Forest Gump Essay Example for Free

Forest Gump Essay Gump, motion picture chronicling the adventures of Forrest Gump, a kind, but slow-witted man who has a knack for being in the right place at the right time. Released in 1994, the film won Academy Awards for Best Picture, Best Screenplay, Best Director, Best Film Editing, and Best Visual Effects. Tom Hanks earned an Academy Award for portraying Gump as a sweet, simple, straightforward man with incredible luck. Gump happens upon many pivotal moments of American history during the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s—for example, he teaches Elvis Presley how to dance and he witnesses the Watergate burglary. Gump also makes a million dollars, runs across the United States, and falls in love with the girl next door. Director Robert Zemeckis Sergeant Forrest Gump Sr. (born June 6, 1944 also known as Forrest Gump in Greenbow, Alabama) is a fictional character who first appears in the 1986 eponymous novel by Winston Groom. Forrest Gump also appeared on screen in the 1994 film of the same name directed by Robert Zemeckis. Gump was portrayed as a child by Michael Conner Humphreys and portrayed as an adult by Tom Hanks, who won an Academy Award for the role. The portrayal of Forrest in the novel is notably different from the portrayal in the film. He later reappears in the 1995 novel Gump and Co. In 2008, Forrest Gump was named the 20th greatest movie character of all time by Empire Magazine. Introduction The world will never be the same once youve seen it through the eyes of Forrest Gump: a film chronicling the life of a mentally challenged man present during three of the most distinctive and dynamic decades in American history. While on the surface lies a heartwarming and inspirational story, the underlying narrative tends to explore progression of American society while depoliticizing history. Throughout the film Forrest is directly involved in major events of the 60s, 70s, and 80s, yet he never shows any initiative of his own. What is the filmmaker trying to insinuate? Contents ? 1. Life 1. Early Years 2. College 3. In The Army 4. Washington, D. C. 5. Ping-Pong 6. Shrimping Boat Captain 7. Home in Alabama 8. Running 9. Back To Present ? 2. Different from the Novel ? 3. Sociological Analysis ? 4. Awards ? 5. Trivia ? 6. Quotes ? 7. Question and Answer Event ? 8. Conclusion ? 9. References [pic]Life 1. 1 Early Years Gump was born near the fictional small town of Greenbow, Alabama, on June 6, 1944 (the same day that the Allied forces began Operation Overlord). His father was absent during his life, his mother saying he was on vacation. His mother named him after Nathan Bedford Forrest, a noted Confederate general in the American Civil War and the first Grand Wizard of the Ku Klux Klan who is supposedly related to Gump. She intended his name to be a reminder that sometimes we all do things that, well, just dont make no sense. Forrest was born with strong legs, but a crooked spine. He was forced to wear leg braces which made walking difficult and running near impossible. He also had a relatively low I. Q. of 75 which nearly prevented him from being accepted into public school (his mother managed to get the principal to reconsider by allowing him to sleep with her). Despite his physical and mental challenges, Forrests mother told him not to let anyone tell him he was different, telling him stupid is as stupid does. Forrest and his mother lived in a large house just outside the town of Greenbow. They made money by renting out rooms to travellers. One of their guests was a young Elvis Presley. Forrest liked dancing to his music and his leg braces gave him a peculiar dancing style that would supposedly inspire the young Elvis famous hip dancing after he became famous. On the bus ride to school, Forrest met Jenny Curran and was instantly taken with her. I had never seen anything so beautiful in my life, he would later say of her, She was like an angel. The two became close friends, often playing around a large nearby tree. Jenny was one of the few people besides his mother to accept Forrest as he was, helping him learn to read and standing up to bullies who harassed him. However, Jennys home life was not nearly as happy as Forrests: her mother had died when she was five and her father was an abusive alcoholic who molested his children (until Jenny was taken away to live with her grandmother), and Forrests friendship offered her an escape. One day, a group of bullies were throwing fallen fruit at Forrest and chasing him on their bikes. Jenny told Forrest to just run away. As Forrest struggled to run, his leg braces broke apart. Once he was free of them, Forrest was able to run incredibly fast. Forrest would never wear leg braces again and was able to run everywhere he wanted to after that. 1. 2 College Forrest and Jenny remained close friends all the way through high school, though he remained a target for bullies. One day, while running from some bullies, he interrupted the local high schools football practice by running across the field faster than all the players. This feat caught the attention of Alabama Crimson Tide head football coach Paul Bear Bryant, who was at the practice scouting football players. After his incredible running ability impressed the coach, Forrest received a football scholarship to the University of Alabama, where his speed helped them win several games. He was later named to the All-American team and got to meet President John F. Kennedy at the White House. When asked by the President how he felt, Forrest (having drunk about fifteen Dr Peppers) gave an honest answer of I gotta pee. Forrest was also present at the University when it was desegregated and observed Governor George Wallace denouncing the desegregation. While several citizens jeered the black students entering the campus, Forrest, not entirely understanding the situation, simply walked up to a black woman and handed her a book she dropped, saying simply Maam? You dropped your book maam? before following her and the others into school. 1. 3 In the Army At his college graduation in 1967, Forrest was approached by an army recruiter who asked if hed given any thought to his future. Soon after, Forrest would join the United States Army. On the bus Forrest met Benjamin Buford Blue, a young black man from Bayou La Batre, Alabama, who went by the nickname Bubba. Bubba told Forrest about his family history of cooking shrimp and how he had planned to buy his own shrimping boat after getting out of the army. Forrest did well in the army as he followed orders well without distraction; for example, he set a new company record for assembling his M14 rifle with his drill sergeant, who regularly singled him out as an example for the recruits, replying he would be a general. Meanwhile, Jenny had been kicked out of school for posing in Playboy and had gotten work singing in the nude at a strip club in Memphis, Tennessee. Forrest went up to visit her one night and beat up some patrons who were harassing her. Forrest tells Jenny that he loves her, but Jenny replies that he [doesnt] know what love is. Jenny is angry but later becomes concerned when he tells her he was being deployed to Vietnam. Jenny tells him not to try being brave if he was ever in trouble and to just run away instead. While in Vietnam, and assigned to company A, 2/47th Infantry, 3rd Brigade, 9th Infantry Division Forrest and Bubba meet their platoon leader Lieutenant Dan Taylor, whom Forrest would refer to as Lieutenant Dan. While on patrol, Bubba proposed that he and Forrest go into the shrimping business together after their time in the army was finished. Forrest agreed. After several uneventful months, their platoon was ambushed by the Viet Cong and several soldiers were wounded and killed. In the confusion, Forrest initially was ordered to retreat, and was separated from the rest of his platoon, but after becoming concerned for Bubba, he ran back to look for him. Instead, Forrest found Lieutenant Dan and several other wounded soldiers and carried them to safety before looking for Bubba. Forrest finally found Bubba badly wounded and managed to carry him away from the combat area before it was hit with napalm from an air strike. His last words were I wanna go home. Sadly, Bubba died of his wounds soon after. Forrest himself was shot in the buttocks during the firefight and recovered in an army hospital. Lieutenant Dan was in the bed next to his, having lost his legs because of his injuries. Lieutenant Dan was angry at Forrest for cheating him out of his destiny to die in battle with honor (as several of his ancestors had) and rendering him crippled. . 4 Washington, D. C. Forrest later receives the Medal of Honor for his bravery in Vietnam. When being awarded, President Lyndon B. Johnson asked where he was hit and when Forrest told him he whispers in his ear hed like to see it, so Forrest, despite knowing there were people watching, drops his pants right there to show him. Shortly thereafter, Forrest went out sightseeing in Washington, D. C. and accidentally found him self among a group of veterans attending an anti-war rally led by Abbie Hoffman. While at the rally, he was reunited with Jenny, who had since become a hippie. Forrest was less enamored with her new boyfriend Wesley, the president of the SDS at Berkeley, and beat up Wesley after he saw him hit Jenny during an argument at a Black Panther Party gathering. Forrest and Jenny stayed up all night while Jenny told Forrest of her travels. Before they went their separate ways again in the morning, Forrest gave Jenny the Medal of Honor he earned in Vietnam. 1. 5 Ping-Pong While in the hospital, Forrest had taken up ping-pong. Rather than returning to Vietnam, Forrest was assigned to the Special Services, entertaining wounded veterans with his ping-pong skills. He would later travel to the Peoples Republic of China during the Ping Pong Diplomacy period. When he returned in 1971, he was a national hero, famouser than even Captain Kangaroo and was invited by Dick Cavett on The Dick Cavett Show. John Lennon was also a guest on the show at the time and hearing Forrest talk about the Chinese having no possessions and no religion too, inspired him to write the song Imagine. Soon after, Forrest was briefly reunited with Lieutenant Dan, now a bitter alcoholic, confined to a wheelchair, having lost his faith in God. Lieutenant Dan was also dismayed that Forrest, whom he declared as an imbecile who embarrassed himself on television, was given the Medal of Honor. When Forrest told him of his and Bubbas plan to go into the shrimping business, Lieutenant Dan only laughed and joked that if Forrest was ever a shrimping b oat captain, he would be Forrests first mate. Upon visiting President Richard Nixon he was invited by the President to stay at the Watergate Hotel complex. He was awakened by flashlights in the offices opposite his room. Believing the tenants to be having difficulty with a fusebox, Forrest calls Frank Wills at the security office to notify the maintenance crew, inadvertently initiating the Watergate scandal, which leads to President Nixons resignation. Shortly after this, Forrest was honorably discharged from the army with the rank of Sergeant and returned home to Alabama. 1. 6 Shrimping Boat Captain Upon his return Forrest finds the house filled with memorabilia capitalizing on his fame as a ping-pong player in China. At his mothers insistence, Forrest made $25,000 endorsing a brand of ping-pong paddles and used most of the money to travel to Bubbas home town of Bayou La Batre and purchase a boat. When someone pointed out it was bad luck to have a boat without a name, Forrest names his boat after Jenny (whom, unbeknownst to him, had descended into a life of drugs and sexual promiscuity at this point and even contemplated suicide over her choices). Sometime later, Forrest was visited by Lieutenant Dan, who as a man of his word, had come to be Forrests first mate, just as he said he would do on New Years Eve. For several weeks, the two had no luck catching shrimp. Things changed, however, when the area was hit by Hurricane Carmen. Forrests boat was the only one left standing and they found themselves with a monopoly of shrimp. Under the name Bubba Gump Shrimp Company, they soon became very wealthy. Lieutenant Dan, having faced his demons during the storm, thanked Forrest for saving his life in Vietnam, and Forrest assumes that Dan (without actually saying so) made peace with God. 1. 7 Home in Alabama Forrest returned home to Greenbow when he learned his mother was dying of cancer. After her death, Forrest stays and leaves his shrimping industry in the hands of Lieutenant Dan and retired to mowing and cutting grass and lawns, as he apparently enjoys doing it. Meanwhile, Lieutenant Dan participated in a substantial investment into what Forrest says to be some kind of fruit company. In reality, the company was the fledgling Apple Computer, and it is implied that their investment largely kick-started Apples rise and success. With the money he got from the Apple Computer investment, Forrest spent them on renovating the church he frequents, establishing a medical center at Bubbas hometown and gave Bubbas family his share of the investment money that is enough for them to never work again. Jenny returns to Greenbow and moves in with Forrest. The two spend time together and Forrest later describes it as the happiest time of my life. One night, Forrest asks Jenny to marry him, but she turns him down, saying You dont want to marry me. Forrest replies with, Im not a smart man, but I know what love is. After this exchange, Jenny comes to Forrests bedroom, tells him she loves him, and the two make love. Jenny hails a cab very early the next morning and leaves, unbeknownst to him before he wakes up. 1. 8 Running Forrests newfound loneliness leads him to take a run for no particular reason. At first, he decides to run to the end of the road, then across town, then across the county, then all the way to the Missis sippi border. Eventually, he criss-crosses the country several times over a span of three years. Forrest attracts media coverage, and eventually, dozens of followers. During the run, he inspires the phrase Shit Happens to a bumper-sticker salesman after stepping in a pile of dog droppings. He also uses a yellow t-shirt provided to him by a designer to wipe off his face after being splattered by mud. In the process, he forms the iconic Smiley face logo and tells the man to Have a nice day. One day, while running in the Western United States, Forrest decides hes tired and stops. He immediately turns around and walks back to Alabama. His followers are dumbfounded at his sudden decision. Meanwhile, Jenny has taken a job as a waitress in Savannah, Georgia and sees news coverage of Forrests run on television. 1. 9 Back to the Present Back to the present (the present in the film being around 1981, as seen from a car and on a bus, and televised footage of Ronald Reagans assassination attempt), Forrest tells his latest companion on the bench, an elderly woman, hed recently received a letter from Jenny asking him to come see her. When he tells her the address and directions hed been given, she tells him its only a few blocks away, and he hurries over on foot. Forrest and Jenny are happy to see each other. Before they can do much catching up however, Forrest is introduced to Jennys young son, a bright young boy whom she named Forrest after his father. Forrest at first thinks she met another man named Forrest, until she explains Youre his daddy, Forrest. Forrests fearful inquiry as to Little Forrests intelligence leads Jenny to quickly assert that he is completely normal. Forrest learns that Jenny is sick from a virus (implied to be HIV). He invites her and Little Forrest to come home and stay with him. She asks him to marry her and he accepts. Forrest and Jennys wedding is a quiet, intimate ceremony attended only by a handful of family and friends. Among the attendees is Lieutenant Dan, who has titanium prosthetic legs, with his Vietnamese fiancee Susan. It is the only time Jenny and Dan meet. Forrest, Jenny, and Little Forrest have a few happy months together as a family before Jenny dies on Saturday March 22, 1982 (which was actually a Monday). Forrest has her buried under the tree where they played as children, and then buys her childhood home (where her ather had mistreated her) and has it bulldozed. Though he misses Jenny terribly, Forrest becomes a good father to Little Forrest. Visiting Jennys grave one day, he reflects on the idea of fate and destiny, wondering if Lt. Dan was right about people having their own destiny, or if his Mother was right about description of life as floating around accidentally like on a breeze. He eventually decides maybe its both, maybe both are happening at the same time. Forrest is last seen outside his home, seeing Little Forrest off on his bus ride to school, telling his son he loves him. . Differences from the novel The portrayal of Forrest in the original novel is notably different to how he was portrayed in the film. Largely, in the novel Forrest is shown to be somewhat cynical and abrasive, while in the film he is a more placid and naive person. He is also described as being an autistic savant and has extraordinary talent in numerical calculation. Changes from the novel to the film include: the deaths of Forrests mother; and Jenny, neither of whom died in the original book. The novel also provides additional back-story on his father. It is revealed that his father was a dockworker, who worked for United Fruit Company. He was killed when a crate of bananas being loaded off a boat fell on top of him, crushing him to death. Forrest goes on a number of different adventures including being an astronaut, playing the harmonica in a band called the Cracked Eggs, becoming a professional wrestler (The Dunce) and running for the United States Senate (with the campaign slogan I Got to Pee). 3. Sociological analysis An understanding of Forrests background in an important and characterizing element in the film. Disadvantaged by a terrible spine condition and a low IQ, Forrest struggles through childhood in small-minded Greenbow, Alabama. Due to his mental disabilities, Forrest becomes the victim of academic discrimination, which his mother fights desperately to resolve. He might be a bit on the slow side, but my boy Forrest is going to get the same opportunities as everyone else, she stated to the principal of Greenbow County Central School. Hes not going to some special school to learn to how to re-tread tires. (Gump 1995) Forrests mother was determined. Taking advantage of this, the principal coerced Forrests mother into trading a sexual favor for enrollment in school. In addition to these unsettling events, Forrest finds himself tormented and isolated by neighborhood children and townspeople who seem incapable of treating him with anything but reproach and disdain. Forrest was also an active part of many important events, including protests lead by George Wallace against desegregation, the Vietnam War, the Ping Pong Diplomacy period, anti-war activism lead by Abbie Hoffman, Black Panther Party meetings, and the Watergate scandal. It would be reasonable to say that being part of such important events and would make him vulnerable to the social forces of the times, yet his lack of critical thought as a result of low intelligence seemed to indicate the complete opposite he remained wholly oblivious and ignorant of their significance. During George Wallaces Stand in the Schoolhouse Door protest, Forrest stands curiously in the background, more interested in his surroundings rather than the actual protest. During the Vietnam War, Forrest never questions the morality or the agenda of the U. S. government, and receives the Congressional Medal of Honor for his efforts. His entire experience during the Vietnam War can be summed up into one conversation between him and the Drill Sergeant: Gump! Whats your sole purpose in this Army? To do whatever you tell me, Drill Sergeant! (Gump 1995) Still, the most dismaying portion of impassive responses glorified in this film can be contributed to Forrests careless involvement in the anti-Vietnam War rally lead by Abbie Hoffman. He was entirely clueless as to the purpose of the anti-war movements. His view of Abbie Hoffmans role? There was this man, giving a little talk And every time he said the F word, people, for some reason, well, theyd cheer. Though the focus of the film is directed towards Forrest Gump, the effects of social forces are most often expressed and implied through Jenny Curran. Forrests generally unobservant nature contrasts harshly with Jennys forthright and independent character. Without Jenny, we would have a collectively unrealistic and uncertain portrayal of many occurrences that contributed to the structure of todays society. Unlike Forrest, Jenny was consciously and intentionally involved in the counterculture movements of the 60s, as she is seen trailing the countryside with fellow hippies, participating in anti-war movements, and secretly involving herself in Black Panther Party meetings. Before Jenny sets off on what turns out to be downward spiral towards debasement, she speaks to Forrest of her motives. I want to reach people on a personal level. I want to be able to say things, just one-to-one. (Gump 1995) However, Jennys plans for a better society are brought to a staggering halt when Jenny develops a fatal disease stemming from precarious drug use. 4. Awards Academy Award for Best Picture (1994) Academy Award for Best Actor (1994): Tom Hanks Academy Award for Best Director (1994): Robert Zemeckis Academy Award for Best Screenplay—Based on Material Previously Published (1994): Eric Roth Academy Award for Best Film Editing (1994): Arthur Schmidt Academy Award for Best Visual Effects (1994): Ken Ralston, George Murphy, Stephen Rosenbaum, Allen Hall Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture—Drama (1995) Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture Actor—Drama (1995): Tom Hanks Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture Director (1995): Robert Zemeckis 5. Trivia In this movie, every still photograph of Forrest Gump shows him with his eyes closed. 6. Quotes Forrest Gump (explaining his run across the United States):â€Å"I just felt like running. † Forrest Gump: â€Å"My mama always said, life was like a box of chocolates. You never know what you’re gonna get. † 7. Question and answer event (The delightfully sarcastic humor of film critics David Edelstein helps narrate this question ad answer about this movie. ) Here is another big one that didn’t (surprisingly) make your list: Forrest Gump. This one did make it close to the top ten, didn’t it? A: Well, I certainly agree with you about Titanic, and after my less than positive review in Slate, I had 500 pieces of hate e-mail (mostly from teenage girls and much of it unprintable here) to prove it. But while I found Titanic mostly square and dumb (not badly acted, though—DiCaprio and Winslet are marvelous romantic leads), it’s almost never pernicious. The movies I wrote about are ones I found not just overrated, but objectionably, infuriatingly overrated. Which brings us to Forrest Gump. Yes, it came close to making my top ten most hateful. I have little patience for the conceit of the radiant simpleton, and even less when the radiant simpleton is positioned as morally superior in every way to, say, anti-Vietnam War activists. But Gump was just well made (and weird) enough to keep me in my seat. Let’s put it at number eleven. 8. Conclusion Although Tom Hanks (Star in Forrest Gump) affirms that the film was non-political and thus non-judgmental, the previous examples show implications otherwise. Though the film does take a stand against disability discrimination by shedding some light on the difficulties that accompany being handicap during a callous time in American history, its motives were generally ambiguous and unclear. Based on the filmmakers unattractive outlook on counterculturalism, his lack of discretion when touching on issues like desegregation and independence, as well as his insensitive approach to the deaths of activists, we can arrive at the following conclusion: the harrowing experiences exposed in this film can be easily discarded as something warranted only by devoted individuals who attempt to foster humanity. 9. References

The Dangers of Objectification :: Philosophy essays

The Dangers of Objectification Consider for a moment the course typically taken in a class discussion. A person states that he is an egoist, or a relativist, or an absolutist. These various terms are used to classify an individual according to his moral philosophy. Nietzsche has an important objection to these simplistic definitions. "Shall we still speak this way today? May we do so?" (Nietzsche 463) There are difficulties in this simplistic approach to classifying an individual. The first is that an individual is not so easily crammed into a verbal box. Sartre would say that this is a way of objectifying the person under consideration. To say that I am an egoist, or that another student is an altruist, is to imply that egoism or altruism is the essential nature of the person, and that other considerations fade into the background and become unimportant under this veil of the person's ethical philosophy. It is to equate me with egoism, or to equate the other student with relativism. But I am more than Bob the egoist; I am also Bob the philosopher, I am Bob the student, I am Bob the coffee drinker. The name " Bob" points to a definition that is, of necessity, abbreviated. When a stranger asks me who I am, it is not possible for me to provide a complete description. But when I describe a few opinions, actions, and relationships, I do so hoping that she may view me beyond the narrow limits imposed by what I can tell her quickly. It may be convenient to say, "But for this discussion we consider only your ethical theory." But besides objectifying the individual, this is overly simplistic because it ignores the subtle shades of meaning which exist among these philosophies. I think of myself as an egoist because I believe that the very nature of an individual grants him certain rights and that these rights do not include claims on the rights of another. But to say that I am an egoist is to imply that I agree, completely or mostly, with the ethical theories of Hobbes, Rand, and every other egoist who has ever philosophized--none of which is overwhelmingly true, since I differ with all of the egoists I am acquainted with. For example, the popular conception of egoism implies that I think it is morally acceptable to perform any action to achieve my ends, regardless of the effect on others.

How may advertising act as a barrier to entry? Essay

Like almost every science, the school of Industrial economics is made up of theory and empirical studies. In Industrial economics, empirical studies are industry studies conducted by a number of researchers. Joe Bain, from the Harvard school of industrial economics, first mentions barriers to entry in an industry study he conducted in the early 1950s. Bain links entry barriers to the capacity to raise price above unit (marginal) cost in the long run without inducing potential entrants to enter the industry. Demsetz of the Chicago school links the idea of entry barriers to government based restrictions on entry, which are not relevant for this essay. Bain outlines a total of three types of barriers to entry: Absolute cost advantages, Economies of scale and Product differentiation. Bain links advertising and the creation of copyrighted brand names to product differentiation. In his 1956 industry study, he found that advertising acts as a barrier to entry more in some industries than in others. For example, he found that in the Automobile and Cigarette producing industries, advertising, effectively constituting as a barrier to entry in his belief, is used to a higher extent than in the caned fruit and vegetable industry. For a definition of advertising we refer to Colley (1961). He defines advertising as â€Å"mass paid communication, the ultimate purpose of which is to impart information, develop attitudes and induce action beneficial to the advertiser†. Advertising is usually used by firms to inform and/or persuade customers to buy their products. Firms also use advertising to remind ex-consumers that their product is still on the market or to hamper the entry of new firms into the market. It is important to establish whether advertising is predatory or cooperative advertising. Predatory advertising attracts away customers from competition, whereas cooperative advertising increases demand for all firms in the market. A profit maximising firm will typically advertise as long as the expected marginal revenue from advertising equals the expected marginal cost of advertising. Advertisement levels vary between markets mainly due to differences in market structure. For a profit-maximizing monopolist, the optimal level of advertising is dependant on the ratio between advertising and price elasticities according to Dorfmann and Steiner (1954). The greater the consumers’ responsiveness to advertising and the lower their responsiveness to changes in the product price, the higher will be the optimal level of advertising relative to sales. In an oligopoly market structure, Cable (1972), argues that advertising plays a more important role than price competition. Cable argues that rival firms quickly realize changes in price, which leads them to also lower their prices as a consequence. With regards to advertisement, it is unlikely that changes in their levels are quickly realized by the competition and effects on profits are unlikely to be closely related. This is the explanation why, according to Cable, in an oligopoly market environment high advertising intensity prevails. Advertising as persuasion – view This view is advocated by the Harvard school scholars, like J. Bain (1968). The assumption is that advertisement changes peoples perception of the product. According to Bain, advertisement increases market power and prices, as well as distorting consumers’ preferences. Bain argues that by changing the consumers perception in favour of the advertised product, demand for it becomes less price sensitive, more inelastic to changes in its price. Without any immediate changes in the competitor’s advertisement levels, consumers will be less likely to change their choices, even if the competitor lowers prices. If a rival company wishes to enter the market, it has to either offer substantial price cuts or advertise more than the incumbent. Bain classifies â€Å"persuasion† advertising as a barrier to entry, since either lower prices or heavy advertisement spending will heavily reduce the entrant’s potential profits. John Sutton brought an extension to Bain’s â€Å"Advertising as persuasion†-view in 1992. Sutton sees advertising as an endogenous strategic â€Å"sunk cost† expenditure, which firms alter like they alter price and quantity. In his model, Sutton assumes that companies use advertisement to influence different levels of perceived quality just like Bain does. This leads to consumers perceived quality becoming a function of firms’ advertisement. F(u) = f + a (u), where F(u) is the total level of fixed costs and u is the perceived quality, with a (u) being an increasing function. Sutton finds in his three staged game, that even as advertising levels increase, the number of firms in the industry remains unchanged, even if the market is growing. (Church and Ware, 2000) Advertising as information-view This view is advocated by the Chicago school scholars, like Stigler (1961). He sees advertising primarily as a means of firms providing information to consumers, who lack knowledge about the products on the market. Stigler reckons that advertisement changes consumers perception about a product so that they can make the decision as to which product is best to them. Different to Bain’s theory, this information will actually make the demand for products more price elastic. Consumers have more information about the product and will make more rational decisions. This leads to companies competing and a lower profit maximising price for the incumbents. New firms can make customers aware of the features and prices of their products though informative advertising. Whichever firm, whether incumbent or entrant, offering the best value for quality in the eyes of the consumer, will expand in the long-term, benefiting from economies of scale, leading to higher levels of concentration. In the long term, therefore, effective informative advertising may also be classified as a barrier to entry. Empirical evidence Catherine Matraves studied the â€Å"Market structure, R&D and Advertising in the Pharmaceutical Industry† in 1999. She found that as markets across the world in this industry become more liberalized and open, e. g. total market size increases, advertising spending of surviving firms also increased. Matraves uses Grabowski and Vernon’s industry studies of the pharmaceutical industry in her paper, which reject Bain’s â€Å"Advertisement as persuasion-view†, but support the Stigler view â€Å"Advertisement as information†. Grabowski and Vernon found that high advertisement-sales ratios did not act as an effective barrier to entry. Geroski and Murfin (1991) observed a different relationship between advertisement and entry. The two researchers found that in the UK car industry falling concentration and increasing imports lead to an increase in advertisement intensity. They conclude their findings in saying that advertising facilitates entry to the extent that an entrant can account for a large share of total industry advertising. However, they note that it is very costly to acquire this large share of advertising. Fiona M. Scott Morton, also studied the Pharmaceutical Industry, but only looking at the U. S. (1998). Fiona looked at the entry decisions generic pharmaceutical manufacturers face when they look at markets which have been opened by patent expiration to competition. She confirms the findings of Grabowski and Vernon (1992) stating that advertising is exogenous to entry decisions. She finds some evidence that brands may affect generic entry very slightly by advertising before patent expiration, but both effects are â€Å"nearly insignificant†. Fiona concludes her paper stating that â€Å"brand advertising is not a barrier to entry by generic firms into the US pharmaceutical market†. Conclusion We have seen two models in this essay, Bain’s â€Å"Advertising as persuasion-view† and Stigler’s â€Å"Advertising as information-view†. The models outlined show how the different views shared on the purposes and effects of advertisement yield different outcomes on concentration and market entry. Persuasive advertising causing high brand loyalty