In
the interest of many of us in this class, I’ve decided to utilize a common
affliction that we’ve all experienced (or are currently experiencing) and
understand the cause and effects of ‘senioritis.’ Dwindling motivation is something that I’m
plagued by this semester, so instead of letting it get the best of me I thought
that it would be productive to analyze why this happens to so many of us, as
well as shed some light on possible remedies.
The rhetorical approach I aim to take with this topic concerns the
element of persuasion, since persuasion is a necessary counterpart for
motivation. I’d like to analyze the
persuasive weight that accompanies both positive and negative reinforcement
when it comes to completing a long-term task.
I’ve
read a fair amount of peer reviewed articles concerning senioritis, all of
which have varied opinions about the delineating factors that contribute to a
lack of motivation. What most studies
fail to acknowledge is the fact that there are several instances of being a
senior throughout life aside from the obvious college/high school titles. 5th graders are the seniors of
middle school, 8th graders are the seniors of Jr. high school, and
64 year olds are seniors in the sense that they are about to graduate on to
retirement. From personal observation,
I’ve noticed that each of these groups experience some form of senioritis. One theory I have is that there is some
decline in motivation once we near the end of a major life task because most of
us get a premature sense of accomplishment before the task is actually
finished. Conversely, I think it’s
possible that by the time we reach seniority, we have become so comfortable
with our surroundings and routines that it seems impossible for our current
situation to change whether we are motivated or not. By this I mean that we take our positions in
life/school for granted, and assume that we are fixed into an arbitrary system
that will remain unaffected by our actions.
I’d
like this project to take the form of multiple camera interviews, ideally with
one person from each section of seniors.
In my head, I imagine my video to be somewhat of a Barbara Walters
spoof, so that it isn’t so stiff and dry.
I’ll come up with a specific set of questions for each age group, and
try to make connections between them all in order to get the bigger picture
into view. Through conducting this
research, I hope to better understand my own rhetorical situation in reference
to education, and through this understanding, I hope to be able to condition
myself to control my motivation a little better.
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