GO STUDY! (abroad)

GO STUDY! (ABROAD)





Persuasion has been studied for over two thousand years. From philosophers like Aristotle to recent philosophers like Kenneth Burke. For all these years photospheres have been arguing and presenting their theories on topics like rhetoric and aesthetics. I will be talking about some of those theories. They are the cognitive consistency theory, systematic processing model, and need for cognition. I will apply these theories to why St. John’s University students should consider joining the study abroad program at our university.
First, I would like to explain the theories. The cognitive consistency theory rests on the assumption that humans want to reduce inconsistencies because they create stress or discomfort. A fundamental principle here is that people who are stable and content with life are more difficult to change. Decisions may result from other motives, some motivation like discomfort or a positive opportunity is typically necessary to move people to make major changes when they perceive life is already good. Ethical questions come up regarding the intentional creation of stress and tension. The systematic processing model is part of the HSM, or the heuristic-systematic model. This represents a comprehensive treatment of judgment-related information. It’s a slow, high-effort reasoning process bearing strong resemblance to the central processing route in the ELM, or elaboration likelihood model. Heuristics are mental rules of thumb though they are not very accurate but can still be useful to deal with common situations. They are strategies



that help us reduce the time it takes to make decisions. Heuristics are used in everyday life. For example if 4 people are at a stop sign, instead of know the exact rules and see who was there first, a person might wave their hand as a shortcut to concluding who should go first or not. Some heuristics can be misleading too. This leads to the last theory, the need for cognition. It is a cognitive motivation to process information and is a general trait that some people enjoy thinking and others do not. People high in the need for cognition are more likely to form their attitudes by paying close attention to relevant arguments whereas people low in the need for cognition are more likely to rely on peripheral cues, such as how attractive or credible a speaker is. Psychological research on the need for cognition has been conducted using self-report tests, where research participants answered a series of statements such as "I prefer my life to be filled with puzzles that I must solve" and were scored on how much they felt the statements represented them. The results have suggested that people who are high in the need for cognition score slightly higher in verbal intelligence tests but no higher in abstract reasoning tests. There were no gender differences in the need for cognition. Research concludes that individuals high in NFC are less likely to attribute higher social desirability to more attractive individuals or to males. Individuals high in NFC report higher life satisfaction.



Before I go into the actual application of these theories, I would first like to explain into detail what exactly the study abroad program at St. John’s University is, and



what they do and do not provide for students. There are many study abroad programs at St. John’s. A student has a choice of picking from over 15 different countries in which they would like to spend a semester in. I feel that the study abroad program is an amazing opportunity we have at our university and most students should definitely take advantage of it. I say this because I took that opportunity when I studied abroad in Rome,
Italy last year. Everyone knows and talks about the academic and cultural learning advantage this has, but after going through it, I believe, at least for me anyway, it was a real test of will. Knowing whether you can learn, think, and solve everyday life problems on your own in a foreign country away from your family and home is the real challenge. St. John’s feels that while abroad, students will have the once in a lifetime opportunity to become immersed in an entirely new cultural setting. Being abroad gives students the opportunity to discover their strengths and abilities, conquer new challenges, and solve new problems. This is a great opportunity to give greater depth to a student’s academic career by making the world your classroom. You can even learn a new language where everywhere is the language lab. Students can boost their language skills and will be surprised how fast they can learn a language when living in a particular culture. Many students end up adding a language minor to diversify their academic report. St. John’s claims that as a University, they commit themselves to academic excellence but also the pursuit of social justice and aid to the poor. As global citizens opportunities must be searched for out all over the globe. Students will have the chance to go beyond their nation's boundaries and help families right in their own country. Students who have worked in soup kitchens in Rome or hospitals in Paris have gained a new perspective on other cultures and people. Studying abroad is an investment in a student’s future; one



