Transcription direction
Welcome to
The Hudson Falls High School
World War II Living History Project
Directions for student transcriptions:
· Expect four hours of transcription for every hour of interview depending on the quality of tape.
· Punctuate to convey the speaker’s meaning , to retain the style and flow of discussion and to help create a readable manuscript.
· Retain the questions posed by the interviewer, but pare down rambling questions, i.e., edit out fumbling, starts and stops.
· Preserve chit-chat to indicate the formality or informality of the interview session. Add additional notations in [brackets], e.g., chuckles, laughs, shouts, whispers, or lengthy pauses.
· Note the need for additional information, such as first names, dates, definitions of technical, obsolete or slang terms. Add information in [square brackets] in the text or as information footnotes at the bottom of the page.
· Correct grammatical errors if they are obviously an error of speech or if the narrator is very sensitive about his or her speech patterns, but aim for the most accurate portrayal of the narrator’s speech.
· Leave in repetitions of word, phrases, or stories that show emphasis and/or convey the narrator’s feelings and attitudes.
· Eliminate false starts and superfluous crutch words. (See below)
(From Glenn Whitman, 1999. Used with permission.)
Now, here are the examples and details...
The finished product will be turned in to Mr. Rozell, hard copy and emailed electronically to marozell@hfcsd.org
You have enough time to get the job done right. No excuses.
What will the finished product look like, and how
will I be graded?
Change spoken contractions to proper written English- ex., “gonna” to “going to”. You don’t have to write “uhhhh” if someone says it.
You will be graded on your English language skills- the more I have to correct, the lower your grade. Pick your proofreader wisely.
What follows is an example of
WHAT NOT TO DO:
(poor punctuation, sloppy spelling, etc- a wasted effort...garbage can material... try again next year....)
Yellow Bold= the correct way to do it.
MR: so that’s a little taste of what it was like from a photographer who was actually up in one of the planes that Mr. Morrow would have flow.
Mr. Morrow, you said you flew seventeen combat missions.
Did you find that any of them, obviously from what we saw in the film, the hardest part in the trip?{did that sentence make sense to you?}
MR:
So that’s a little taste of what it was like from a photographer who was
actually up in one of the planes that Mr. Morrow would have flown. Mr. Morrow,
you said you flew seventeen combat missions. Did you find that any of them,
obviously from what we saw in the film, the return was the hardest part in the trip?
MM: It, it varied where you were going. We lost one engine just due to mechanical (failure- an entire word was left out here!) one time, going in, which caused us to slow down ad we were pulling full power on the other three all the way in it was just… that’s when they were really to stay in the formation. See when you were taking up a thousand airplane a day, on a single target, and if you’re o the outside of a formation and there making a left turn you were gonna have full power just to stay in. On the other hand if you were going the other way, on the inside, you were going to be stalling out. So you really, (?) and when you haven’t got full power, you really got problems. We only saw fighters three times in the seventeen missions. And all three times, they were (on us) after we had hit the target.
MR: And that was enough for you though, right?
MM: That’s plenty.
EM:
It varied depending on where you were going. We lost one engine just due to
mechanical failure one time going in, which caused us to slow down and we were
pulling
full power on the other three all the way in. That’s when they really worked
to stay in formation. When you are sending up a thousand airplanes a day on a
single target, if you are on the outside of a formation and you’re making a
left turn, you are going to have full power just to stay in. On the other hand, if
they are going the other way you are on the inside, then you are going to be
stalling out. So when you really haven’t got your full power, then you've really
got problems. We only saw fighters three times in the 17 missions, and all three
times they were on us after we had hit the target.
MR:
And that’s enough for you, right?
EM:
(Smiling) That’s plenty!
MR: I have a photograph here maybe I.. maybe I can get Mr. Morrow to explain who’s in it. Can you zoom in on this. I’m gonna pass this around but this is a photograph of Mr. Morrow and his crew. He had nine men in his crew. And I asked Mr. Morrow on the back to list the ages of the men on it. In the front row kneeling you had the officers a I right?
MR:
I have a photograph here, maybe I can get Mr. Morrow to explain who’s in it.
