Critical Analysis Top Dog Under Dog

While booth is n awkward person, he tends to try to take the easy way out by doing illegal stunts such as robbery which causes a turning point in the play. In this analysis I Am mainly arguing whether this story was a reenactment of the death of Abraham Lincoln; when he was killed by John Wilkes Booth in an assassination. My main argument is whether it was a racial thing to reenact the assassination but using African Americans in poverty to contribute the roles of one of the biggest assassinations in U.S Offence 2 history. Both brothers going through rough times and Lincoln getting fired and being out of a job. They both have nothing to rely on but Booth thinks getting his brother Lincoln back into the game will change their financial stance significantly. The use of â€Å"Lincoln† and â€Å"Booth† provides a means of rewriting history in terms of an ironic textually and a parodied reversal. This becomes a case of laughter in which Parks' ironic use of the names works t o undermine the social history of the US and slavery.This irony is the fact that Lincoln arcade job is an Abraham Lincoln impersonator, assassinated daily by paying customers. This figure of the black man playing as a white man. As the figures of the white assassin can be made black, these become roles which any individual can take up in his or her own celebration. Yet, what this shows is that such imagery is not merely a formal of history, but rather that it encodes a deeper logic. That is, beneath the play of names and the reversal of black and white, Top dog/Underdog plays on the logic of chance and inevitability.On the one hand, the characters' narrative fate is preordained by their names; on the other hand, they have a choice, a chance to rewrite the historical narrative f Booth killing Lincoln. That the black Booth kills the black Lincoln in the end is explained through the logic that blacks Offence 3 have no one to blame but themselves for black on black violence; it is a mat ter of â€Å"individual† responsibility. Context: Topped/Underdog is in time era of about roughly 1 ass's. These late summer nights puts two grown brothers in a tiny boardinghouse room to work through their past, present, and possible futures.The room is rented by the younger of the two, Booth, a petty thief and wannabe threaded Monte street cutlers; the rent is paid by the elder brother, Lincoln, an arcade performer and former card hustler who has sworn off the cards. Characters: Booth (cards) is a black male who is little brother to Lincoln. He is a daily thief who steals everything he desires. Booth is a guy who thinks he is a know it all but in reality is just a crazy bipolar idiot who thinks he has a plan for everything. Booth tries to learn the hustle game 3 card Monte by pressuring his brother Lincoln into teaching his the cheats and skills of the game.Drop out in school and tells everyone lies o get what he wants such as making Links wife have an affair. He is the mur derer because he kills his brother Lincoln in an Offence 4 altercation where Booth felt as if his brother Link robbed him of his entire inheritance Lincoln (Link) is a Black male in his ass's. He is big brother to Booth. Lincoln is a relaxed chilled character who keeps small. He went to school and worked at an arcade imposing as honest Abe to make a living at a low pay salary. He used to hustle people for their money in a game called card Monte. Ft the gang and hustler life to save his life and get on the eight track because he seen his partner get murdered. Link is very unconfined in his motives and feels that whatever he wants to do is not the right way such as when he is goanna lose his job; he overreacts and is not confident that he will not get his job back. Link is smart; he learns from his mistakes when his friend was murdered. Grace is a Smart intelligent woman who is studying cosmetology. She dates Booth and is supposedly in love with Booth since she was a little girl so sa ys Booth. She is beautiful; she knows how to have a lot of fun and knows what she wants in life.

Kinesthetic Learning Style

One of the things I should consider as a kinesthetic learner is the fact that I absorb information better when it is hands-on (physically engaged in the activity of learning, i.e. lab setting). As such, I may have to utilize techniques to make my learning style coincide with an online course wherein the mode of instruction is mainly auditory and visual. It would be an advantage if the visual aspects invite interaction in the form of flash presentations wherein I as the student can actively participate. Kinesthetic learning although typified by physical processing through touch and sensory experience can still be present in online courses by mere participation through clicking and typing during the actual discussion. My attention and capacity to grasp the information would be enhanced by taking notes using a word processor due to the fact that I am able to learn the concept while keeping my body in active awareness of how my mind deciphers the information. In addition, taking down notes about the course as well as my thoughts during the online lecture would allow me to better retain the information (Interview with Laura Summers, 2000). I may have to explore beyond the actual contents of the course and see how they actually are by doing a bit of fieldwork so as to have first had experience of the subject matter. It would really be helpful for me to try and create creative representations of the notes and data I acquire from my online lessons. I may convert the key concepts into tangible form by making graphs, making a model as illustration(Miller, 2000). An interactive online course would suit my learning style better, however, I must find ways in which to adapt to the subject matter even if the mode of instruction does not directly address my kinesthetic inclinations. The techniques mentioned above would definitely help me in reconciling the latter with the teaching process available. In combining the auditory and visual method with my own need for hands on receiving of information; I may have an edge in holistically understanding the course beyond the internet. Â   Â  

Effects of financial crisis on Austria Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Effects of financial crisis on Austria - Essay Example Austria’s products are struggling to compete with the products China and India like Asian countries because of the higher prices of the Austrian products. India and China are the most heavily populated countries in the world and they don’t have the manpower shortage problems. On the other hand, Austria is facing severe manpower shortage and hence the labour cost is comparatively high in Austria. Subsequently the products of Austria are heavily priced in the global market. â€Å"Lending rates are a key element in the transmission of monetary impulses to the real economy even more so in bank-based financial systems such as the Austrian one† (Jobst). Austrian banks were more particular in safeguarding the interests of their customers rather than the interests of the country. Austrian banks were not much particular in adjusting the interest rates even at a time when the Austrian economy fluctuated a lot. Banks miscalculated that the relationships with the customers are more important even at a time when the economy was in a unstable condition. Banks took a more relaxed approach to risk assessment and risk premiums decline even when the recession struck the economy hard. The economic expansion of Austria suffered a major setback when the recession entered the world quiet unexpectedly in 2007. The slump in world trade has affected Austria also very much. Unemployment and inflation were reached all time high during the recession period in Austria. Many of the Austrian firms forced to cut down their labor force in order to escape from recession. However, Austria is currently showing signs of the great recovery. While most of their European counterparts struggling to repair the damage, Austria seems to be succeeded in finding solutions for the damages caused by recession. Compared to other Euro zone counterparts, Austria was able to recover quickly even though the recession struck their economy severely. The current growth rates of Austria are more

How to Fake a Puffin Society Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

How to Fake a Puffin Society - Essay Example There does not seem to be any underlying arguments about the politics of the environment or anything like that – the author spends almost the entire time describing the process that had to be undertaken to return Puffins to a colony, including using fake birds and â€Å"recorded bird calls† to get tarns, a bird that would replace another bird that threatened the puffin population (Nijhuis 3). The time devoted to describing this and other scientific processes that the professor had to do over the years shows that the author really is just trying to tell an interesting, informative story. The author does not seem to have a very small or specific audience in mind. The author does not seem to think that the reader will be any kind of experts in the field, because she takes great efforts to make sure that the reader, even if they do not already know anything about Puffins, will understand. Also, the author explains things that someone with any kind of academic or practical k nowledge of puffins would already know, things like the way they relate to each other, how they mate and so on. The language is not very advanced, without any specific technical words. This seems to show that the author wants to write for a very general audience, they want anyone who happens to pick up this article to be able to read it and have a good time. Other than that there is very little to show that the author intends a specific audience: they do not seem concerned about age, gender, education, or any of the other things that people usually use to target an audience. The author writes for a very broad group. The author’s persona is very closely tied to the audience. This author wants to write in a way that makes readers interested and want to connect with what she is saying. In this, the author’s persona comes across as being very relaxed, but engaged. She seems to find all of the information that she is passing on to the reader valuable and genuinely interesti ng, diving into the smallest details. The persona also comes across with a great deal of curiosity and a little bit of authority. It seems like the persona knew nothing about this topic before looking into it, but has now discovered a great deal of information and wants to share that information with the reader. This means that the persona comes across as having real authority to speak on the topic but also puts the reader very far from being too knowledgeable – the persona does not at all speak down to the reader, but rather shares the exploration with him or her. There are several methods used in this piece. The first appeals to authority. Most of this paper is structured as the things that the author had learned from the main scientist she investigated, and so many of her reports stem from his authority. The article also uses a cause-effect structure because it tries to demonstrate how certain actions in helping a puffin colony develop actually allowed the colony to develo p. The article has almost no statistics but is very descriptive of the processes undertaken. The appeals used in this article vary. On the one hand, there seem to be a lot of emotional appeals. The article begins by talking about how â€Å"First things first: Puffins are adorable† (Nijhuis 1).

Econometric Analysis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Econometric Analysis - Essay Example Its analysis has two principal purposes - to promote empirical content within particular economic theories and to subject such theories to potentially falsifying tests (Econometrics, Wikipedia, 2006). Taking the first, with the French data as example, it can be said that economic theory holds that consumption should be directly proportion to income while it should be inversely so to interest and unemployment rates. The available data should reflect this and thus provide empirical evidence of the theory's validity. The tests that the data will be subjected to will assist in this quest for empiric authenticity. Such tests should not only provide broad evidence of empiricism but should also assist in determining how much current variance there may be from theoretical reckoning and should thus provide reliable pointers as to why such variance is evident. It is, of course, incumbent upon theorists to interpret why there is variance, if evident after analysis, and this is done at the end o f the paper. To find empiric elements within the variables the first strategy adopted is to assume that a certain relation exists among the variables such that LCF (natural logarithm of real per capita consumption) is taken to be an endogenous variable series that is functionally dependent upon the other variable time series' - LYF (Natural logarithm of real per capita income), RF (real interest rate) and UF (unemployment rate). The following equation expresses a 'Population Linear Function' that is linear both in variables and parameters. The equation is as follows: LCFt = + LYFt + RFt + UFt + ut Here, , , and are the unknown parameters that are assumed to be linear, just as the variables LCF, LYF, RF and UF but this is still an assumption. This, together with the fact that the data has been acquired eccentrically, without due consideration for true series function, does not automatically relate parameters, also called estimators, statistically to their true corresponding values. Therefore, it is necessary to find certain other properties within the variables to enable this. This, however is not evident. Again, thus, some more assumptions have to be made such that, based on these second set of assumptions, certain statistical properties between the estimators and their true corresponding values can be assigned (OLS, Wikipedia, 2006; Estimators and Properties, 2006). This second set of assumptions is as follows. 1. The explanatory set of variables - LYF, RF and UF - is fixed. 2. For all n > 1, >0. Where, x stands for the variable and the mean of the series. This is true for all the variables. 3. =m>0. 4. Zero mean disturbance, E(u)=0. 5. Homoscedasticity: Var() = , is constant for all values of i. 6. Nonautocorrelation, Cov() = 0, where . 7. The error term 'u' has a Gaussian distribution such that, . (Assumptions based on: Estimators and Properties, 2006) A second equation, derived from the same data set and based linearly on the same set of assumption

Wilfred Owen's poem, Dulce Et Decrum Est and Tim O'Brien's The Things Research Paper

Wilfred Owen's poem, Dulce Et Decrum Est and Tim O'Brien's The Things They Carried deal with two different war - Research Paper Example The main theme that dominates both works is as follows: the realities of war that soldiers on the ground experience contradicts the idealistic view of war promoted by governments / the military. Compare/contrast the approaches and strategies these writers use to explore this theme. The most painful episodes of twentieth century history are its wars. Starting with the losses of the First World War in 1914 the Second World War was even more catastrophic. Then followed the theatre of the Cold War, in which the American military intervened far and wide in the globe. Notable examples include the Korean War and the Vietnam War. The two works in discussion, Wilfred Owen’s â€Å"Dulce Et Decrum Est† and Tim O’Brien’s â€Å"The Things They Carried† talk about two of the several wars of the recent century, namely the First World War and the Vietnam War. The political context, military strategy and technological aids employed in these two wars were quite diffe rent. Yet, their human tragedy remains the same. Separated by half a century, these two conflicts reflected the global geo-political power equations of their respective times. The two authors, far from glorifying war, present the realities of it in all its gory detail. Their works clearly suggest that futility and absurdity are the captions to the phenomenon of war. This view is in opposition to government/military propaganda, which would have its population believe that war is a noble of enterprise, undertaken to promote high values such as democracy, liberty, etc. There is even the preposterous propaganda slogan that ‘War is necessary to achieve peace’. The rest of this essay will flesh out the following thesis: Far from government rhetoric of the purpose and virtue of war, up-close observations of the actual theatre of war show how despairing, absurd and tragic the event is. The poem ‘Dulce Et Decrum Est’ is the best known of Wilfred Owen’s war po etry, the opening lines of which portray the wretched travails of a soldier during the First World War: â€Å"Bent double, like old beggars under sacks, / Knock-kneed, coughing like hags, we cursed through sludge, / Till on the haunting flares we turned our backs/ And towards our distant rest began to trudge.† (Owen, 1917) There is a palpable atmosphere of gloom and hopelessness that faced soldiers of the First World War and Owen’s poem starkly captures this reality. The genius of Owen is his ability to create art out of this most despairing human experience. The fact that Owen himself succumbed in the war is a powerful testimony to the messages and sentiments expressed in the poem. To place it in historical context, the First World War is one of the major tragic events in twentieth century history. Referred to as the Great War, it accounted for great loss of lives and material resources. For example, the trauma suffered by soldiers is captured in these lines â€Å"In all my dreams, before my helpless sight/ he plunges at me, guttering, choking, drowning.† (Owen, 1917) Dulce Et Decrum Est is remarkable in its ability to move the reader. It also excels in stunning and disturbing the reader’s preconceived notions of war. So, while the shockingly graphic elements in the poem sit uncomfortably in the reader’s mind, it is a sound method for condemning the atrocities of war. Owen’s works in general, including the poem in question, also concern themselves with what he saw as â€Å"poetry's failure to render war's actualities truthfully. In the draft preface written for a projected collection of his war poetry, Owen states, "All a poet can do today is warn. That is why the true Poets must be truthful". (Cyr, p.65) This is a veiled criticism of official government portrayal of war, which largely serves a propagandistic