that helps distinguishes you from the crowd. Employers look for well-rounded candidates who display drive and independent thinking; by studying abroad you can demonstrate your leadership skills. The world is becoming more and more globalized every day. America has invested billions in foreign countries, and companies around the world continue to invest in the international market. Through an employer's eyes, students who have studied abroad are self-motivated, independent, willing to embrace challenges, and able to cope with diverse situations. Their experience living and studying in a foreign country, will give them the skills necessary to negotiate in another culture, and acquire language skills that will set them apart from other job applicants.
My line of argument is that despite the financial burdens, the study abroad program is something that every student should at least consider seriously while attending St. John’s. For students who are on financial aid, the semester fee will be paid. However, there is an $8,000 study abroad fee. This includes housing, 30 day meal plan, and a one week all expense paid European Union trip. It does not include air fare to go and come back from here to your destination. When I was signing up for the program, there was one scholarship available to who ever wrote the best essay on a certain topic. Anyway, it is understandable that $8,000 is a lot of money to come up with on top of the tuition fee. It would be very difficult to change the minds of students who are very much content



with their life here on Queens Campus. This is an application of the cognitive consistency theory. Going to a foreign country for 4 months and having a huge



financially weight is something that needs to be well thought out before attempting. This is where the systematic processing model is practical. It’s a slow, high-effort reasoning process bearing strong resemblance to the central processing route in the ELM, or elaboration likelihood model. This is a decision that needs to be made rationally and needs to use the central route. High reasoning and use of logic is a must for important choices as this. The need for cognition is a cognitive motivation to process information and is a general trait that some people enjoy thinking and others do not. As to the study abroad program, some students would get turned on to the idea of going abroad immediately before even inquiring information about it. On the other hand, there are a handful of students who would get turned off by the idea, and mostly it would be due to the financial weight. I am confident in saying this because I have seen very bright and ambitious students who were very much interested in joining the program but were unable to due lack of funds. Some students said that even if they had the funds, they did not think it was a good idea to go abroad because they would party too much and after spending so much money they were afraid of getting a bad GPA. I even remember one student who wanted to do the Discover the World Program; this is a new program St. John’s came up with last year. This program entails six weeks of the semester in Rome, another six weeks in Paris, and three weeks in Salamanca, Spain. Back to the student, he was explained the strict but fair rules about not getting in trouble through out the program because they will not hesitate to throw a student out. The student (who will remain nameless) said he cannot attend the program because he would definitely be thrown out. In hind sight, there was a lot of misinformation given to us as students after we had gotten accepted in the program. The woman in charge (Kathryn Paskor) of the program and the one who was to provide us accurate information did just the opposite. She assumed things and passed it on to us as if it was completely precise information but it was not. I noticed the University used mere exposure as a method to catch students’ attention. There were banners and signs all over campus, the use of mere exposure is the more the exposure the more we like. Pentad is a tool of analysis for the semantic dimension of language developed by Burke. This has five central elements: scene, act, agent, agency, and purpose. Scene is the physical location, the situation, time, social place, occasion and other elements. Act refers to any motivated action. The words and actions taken by a person, and their appropriateness for the scene, ultimately affect





outcome. Agent is Burke’s term for the person or group of persons who take action in the scene. They are the actors or characters that make things happen. Agency is the tool, method, or means used by persuaders to accomplish their ends. Finally, purpose is the reason an agent acts in a given scene using a particular agency. The persuader’s true purpose can be more, or less, apparent. The scene in this case is the location of the study abroad program. The act would be to actually sign up for the program. The agent would be the students attending the program. The agency is St. John’s University and any other schools affiliated with the study abroad program. Finally the purpose is a student signing up for the program though St. John’s University for the study abroad program.

There are four contextual effects, physical attractiveness, social attractiveness, task attractiveness, and credibility. The physical attractiveness in this case would be the appeal towards the city of where to study. The social attractiveness could be many factors. It could be the fact that a person is going to me meet new people in a different setting and culture, or that a close friend is joining the program and they would like to join it because their friend is going. Creditability is factual and believability, depending on how one wants to define it. In this case the credibility would be that which will be on a student’s transcript; that they studied abroad and gained a lot of experience and maturity, which really stands out on a transcript. Another great application to this would be the Yale 5-stage developmental model. The five stages are identity, legitimacy, participation, penetration, and distribution. Identity is self-explanatory, legitimacy are warrants and credibility, participation is about getting members, penetration is brand


