Was scared of getting public attention because of interviews

3. He never gave any interview

• Rudyard Kipling thinks –

1. Refuses to give interview as it is immoral and a crime

2. Asking for an interview is an attack on that person and deserves punishment

3. Asking for an interview is a cowardly and an unpleasant act

• Saul Bellow thinks –

1. Interviews are like Thumbprints on his windpipe

All famous people even though have a strong dislike towards being interviewed, yet at the same time either themselves have given interviews so many times or have interviewed somebody else.

The above statement points towards the hypocrisy of people. They criticise the whole concept of taking and giving interviews and yet highly rely on the same thing for knowledge and communication.

ADVANTAGES OF INTERVIEW

1. Great medium of communication

2. Helps people get a very realistic and graphic details about their contemporaries (peer)

3. Interviewer has a powerful position and influences people

4. The information that reaches us today is because of one person asking questions to another says; Denis Brian

Interviews are like Thumbprints on his windpipe means -

- Interviewee is not in control of the conversation.

- The narrative depends upon the questionnaire of the interviewer

- An expression of feeling choked, constricted and being controlled

- It is as if your expression has been limited when you are giving an interview.

Now based on your understanding of part 1 of the chapter you should be able to answer the following MCQ questions -

1. Who holds the position of unprecedented power and influence?

a. The Reader

b. The Interviewer

c. The Interviewee

d. The Publisher

2. What does the expression ‘thumbprints on his windpipe’ mean?

a. To be exhausted

b. To be strangulated

c To be choked and suffocated

d. To be depressed

3. Despite the drawbacks of the interview it is used as

a. Horror of the interviewer

b. A supremely serviceable medium of communication

c. A mode of satisfaction and amusement

d. Condemnatory attitude towards the interviewer

4. Who feels that some people are wounded by interviews and lose a part of themselves?

a. Lewis Carol

b. Rudyard Kipling

c. Christopher Silvester

d. V.S Naipaul

5. What has become a common place of journalism?

a. Interview

b. Debate

c. Survey

d. literature

LIFE LESSON-

1. Power of Pen (power of the written word) - It is rightly said that pen is mightier than the sword. One should never underestimate the power of the written document. When we write something about someone we should be very careful because we cannot assault someone with our words and trample on the dignity of a person.

2. The art of asking questions - When we ask about something to someone, it is not necessary that we get the required answer. This art of asking the right question at the right time or the way a question is posed is acquired over time. We are all observers, learners and contributors. We can do all of it well only when we make continuous efforts in using the blessing of language in the most appropriate way possible.

Meanwhile if you are interested in learning more about the art of interviewing,

here is a very informative video about the same by a popular journalist and film

maker Ramesh Menon. Just click on the link below and you can watch.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=94IRKVw7cgM