CBC Archives

Ask students to name their favourite authors. Ask: If you could interview that person, what would you ask? Why? How do you think that might help you understand the author or one of his or her works better?

Have students work with a partner to choose one of the interviews conducted with Margaret Atwood in Margaret Atwood: Queen of CanLit on the CBC Radio and Television Archives Web site. They should focus in particular on clips 3, 4, 5, 9, and the Additional Clips “Graeme Gibson and Margaret Atwood discuss writing,” and “Editing the new Oxford Book of Canadian Verse in English.” As students take notes on their interview, they are to analyze and assess the interviewer’s interpretations of Atwood’s texts. Have them write a synopsis of the interview and then write a paragraph assessing the degree to which the interview increases understanding of her and her works.

Ask students to share their synopses and paragraph responses with the class. Summarize the findings. For example, did the interviewer and interviewee seem constrained by the medium and by the amount of time given to the interview? Did the interviewer, as critic, appear to make appropriate generalizations about her work?

Have students read one of the works analyzed in one of the interviews and assess the interview further. Have students analyze whether the interviewer, as critic, gave an accurate interpretation of the work.