name recognition, and distribution is when the movement becomes an establishment. In the case of the study abroad program, the participation is actually getting students to join and make the program grow, the penetration is to spread the word about the program and label it with a positive recognition, and distribution, where the program is growing in popularity, funding, and has firmly established itself as an important part of St. John’s University.
In conclusion, my argument was that despite the financial burdens and other things, the study abroad program is well worth the time, money, and effort. I have explained theories, and then explained their application on students and how they may have made their decisions. I have shown why it would be worth trying out the program, and even if students are unsure, there are a lot more students who attended this program than there were when I went, so they would be the primary resource for all questions students may have. I would completely have to criticize the faculty in charge of the program though. They give students so much misinformation, and try to rush them into the program just so they can collect that tuition check as fast as possible. Remember that if a student is at all seriously considering going abroad, that they get all the information they need. Ask any and all questions because once you have made your final decision there are no turning back. As the program grows, and it is, there will be more scholarship opportunities to get a free ride abroad for a full semester. I have given good solid factual information from my own personal experience, and I hope students continue to make this amazing and life changing program grow.

THE UNUSUAL SUSPECTS

THE UNUSUAL SUSPECTS


This is by far one of my favorite movies of all time. It is so original and has an amazing combination of a fantastic cast and an exceptional script. It is one of the greatest suspense endings of all time, but nor because most people cannot figure it out, but because it actually all makes sense at the end and yet you are still baffled and confused at the same time.
I believe “Verbal” uses ethos, which is a rhetoric technique used to directly appeal to an authority in order to strengthen your argument. Verbal basically has a long argument against Kujan about certain events that may have or may not have taken place. Verbal is using his very special talent of deception and rhetorical reasoning towards an authority figure (Kujan) and as a result ends up strengthening his argument.
Verbal makes excellent use of logos as well which is something that’s said with intelligence, reasoning, and use of logic. He makes excellent use of the useless information behind Kujan. He takes all the random information and twists and turns it into information he can use to tell Kujan a long fake story which actually follows certain logic, and Kujan falls for it. He also appeals to the audience, which is called pathos. He does this by portraying his physical and emotional weakness. He shows himself off as a cripple who is also borderline stupid. This is done to get sympathy from the audience. I mean, who wouldn’t believe a dumb-ass cripple totally down on his luck and has had a horrible life? And just like that, he’s gone.

Final Project Presentation Schedule

Monday, April 28
1) Andrew
2) Cheryl
3) Manny

Wednesday, April 30
1) Doug
2) Cara
3) Sam
4) Meredith

Friday, May 2
1) Leanda
2) Miro
3) Ebony
4) Ian

The Usual Suspects in 33 seconds/Reaction

This movie is a terrific physiological thriller with one of the best twists I’ve seen in a long time. There is just one problem. I saw this movie about 10 years too late. I’m sure when Kevin Spacey was a fairly unknown actor this movie really left many who viewed it with their jaws dropped and that utter look of WTF just happened here. As a matter of fact, when I viewed it with my classmates some still had this plastered look of “Damn, I thought I had it” on their faces. I, on the other hand, knew it was Kevin Spacey from the beginning. Now please, don’t get me wrong. I don’t mean to sound like some pretentious film snob who goes around acting like he knows every movie plot before it’s ever put on paper because this just isn’t the case. I thought the movie was well done and all the actors in it did a phenomenal job. The plot started off simple enough, but only in the end could one truly appreciate the complexities of this movie. We are left wondering many things such as: Who really is Keyser Soza? Was Hockney planning on skipping out alone with the loot? What in the flying fuck was Benicio Del Toro saying and why did I find it so damn funny?
The ethos of Kint is being built from the moment we see him being interrogated by agent Kujan. The whole movie sets us up like the sentimental saps we are and we fall for it hook, line, and sinker. First let’s start with the fact that Kint has cerebral palsy. It’s kind of hard to start off with yea that’s the guy who killed all those people, the slow guy with the limp. Then we throw on the fact that this guy will ramble on about anything and everything, so immediately we as the audience think that there is no way in hell blabber mouth here could keep a secret so once again, we trust him with open arms. Finally we are made to believe that Kint is nothing more than a scarred little two bit criminal who has bitten up way more than he can chew and now is caught up in this dark world he has no business being a part of. As a matter of fact, when he is crying on his knees in front of agent Kujan the audience now feels that Kint is a representation of the everyday man in the story.
In short, Kint represents us. And Kujan is more of the higher up authority figure who always comes down hard on us, tells us what to do, and thrives on the intimidation of the common man. But the fact of the matter is that this is all one big farce. Kint is nothing like us. Kint is the master manipulator. He is the deceptive narrator that all those Edger Allen Poe stories spoke of, and yet we did not learn our lesson. So we are left in wonderment of how we could have been so easily deceived. It appears to be obvious in retrospect that Kint is the one behind it all. The foreshadowing is told through parallels of the devil and the power of myths over reality. How could we be so blind? This is why the movie is so well done. It’s a twisted and complicated plot, yet once it is revealed it all seems so simple.
So how is it that I knew in advance that Kint was the puppeteer pulling everyone’s strings? It’s quite simple. It has nothing to do with a keen sense of plot development. It’s FUCKING KEVIN SPACEY. This is the same man who has played the character that has brought down superman, defended racist bigots, decapitated Brad Pitt’s wife and gave it to him as a present, not to mention, the only man to my knowledge to ever audit Santa Clause. I mean Keyser Soza is nothing compared to the ass who audits Santa… Have you no soul man?