This is a photograph of Mr. Morrow and his crew. He had 9 men in his crew. I
asked Mr. Morrow to list the ages of the crewmembers. In the front row kneeling
you had the officers.
MM: Right. Uh… this is the captain of the airplane co. pilot he.. uh.. he was an older gentleman… uh he was olddd! He was 27 we called him pa. {What is this???}
MR: How old were you?
MM: I was 22 uh… this is the navigator and he was 19.
MR: And it was his job to do what?
EM:
(Pointing) This one was me, the captain of the airplane. (Pointing at another)
Co-captain, he was an older gentleman, he was so old, he was 27, we called him
"Pa".
MR:
How old were you?
EM:
I was 22. This is the navigator.
MR:
And it was his job to do what?
MM: Uh… where we take of we’d have to get to formation, he had all the maps ad everything so if something happened and we had to leave the formation , it was his job to get us back, AND IT HAPPENED a couple ties and he got us back in good shape uh… this is the bombardier he’s oh… just a on the older than I am. This gentleman was a little older than the rest of us and he stayed in the service he was the top turret gunner and the…..engineer, he retired in 72 as a Brigadier General, at the tie I knew we were flying, he was a sergeant. This was our radio operator and, uh ……. He was killed I action the day we were shot down. This was the waste gunner , he was also killed the day were shot down. Robert Carter was the ball turret operator which was my worst position you could be in on the airplane. your down underneath you cant even see it o here, but you had a ball down under the airplane. I got in it once I got in the thing once, y sergeant put his foot o the back and shoved e in ad you cant see the airplane you got your two guns and you can turn the thing up ad down ad all around but it has stops so u cant shoot your own airplane. But that was the worst place to be and he also was killed I action that day. This gentleman didn’t go with us that day because they took the…… they had a gun in the radio too and they decided that it wasn’t of much value, which it wasn’t and so the radio operator would go back and work on waist gun so we could leave one man home. And this was the tail gunner he survived
EM:
When we take off we have to get in to formation. He had all the maps and
everything. And if something happened, to lead the formation, it was his job to
get us back. It did happen a couple of times, and he got us back in good shape.
This is the bombardier; he’s just a month older than I am. This gentleman over
here was just a little older than the rest of us. He stayed in the service and
he was a top turret gunner. He retired in ’72 as a brigadier general. When we
were flying, he was a sergeant.
This
was our radio operator; he was killed in action the day we were shot down. This
is the waist gunner; he was also killed the day we were shot down. Robert Carter
was a ball turret operator, which is the worst position you can be in on the
aircraft. You are down underneath, you can’t even see it on here (pointing to
a model airplane). I got in it once and the sergeant put his foot on my
back and shoved me in. You can’t see the airplane, all you got is your two
guns down there and you can turn that thing up, down, all around, but it has
stops on it where you can’t shoot your own airplane. That’s the worst place
to be in. He (Carter) also was killed in action that day.
(Pointing
again at photograph of crew) This gentleman didn’t go with us that day because
they took the gun in the radio room out. They took it out and they decided it
wasn’t of much value, which it wasn’t, and the operator would go back and
work on the waist guns, so we would leave one man home.
This
one was a tail gunner, and he survived.
MR: and a…. your waist gunner Joe Salerno was killed in action on the 2nd of Nov. 1944 the day you were shot down he’s not real tall because how old is he I this picture.
MR:
Your waist gunner, Joe Calerno, was killed in action on the second of
November, 1944, the day you were shot down. He’s not real tall in this picture
and that’s because, how old was he?
MM: Uhh… a… 18 so he went in the service kinda told a little fib about his age because they wouldn’t take anyone under 18 then.
MR: Yeah. So that’s his crew and ill pass it around
{I give up this reall yis not
good. sse what i mean}
MR: So that’s his crew and I’ll pass that around.
Editing sloppy grammar and punctuation costs me valuable time. Don't change the words that come out of the person's mouth. If the subject repeats himself, put it in. I will clarify it when I edit your work. You won't lose points for that.
Finally, I appreciate your hard work and I hope you understand how important it really is, not just to me , but to civilization. I'm not kidding.
Maybe no one will realize it until they are all dead. Click here, how many high school students can say they are doing what you are doing?