Multi Genre Project: Higher

Education and its Importance in Society

Othman Adil

 Adil  2    

Othman Adil

Professor Beckelhimer

ENG2089

December 5, 2014

Introduction

In some households, high school graduation and the advancement to college is as

commonplace as a wedding, first baby shower, first home purchase, etc.; the framed picture of

John Doe’s graduation from the University of Cincinnati is sitting right on the family bookshelf,

right next to his embarrassing wedding photo where he trips and knocks over the three story tall

wedding cake. However, this scene is not prevalent enough in our society; college is perceived as

a financial black-hole for many people which leaves you debt-stricken with loans for the rest of

your life with no possibility of bankruptcy. Consequently, high school dropout rates have

become a growing issue and our lack of individuals with higher education leaves many citizens

either unemployed or employed in a position not to their liking. Many figures have devoted their

professional careers to spreading the value of education to others, such as Michelle Obama

giving speeches to high school students about the importance of college, or Salman Khan making

videos on his YouTube channel KhanAcademy to give education lessons to anyone with internet

access around the world, ranging from 7th grade algebra to micro and macroeconomics.

At the same time, we are presented with celebrities on television and the internet who

have reached the highest social status and are making hundreds of millions of dollars without

ever going to college. The rising cost of college tuition in the past decade has also influenced

parents of the younger generation of students to not view a college education as a possibility

 Adil  3    

financially, leading to the aforementioned dropout rates and increasing unemployment rates.

Using a post on YikYak, a children’s storybook, and an advertisement towards parents, I show

different audiences the importance of higher education and the potential effect it can have on

themselves in the future as well as those around them. Hopefully with the aid of these genres,

continuing to higher education will become routine in every household in the United States.

 Adil  4    

Table of Contents Page(s)

I. Genres

a. YikYak post 5

b. Children’s storybook: Toby Skips School 6-9

c. Advertisement to parents 10

II. Analytical Conclusion 11-13

III. Works Cited 14

 Adil  5    

 Adil  6    

 Adil  7    

 Adil  8    

 Adil  9    

 Adil  10    

 Adil  11    

Analytical Conclusion

As stated in my introduction, my goal for these genres is to use research that I obtained

when analyzing the topic of higher education and utilize that research in different visual formats

to both inform and persuade individuals of differing perspectives to consider higher education as

a crucial component for financial and social success in modern day society. When it comes to

higher education, there are many potential audiences that are affected directly, but for this

specific multi genre project I chose to orient my attention towards three specific groups: college

students, young children around the ages of 4-8, and parents of younger children. Each of these

groups can be presented with information in different ways, so I chose genres that are most

appealing and most likely to reach people of my intended audiences.

To address college students regarding higher education, I created a post on the recently

popular social media app, Yik Yak. This application, available on both Apple and Android

smartphones and tablets, allows a user to write a 200 character or less post on anything they

choose while remaining anonymous. Users can also see posts by others on the home screen of

the app that were created within a certain mile radius of their location, as well as see posts from

specific areas in the United States, and allows them to either “upvote” the post if they like it or

“downvote” the post if they don’t. Yik Yak allows strangers within a certain radius of each other

to discuss societal topics and issues without losing anonymity, thus it becomes a great ground for

the discussion of higher education by me! On November 17th 2014, I posted the “yak” shown

above on page 5, where I mention unemployment rates of college grads vs high school grads in

the United States. This post received 24 upvotes within an hour and also a few comments! One

user mentions the large percentage of high school graduates who are still parent-dependent,

however I doubt that the 90% was calculated after research. There is also a sarcastic comment

 Adil  12    

that follows hinting that ONLY 1 in 20 college graduates living in poverty is still a high number

considering the amount of money spent on tuition by college students. Of course I disagree with

this idea due to differing life circumstances outside of education, such as a debilitating condition

that limits one’s ability to work after graduating college, causing them to live in poverty.

However, the amount of views of the post and the upvotes it receives are the useful aspects of

this post; I was able to display information regarding my topic to an audience that is currently

feeling the financial hardship of a college education and I show them the statistics regarding the

value of how they are spending their time.

The second genre I use is aimed more at a younger audience: children from ages about 4

to 8. I wrote a story book on the website storyjumper.com called Toby Skips School. To briefly

summarize, this story is about a boy named Toby with three friends, Tommy and Timmy.

Originally, all three go to school together every day but one day Toby decides that school is too

much work and that staying home is a much more enjoyable use of time. Toby stops going to

school for the rest of his childhood and becomes an adult without a job. Toby eventually is

reunited with his old friends Tommy and Timmy who have jobs and tell him the value of

education and how it allows you to become whatever you wish. Toby proceeds to return to

school and receive the education he needs to fulfill his lifelong aspiration: becoming an

astronaut. Of course using statistics isn’t an effective way of telling children that going to school

is important, but since so many children around this age begin their love for reading, I felt that

creating a colorful storybook with nice pictures and a simple plot would teach children that in

order to become whatever they dream of becoming as an adult, be it a doctor, lawyer, policeman

or firefighter, they will eventually need some form of education.

 Adil  13    

The final genre I use is geared to influence the thought process of parents. I created a

poster/billboard like visual advertisement in which I have a statistical chart from the Pew

Research Center on average salary earnings of college graduates vs high school graduates as well

as unemployment rates and percentages of individuals living in poverty. In addition to the

statistics, I use pictures of a child in a doctor scrub uniform, a baby in an astronaut costume, and

a child who looks like a CEO to appeal to the parental instinct of love toward their children.

Below these pictures I also have images of children in situations without higher education, such

as a teenager working in fast-food, a child rapper and a homeless child. In the middle of the

advertisement I ask the parents, “Where do you want to see your children in the future?” With

this genre, I use pathos (appeal to emotion) and logos (appeal to logic) as modes to persuade

parents that higher education will have a monumental impact on both the success of their

children and the image that they will have in the eyes of others.

When these genres are utilized together, I believe that they become an effective means of

showing the benefits of higher education in our society as well as what can happen if higher

education is not pursued to many different audiences but specifically what I deem to be the three

most important audiences related to this topic: college students, young children, and parents of

those young children.

 Adil  14    

Works Cited

“Chapter 2: Public Views on the Value of Education.” Pew Social Trends, 11, Feb. 2014. Web.

19 Oct. 2014.