For my project, I decided to translate my argument from my paper into a media project. I wanted to do so in a way that would be parallel with the structure and flow of my paper. In both my paper and video, I introduce the idea of the immigrant paradox and then explain my reasoning for why its true that immigrant children can and will likely outperform (in terms of education) their native classmates. I argue that strong familial ties are what makes immigrant children so successful, and then offer three sub-claims about how strong familial ties accomplishes that. The three reasons are: 1. Instills a sense of passion for education, 2. Provides a sense of community (and hence support system), and 3. Helps the child gain a second language and values system.

Since my paper is targeted towards children of immigrant parents, so too is my video, however the medium is now entirely different! Because these two mediums vary, I had to approach each of them in different ways. With the paper, I was able to describe, at length, some of my opinions and explain my sources. However, with the video, I had to bear in mind that my audience would not be satisfied or entertained by the idea of reading many words on a screen. As such, I’ve had to “simplify” my argument a bit and also use relevant pictures that pertained to what I was speaking about. The hardest part was knowing how much or how little information to provide in the video. I think I’ve found a good balance of information and pictures, and hopefully my argument is clear to the viewers!

 

YouTube Clip: