Part 1. The Interview
You are asked to interview an older adult about their subjective experience of having grown older. The learning objective here is that this interview will give you the opportunity to learn first-hand from an adult about his or her individual experiences of having grown older. This writing assignment is designed to help you recognize and respect human diversity (specifically among individuals of advanced age), to think about and explain how individual differences influence beliefs, values, and interactions, and to understand how ageism affects self and others. Your interview should have at least 10 questions, but not more than 15 questions. While you are interviewing the older adult, you should take notes of their major statements so that you can use them in your writing assignment. If you like, you may audiotape the interview, if the person gives you permission to do so.
In your interview you may address questions such as the following: Are you aware of your age? What makes or has made you aware that you have grown older? When you were younger had you thought that getting older would be like you are experiencing it? Has it been better or worse than what you had expected? What are some of the good things that have happened with getting older? What are some of the challenges of getting older? Since turning 65, have you spent much time with someone who had been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease? How does your tolerance of people who are different from you compare to that of people in your parents’ generation? Is there a difference at all in your own family? What would you tell a young person about the years of adulthood or old age? Is there any advice that you would want to give a young person? Part 2. The Wrap-Up Should we dread aging? Answer yes or no (no fence-sitting allowed!). Defend your response with material from the course. Be certain to use examples and research from My Virtual Life, Still Alice, lectures, class discussions, and textbook readings. It is your job to convince me of your point of view, using logical thinking and research evidence. It is possible to argue both sides of this issue but for this assignment, you must choose one side and wholeheartedly defend it, with an organized and well-written response. Format Criteria:
