The interview process provides students with a contextual framework for writing essays (reports, profiles, and arguments), because it helps them to identify and develop their own conceptual and investigative skills through dialogue with another person. Before the actual interview, it is important to choose a subject to interview, form a sense of which questions to ask, make an interview appointment, determine what method will be used to record information, and prepare a list of questions that probe the significant facts and ideas needed to create the final essay. Other guidelines for the interview vary according to the type of essay assignment. In preparing a report, it is necessary to define the basic objectives and organization of the report, state the major problems and events, and give the reader a clear idea of the major divisions of the subject. A profile focuses on the person, uses a narrative structure, establishes immediacy, and introduces readers to the scene and leads them out at the end. The argument or persuasive paper presents a dialectical interchange between the interviewer and the person interviewed and formulates questions in such a way as to sort out those elements that constitute the answer. (MAI)