The life story of Vernon Pruitt: An examination of a storytelling event

The purpose of this study is to present an examination of life stories by defining the genre of the life story, explaining how to collect and analyze one as a folkloric event, and offering aspects of human behavior which the life story reveals as traditional. An additional purpose of this study is to present the transcript and tapes of the life story of Vernon Pruitt so that they may be preserved and accessible.;Major sources of data included books and periodicals Historical documents were examined to verify dates and locations mentioned during the interview. Collections of personal narratives were of primary interest.;Procedures followed in this study included interviewing Vernon Pruitt, recording the interview onto cassette tapes, preparing a transcript of the interview, and analyzing Pruitt's life story.