Youtube Project

For this project, I have chosen to advocate for the existence of critical thinking in education. More specifically, I have proposed that an abstract thinking class be required for middle school and high school students. Through this, I think that students will be more inclined to engage in thinking about serious issues more critically and in their own way. However, in order to argue in favor of this proposal, I need to have some mode of marketing this information to other people. For this specific proposal, I think that creating a Youtube video would be most beneficial for advocating such policy changes.

The focus of the Youtube video that I am creating for my advocacy project is directly related to the persuasive essay. They advocate for the same policy. However, the video is aimed at motivating people, specifically students, to care about the lack of critical thinking in education. The end goal of this would be to encourage a politically active generation to influence policy. This is different from the persuasive essay in the sense that the persuasive essay is meant to persuade legislators and people in power. In other words, the focus of the video will only change or differ due to the intended audience.

The main reason for changing the audience is that policymakers and legislators will not be exposed to something as insignificant as a Youtube video. However, the general populous ventures all across Youtube all the time. They are far more likely to come across this content and actually pay any attention to it whatsoever. As a result, the video should pertain to those people. The whole point of advocating for anything is to foster change and the only way to foster change through Youtube is tailoring to the general public.

In doing this, there are a couple strategies I will utilize in order to appeal to my audience. One such strategy is the use of an anecdote. By telling a story of someone who suffers from the current education system and its lack of critical thinking, people will not only be more sympathetic to any argument favoring change but will also be more likely to remember the argument I make due to the creation of an emotional connection. Another strategy would be the use of examples. By demonstrating how critical thinking could exist in education through examples, the audience will be more receptive to the idea that critical thinking is lacking. This would be especially effective if unique and simple examples are used.