Organizational Philosophies and Technology paper Essay

Organizational Philosophies and Technology paper - Essay Example But with the more recent technological developments as well as reduced trade blockades, growth in trade is definitely on the rise. Developing counties have also stepped on this bandwagon, extracting the best out of their own respective economies through trade internationally as well as locally - within the country. The integration of trade into the world economy has really proved helpful for the developing countries as they can promote economic growth, development as well as poverty reduction within themselves. Companies which are ready to use technology are thus the ones who have found success in all relevant quarters of their business. With this technological incorporation, they have been able to look at the ethical side of things as well since the moral grounds have been set in a proper manner and there are as such no apprehensions to state the least in the present times. A business can move from a position of stability to one of a complete unstable stance as it acquires different means of gathering the market and its driving factors that come along with it. The firm has to change its position with the changing times otherwise it will literally vanish away from its competitors and more so the customers, for which it actually exists. It must bring about technological innovations so as to meet the ethical guidelines and best practices which are geared up to make it sound, look and eventually feel different from the rest of the lot and in the long run, have a selling proposition in it and in its products that help it in winning the customers time and time again. The work culture can be developed in a manner which suits the interests of the organization in the best form possible. For this to happen, it is necessary to understand that technology has got an immense role to play in the related equation. We must understand that we live in a global world where technology has of late been instrumental at dramatically changing the way we perceive the events

Unit 1 DB Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Unit 1 DB - Essay Example The regulatory environment within the region is uniform and it presents a relatively stable political as well as economic environment. To run a business in EU would have important implications. It will not prove to be more predictable and stable but it will also involve lesser complications as for as running the business in the country. EU not only provide a bigger market however it is bit regulated too that might prevent us from fully exploring the market. Further, the regional protection policies will also be a substantial barrier to our proposed entry into the market through the proposed acquisition. The most important advantage of making an acquisition offer to the firm working in the EU region will be the availability of developed infrastructure as well as readily available market. Further, this will also provide ACME an opportunity to tap the new markets of the EU region also. With the passage of time as ACMA gain knowledge of the market and understand the local dynamics, it will be able to get an access to the more formal, regulated and bigger market once it make an acquisition of the firm working in the EU

