For my campaign, the public I am writing to is high school aged girls that are starting to decide what they want to do in the future. This is the audience I am trying to reach because the goal of my campaign is to increase the number of women who pursue science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) careers. I think the best way to reach my audience is through social media and by partnering with schools and organizations that they are a part of. Sheridan et al. defines kairos as “the opening or gap that allows passage to a goal or desired destination”. The authors criticize the term “public sphere” because it implies that there is some sort of restrictions or a defined network of the public. I am going to use kairos to reach the audience I want because there is only a certain window of time where girls will be receptive to the idea of joining a STEM career. I decided the best time to try to reach out to them would be while they are in high school. This is because they have not made any decisions about their future yet, but they are beginning to think about what they want to do with their lives after they graduate from high school. I think this is the opportune time to reach my audience because they are most likely already interested in some subjects that are related to STEM fields. This is important because if their interests are encouraged throughout their high school careers, they will probably be more likely to pursue a career that is related to the subjects they are interested in. I think that in this situation, finding the right time to reach out to my audience is extremely important. I think that if I wait too long I will miss out on the chance to persuade the girls to join a STEM field.
2 thoughts on “Kairos as a Tool to Help Spread My Message”
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I think that your target audience of high school girls is very solid. One thing I would consider is who else would be reading your material. If you were to distribute a brochure at a high school; teachers, faculty, and staff would most likely stumble across your document. How would these people respond to your material? Could you, in some way, subliminally address teachers and evoke action in them to bring your material into the classroom setting. Yes, handing out brochures to the students would reach them directly; however, they may disregard your information or not take it seriously. Getting the whole administration to be behind your issue could help with gaining extra reinforcement that you may not have considered. If these students bring home your material, it may also be forwarded to their parents, thus expanding your “public.” I also agree with you when you say that the opportune time to reach your target audience is in high school. I’m struggling with a way to help you “create” a time, rather than just saying high school in general. Is there a major STEM event that you can recognize and call upon your issue to move your campaign forward? This would be my only recommendation for further developing the idea of “opportunity.”
This short article has a very clear topic which letting audience know the importance of Kairos. First of all, it has a good structure, with pretty clear statements for each paragraph. The author clearly states what he tries to deliver us as readers, which is vital for readers to understand the ideas. In addition, the article is centered around a very specific topic which enables the content to be very detailed instead of just being too general. Moreover, the suggestion provided will be very implementable in the real world.
On the other hand, however, one thing can be improved is that to be more persuasive, the author can provide more data or a specific example to address issues and solutions for the situation. Also, adding a conclusion paragraph will be very helpful, to remind readers again of the importance of Kairos before ending.
Overall, this article really helps readers get the idea of what Kairos means and how big impacts it may bring to people.