WTC

Check this out and tell me how you guys feel. I have been trying to show the class these videos for so long now but Jaime, love u alot, is taking too long to let me lol. check this out: 

Reply to the Dunkin Donut

Hey,

I dont think the commerical was actually offensive to any ethic backgroup. Whther it is Italian or French i do not see the commercial offensive at all. I just feel like the commercial is trying to sell their product by stating that Americans do not need fancy names to sell their products. The simple word as Latte is enough as opposed to the usual Tall, kjasghaig Frapuccino to sell this product. The commerical is stating that the simplicity of words is alot better than these usual tongue twisting words to sell. Americans are becoming more and more difficult and want the "booshua" or the classy coffee to make themselves feel higher in class. Straight up, whether you are drinking Poland Spring or fancy shancy water, it is just water!!

Dunkin' Donuts - Fritalian Commercial

I saw this commercial about a month back and for some reason it really got under my skin. I didn’t think much of it at first because commercials in general now a days blow goats. But at second glance I realized this might not be your every day, run of the mill, (insert cliché about ordinary things here) commercial. No, there is something far worse afoot here than your typical marketing fixation with farm animal fellatio. The commercial undermines the very fabric of which our nation is woven together with. What’s great about America is the cultural differences among our citizens. I take solace in the fact that we have a country whose language, culture, and overall “look” does not consist of one image or race, but several. I know it may appear that I’m looking too far into this and that the commercial was just attempt at humor, not meant to be taken seriously, but let’s break down this commercial.
“My mouth can’t form these words”—meaning this is not my native tongue. “Is it French or is it Italian…perhaps Fritalian”—which I take as a slap in the face to cultural diffusion. Apparently if it’s not English, then we as Red, White, and Blue blooded Americans don’t give “Two Shits” about it. The fact that we are so pompous to just lump in two completely different cultures as if they are the same tells us a little something about how we view the world. Then we have the nerve to get pissed when the rest of the world call us stupid, arrogant, and undignified. Who cares, French, Italian it’s all the same shit right? I mean it’s either American or it’s not. Wrong, what makes America “America” is that we have made an entire culture based on all the different cultures of the world. We are a nation that can have apple pie and wash it down with a cappuccino. We can drink Coca Cola while eating a Taco.
It’s asinine to think that we will one day get back to this original America when everyone spoke English and drank Coors Light. Well, news flash, that America never existed. We have always been a land of immigrants. The Native Americans didn’t speak English and for those of you who still think Columbus discovered America because he had a flag, well I hate to break it to you but he didn’t speak English either. He spoke Italian and probably some form of Spanish considering he was sailing on behalf of the King and Queen of Spain. Not to mention his crew was all Spanish. An America without the integration of different ideas, cultures, and beliefs wouldn’t be the same.
Oh, just one more thing, and I direct this to the high ups at Dunkin Donuts. Last time I checked, “Latte” was not an English word, so how can you say with a straight face that you can come to DD where you order things in English, not Fritalian. That’s the dumbest statement of all. I was never a Starbucks kind of guy, but this commercial actually makes me want to spend $9 for a cup of coffee. Maybe you should stick to those Rachael Ray commercials instead of… actually on second thought I’d rather see more Fritalian ads.