Medical Costs in the United States Research Paper

Medical Costs in the United States - Research Paper Example Healthcare costs are on the rise and there seems to be no way for these costs to stop without reform measures. The Problem with Healthcare Spending One problem with healthcare spending is that it is growing faster than the economy and everyone is affected by this change. Whether people use private insurance, Medicare or Medicaid, they will be affected in some way as healthcare costs continue to grow. (Myerson, Nelson, Simpson, and Topoleski (2007). This has put healthcare as a much talked about issue and it is both a social issue and an economic one. According to Healthcare Problems.org, in 2007 about 50 million Americans went without health insurance and about 25 million were considered underinsured. Between 2001 and 2005 health insurance premiums increased by 30% but people’s income only rose about three percent. Today, healthcare expenditures have increased to $2 trillion a year. Over the past four years, the number of people who are now underinsured has reached 60% which m eans that 25 million people are struggling to pay their healthcare bills (â€Å"Healthcare Statistics, â€Å" 2011). The highest rate of underinsured (31%) is in those Americans who make less than $20,000 a year. After doing an informal survey of people I know, many Americans agree that there should be some type of healthcare reform, but most people are not sure how this reform would take place and who would fund it. Employer Based Insurance When people look for a job one of the benefits they look for is health insurance. Many people feel that if the employer offers insurance they will be able to afford to have insurance. Unfortunately, employer supplied healthcare is also suffering because of the rising costs of healthcare. According to a report by Singhal, Stueland, and Ungerman (2011) the Affordable Healthcare Act has created more cost problems for employers and many have limited this benefit for their employees or stopped providing it all together. According to their report, b y 2014, employers will have to make drastic changes in the way they do healthcare. One of these drastic changes is that about 30% of employers will â€Å"probably† stop offering insurance to their employees after 2014 because of the expense. Singhal, Stueland and Ungerman (20010 surveyed employers and predict that if employers stop offering insurance, they may increase their revenues by at least 30%; this makes this option very attractive to employers who are struggling to provide healthcare. Singhal, Stueland, and Ungerman (2011) also state that because of the way that reform is stated, employers are able to limit their social obligation to their employees to offer insurance. The way in which the reform act is written, states that all employees must have some type of insurance, but they do not stipulate that employers have to provide it. The Act states that if the employer does not offer insurance, the individual can apply for â€Å"income-indexed premium and out-of-pocket cost-sharing subsidies† (Singhal, Stueland, and Ungerman, 2011, p.2). The law specifically states that employers with 50 or more employees must offer health insurance to all full time employees or face a fine of $2,000. They also must provide reasonable coverage to all their employees on a similar level. In other words,

