Video: It’s a Living: a documentary inspired by the book “Working” by Studs Terkel
Level: Middle, High school
Subject: History, Journalism, Social studies/science
Subject: History, Journalism, Social studies/science
Date: 1975
Duration: 60 minutes
Synopsis:
It’s A Living was based on Terkel’s groundbreaking oral history book, Working. It features the stories of six different people at their jobs: two from Terkel’s book (“Wheelin’ Lovin’” Al Pommier, a parking lot attendant, and Yolanda Lief, a waitress) and four new people (a barber, a piano tuner, a model, and Terkel’s WFMT receptionist). A highlight of the program is Terkel’s own working life as he did his daily one-hour eclectic radio broadcast, and his thoughts on fame, artistry, and his legacy.
Duration: 60 minutes
Synopsis:
It’s A Living was based on Terkel’s groundbreaking oral history book, Working. It features the stories of six different people at their jobs: two from Terkel’s book (“Wheelin’ Lovin’” Al Pommier, a parking lot attendant, and Yolanda Lief, a waitress) and four new people (a barber, a piano tuner, a model, and Terkel’s WFMT receptionist). A highlight of the program is Terkel’s own working life as he did his daily one-hour eclectic radio broadcast, and his thoughts on fame, artistry, and his legacy.
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Teaching Tools
Discussion questions
Pre-screening
- Provide students with a history/background on Studs Terkel. Biography from Chicago History Museum: Studs Terkel
- From “Working” by Studs Terkel, read the Alfred Pommier chapter (pp. 219 – 223) and the Dolores Dante chapter (pp 293 – 298)
Note: Questions are arranged based on when they occur in the video
Post-screening questions
- Al Pommier – parking lot attendant
- Where does Al work, what is his job?
- What do Al’s customers think about him?
- What is Al’s personality like?
- Where is Al from?
- How does Al feel about his job?
- How long has Al worked at the lot?
- What other jobs has he had?
- What kind of job does he want?
- How long will he work there? What does he plan to do next?
- Marcia Stocking – receptionist
- What is Marcia’s job?
- What does she do at work?
- What kind of skills does she need?
- How does Marcia feel about her job?
- What doesn’t she like about her job?
- How long has she worked there?
- Does her job seem stressful?
- Bernard Passmore – barber
- What is Bernard’s job?
- What does he like about his job?
- How long has he worked as a barber?
- How did he become interested in the job?
- How does he feel about his job?
- Does it seem like his business is doing well? What does he blame for loss of business?
- What kind of skills are needed to be a barber?
- How hard does his work seem?
- William Farrell – piano tuner
- What is William’s job?
- What does he like about music?
- What story does he tell, as a highlight of his career?
- What skills does he need to be able to do his job? How hard does his job seem?
- Margie Robbins – model
- What is Margie’s job?
- How does she prepare for a shoot?
- How does she feel about her job? In comparison to other jobs?
- Yolanda Leif – waitress [given pseudonym Dolores Dante in “Working”]
- What is Yolanda’s job?
- Does her work seem difficult?
- How long has she held her job?
- How does she feel about her job?
- What else what would she like to do?
- Studs Terkel – interviewer
- How does he feel about his job?
- What kinds of people does he interview?
- What does he think about TV?
- What is Studs’ job?
- What does Studs say about working-class people and their jobs?
Post-screening
- Which job seems the hardest to do?
- In what ways are the jobs different from each other?
- Which jobs require more skills, which jobs seem physically more demanding?
- Which of these jobs could you see yourself doing, which if any would you want to have?
- How do you think the jobs that Studs Terkel and the filmmakers picked would be different if these interviews were done today? Would they have chosen to interview different people?
- Do you think that most of these people are happy with their jobs, or would they rather have a different job?
Activities
In-class activities
- Watch the clips together with the students. Have students answer questions individually, then discuss.
- Divide the class into small groups. Have each group watch a particular interview on the computer, and answer the related questions. Come together as a class and have the students report out about the segment they saw, followed by a general discussion.
Homework activities
- Interview a relative, friend, neighbor, etc. about their work. Write a one to two page description of their life or day based on the interview. Include photos or illustrations. Interviews can be collected into a book and shared.
- Record the interview using a digital video device (smart phone, video camera). The teacher sets up a class blog to share the videos and written reports.
- Choose one of Studs Terkel’s characters and write a creative short story about a day or two in their life. Stories can be collected into a book and shared.