forces potential new entrants to either outspend the incumbent for advertisement expenditure or to offer high price cuts. These constitute in substantial barriers to entry. Stigler’s â€Å"Advertising as information-view† sees advertisement as a barrier to entry mainly in the long term, as companies selling products at the best price for the best quality to well-informed consumers, expand and benefit from economies of scale. However, empirical research shows that in the majority of industries, advertising does not constitute in a barrier to entry. Bibliography: Joe Bain: â€Å"Relation of Profit Rate to Industry Concentration: American manufacturing, 1936-40†³, 1951, Quarterly Journal of Economics; Barriers to New Competition†, 1956, Harvard University Press; Industrial Organization, 1968 Grabowski, H. G. and J. M. Vernon, â€Å"Brand loyalty, Entry, and Price Competition in Pharmaceuticals after the 1984 Drug Act†, Journal of Law and Economics, vol35, Pages 331-345 Catherine Matraves: â€Å"Market structure, R&D, and Advertising in the Pharmaceutical Industry, The Journal of Industrial Economics, Pages 175-177

Defining Homogeneous Groups in Education

Homogeneous grouping in an educational setting is defined as placing students of similar instructional levels together where they can work on materials best suited to their particular strengths and areas for growth. These ability levels are usually determined by assessment and teacher observation.  Homogeneous groups are also known as ability or ability-level groups. Homogeneous groups are in direct contrast with heterogeneous  groups  in which students of varying abilities are grouped together, usually randomly. Keep reading to find out how homogeneous groups are used as well as the advantages and disadvantages of this practice. Examples of Homogenous Groups Homogeneous groups are common in schools and many teachers use them even without realizing it. Read the following scenarios to understand the role that ability groups play in practice. Literacy A teacher designs small-group reading instruction based on the skills that the students in each group are developing. When organizing these homogeneous groups, a teacher puts all high students (those with the highest reading levels) together in their own group and meets with them all at the same time to read a more challenging text. She also meets with the low students to improve their reading by meeting them at their ability levels and selecting a text that is challenging but not too challenging. Math When designing math centers, a teacher collects three sets of materials: one for his lowest group, one for his middle group, and one for his highest group. These groups were determined by the most recent NWEA data sets. In order to ensure that his students independent practice is appropriate for their skill levels, the handouts and activities he selects are of different levels of difficulty. His lowest group does additional practice with concepts already taught and their work is intended to catch them up and support them if they fall behind so that they are on track with the curriculum. Note that referring to children as high or low is not an attribute of equitable teaching and you should never speak about your students in terms of their scores. Use your knowledge of their ability levels to make plans for their academic success only and refrain from disclosing levels and groupings to students, families, and other teachers unless absolutely necessary. Advantages of Homogenous Groups Homogeneous groups allow for lesson plans that are tailored to abilities and save teachers time addressing individual needs. When students are grouped by skill, they tend to have similar questions and areas of difficulty that can all be addressed at once. Students tend to feel comfortable and sufficiently challenged when they work with students that learn at about the same pace as themselves. Homogeneous groups mitigate the issues of students feeling held back from moving on or trailing far behind and struggling to keep up. Ability groups can maximize student achievement when properly executed. Disadvantages of Homogenous Groups Despite its advantages, there has been a push to lessen or eliminate the use of homogeneous grouping in schools for a few reasons. One reason is the treatment of students with mental, physical, or emotional needs that are almost always placed in lower groups. Some studies showed that low expectations placed on such groups by teachers were a self-fulfilling prophecy and these students did not end up receiving high-quality instruction. When poorly implemented, homogeneous groups fail to challenge students because they provide goals that students can too easily meet and do not have to stretch to. Finally, student ability levels vary by subject and many worry that grouping students too rigidly by their skills means that they will not receive appropriate assistance. They might get too much when they understand just fine or not enough when things get tough.