1. The five people you meet in heaven unit
Honor Narratives
Ms. Pankey
8th Grade language arts
Auburn junior high
The five people you meet in heaven unit

2. What does it mean to honor someone?
Honor – (verb) to regard with great respect; admire.
Honoring someone means that you recognize someone who deserves respect and admiration. Many people have done valiant, good things in their lives but have never been honored or recognized for them.

3. The Five People You Meet in Heaven
In the dedication of The Five People You Meet in Heaven, the author, Mitch Albom, says he wrote the book as a wish “that my uncle, and other like him – people who feel unimportant here on earth – realize, finally, how much they mattered and how they were loved.”
Albom’s book honors his uncle Eddie, who felt he had never done anything important with his life; Albom disagreed.

4. Assignment
Your job with this assignment is to honor someone that you know.
Think about people that you know. Who do you admire? Why? Brainstorm a short list of people that you admire and why.
These people might have: made sacrifices for you or their family, fought in war, been faced with tough decisions, taken a stand for the “right” thing, etc.

5. Choosing Someone to Honor
Narrow it down to one person that you would like to honor.
This person needs to be someone that you could tell a story about.
You will have to interview this person very soon, so you need to have a way to contact them. If you choose someone is deceased, then you must be able to interview someone who knew them well and would know stories about their life.
This needs to be someone you know personally.

6. Choosing Someone to Honor
After you have narrowed it down to one person you want to honor, you should start brainstorming what you want to focus on to honor their life.
Hopefully, you will be able to choose one story from their life that shows your readers this person’s character and the honorable things they have done in their lives.
In order to receive information about their life, you will conduct an interview with them.

7. Interviewing
I am giving you a list of ten questions that you must ask the person you are going to interview.
You may certainly ask them more than just these questions – in fact, you should!
The interview should be conversational. This means you should ask them questions about any details you want when they tell you their stories.
If you already know a good deal about this person’s life stories, ask them to re-tell it to you with the most details that they can remember.

8. Interviewing
Be sure to ask politely if you may interview this person and explain what this assignment is for.
**IMPORTANT: When interviewing, you must take notes of the person’s answers.
You can either write their answers down on a separate sheet of paper
OR You can record the interview (on your phone, on your computer) and type up the questions and answers later.
To record an interview with your computer, search for the program called “Audacity”!
DETAILS, DETAILS, DETAILS!!! Get as many as possible.

9. DUE DATE!!!
A “transcript” of your interview is due on WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 1, 2014!!!!!
Transcript means that you need to turn in a complete record of the questions and answers of your interview. Do not leave out ANYTHING!!!
Example:
Include your name, the name of the person you interviewed, and the setting (date, time, place) at the TOP of your paper or Word document.
If you are recording the interview, you will have to save it, then go back later and listen to the interview while you type up exactly what was said by both you and the other person you interviewed.

10. What’s Next?
When you turn in your interview transcripts on WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 1, 2014, we will talk about how to write a narrative to honor your person.
REMEMBER: Your goal is to tell a story about this person’s life that you think shows why they are not just an “ordinary” person, but someone who should be honored because of sacrifices they have made, obstacles they have overcome, etc.