Inaugural speech Essay Example for Free

Inaugural speech Essay In the history of the United States, it has been a tradition that the President, makes an inaugural speech, when he begins his Presidential term. The first such inaugural speech was made by George Washington, on 30 April 1789. (Halsall Paul ). This essay makes an in-depth rhetorical analysis of one of the historic and important inaugural addresses- he one made by President John F. Kennedy, in 1961. He was he thirty-fifth President of The Unites States, and the youngest President to assume this prestigious office. He was the youngest president to die also. He graduated from Harvard University, and spent many years in the US navy. He was a very good writer also, and before assuming the Presidency, he was awarded the prestigious Pulitzer prize in history. ( John Kennedy) His education gave him the vision of a strong America striving for global peace, his naval background gave him the daunting spirit of challenging the enemy and his literal excellence helped in drafting an memorable inaugural speech in the history of the United States. His background is strongly reflected in his inaugural speech. This inaugural speech was delivered when world was at a very important juncture in its history. The dark clouds of the second world war had already vanished, the equations of power had changed, Germany and Japan were lying low, but USSR had risen to the level of a strong super power, always threatening the super power status of the USA. Great Britain, France, and China were as good as neutral not wanting to confront with either of the super powers. Both USA and USSR equated the power balance in such a way that neither can make an advancement. The rest of the world heavily relied on the aid of these to nations, to survive and sustain themselves. Globalization was an unheard word and each nation had its own independent economy. Markets of each nation were closed to foreigners. The cold war between the USA and the USSR for supremacy had just begun, when President John Kennedy made this address. In a narrow context this speech is intended for the Congress of the USA. However, in the broader context, President Kennedy wishes to address the Population of America, southern America in particular, because he takes the pain to make a special mention of them in his speech, and assures them justice and equality. The canvas of his speech is even larger, and crosses the boundaries of the United States. He seems to be addressing the entire population of this world. He cautions the strong nations to exercise restraint and assures help to he weaker ones to develop themselves. The government of the USSR is a special target of this speech. In a polite yet very stern and firm way, he extends an indirect warning to the USSR, to be cautious in their dealings with international affairs. President Kennedy intends to give three clear messages in his speech. One, he stresses on the freedom of every human being. He speaks of freedom not only at national level within the United States, but to all human beings. He clearly communicates his mind in one sentence, â€Å"And yet the same revolutionary beliefs for which our forebears fought are still at issue around the globe—the belief that the rights of man come not from the generosity of the state, but from the hand of God. † Undoubtedly, Kennedy firmly believes that freedom is a basic right of human being, not given by the state, but by God. In other words, all men are born free and no state has any right to deny this basic right to anyone. He shows his commitment to this freedom to the natives of southern states, which have experienced a past full of cruelty and brutality. The second point he makes is on the subject of peace and aid to the weaker nations. Both at national level and at international level. â€Å" To that world assembly of sovereign states, the United Nations, our last best hope in an age where the instruments of war have far outpaced the instruments of peace, we renew our pledge of support—to prevent it from becoming merely a forum for invective—to strengthen its shield of the new and the weak—and to enlarge the area in which its writ may run†, (John F. Kennedy ) he remarks on the subject of international peace and says that. â€Å" To those peoples in the huts and villages across the globe struggling to break the bonds of mass misery, we pledge our best efforts to help them help themselves, for whatever period is required—not because the Communists may be doing it, not because we seek their votes, but because it is right. If a free society cannot help the many who are poor, it cannot save the few who are rich. † ( John F. Kennedy ). On the subject of helping the weaker countries. His third point is a proposal to the ‘adversaries’ of the USA, namely, USSR, to strive for mutual co- operation which can benefit both he nations and the entire humanity. â€Å"Finally, to those nations who would make themselves our adversary, we offer not a pledge but a request: that both sides begin anew the quest for peace, before the dark powers of destruction unleashed by science engulf all humanity in planned or accidental self-destruction. † ( John F. Kennedy ) He remarks. This speech has two important undercurrents. President Kennedy, though very polite, is fully confident. His confidence is evident from one sentence of his speech. â€Å"And let every other power know that this Hemisphere intends to remain the master of its own house. † (John F. Kennedy). Second, while proposing mutual co-operation to the adversaries, he also indicates at some amount of suspicion towards their intentions. This is evident from the statement, â€Å"remembering on both sides that civility is not a sign of weakness, and sincerity is always subject to proof â€Å". ( John F.Kennedy ). The structure of this speech is also very strong and has a natural flow. Beginning with the issue of freedom of Liberty and of all human beings, he switches over to the issue of helping the weaker sections of the American society and the poor nations of this world. He then makes a brief mention of the UN, and pledges American support in its endeavors. Quite surprisingly, a major portion of his speech is devoted to the issue of mutual co-operation between the two super powers. It is a clear indication of the importance Kennedy gave to this subject. But, the big question is, did this subject deserve that much of priority in the prevailing international scenario at that time? This should be a topic for historians to research into. He also reminds the citizens, with an authoritative tone, that they also need to fulfill their duties towards the nation. † From the linguistic point of view, this speech is just a master-piece of careful craftsmanship. It is not a very simple and a direct speech. The exterior gloss of politeness is filled with undercurrents of self-confidence and suspicion towards the attitudes and intentions of others. Figures of speech, namely repetition and metaphor are freely used throughout the speech, act as an ornament. One of his statements in this speech has become very famous, and will be remembered by all. This is, â€Å" And so, my fellow Americans: ask not what your country can do for you—ask what you can do for your country. † ( John F. Kennedy ) President Kennedy fully succeeds in communicating the three main messages which he intends to pass over. He succeeds because of his style. A style which has nothing new to say, yet everything is new. The word ‘peace’ has great force to attract masses of humanity, and Kennedy has used this word very effectively in his speech. His commitment to peace and self pride for his nation, were, perhaps the reasons for his immense popularity, not within America but around the world. So powerful is the impact of his speech, that it can be safely concluded that Kennedy delivered this address not as the President of USA but as an international leader, to an international community. References : 1. Halsall Paul, [July 1998], History of inaugural addresses, Retrieved on 29 Sept 07 from: http://www. fordham. edu/halsall/mod/presidents-inaugurals. html 2. John Kennedy, The White House, Retrieved on 29 Sept 07 from: http://www. whitehouse. gov/history/presidents/jk35. html 3. Burton Grideon O. , Basic questions for rhetorical analysis, Brigham Young University, Retrieved on 29 September 2007 from: http://rhetoric. byu. edu/Pedagogy/Rhetorical%20Analysis%20heuristic. htm 4. John F. Kennedy, [ 20 February 1961] Inaugural address, Retrieved on 29 September 07 from: http://www. bartleby. com/124/pres56. html .

Drug Promotion in the Media

Drug Promotion in the Media THE GHANAIAN MEDIA AND CONSUMER PROTECTION: THE CASE OF THE (TRADITIONAL) MEDICINE INDUSTRY The issue of consumer protection has been widely discussed in many countries across the world and especially in the advanced countries. In recent times, this discussion has diffused into developing countries, especially in Africa and most particularly in Ghana. Also, the media’s integrity and ethics of Journalism has been extensively debated. The subject matter of using the media to promote drugs and drug related products to consumers directly has undergone much scrutiny lately. The literature on these issues is profuse, yet some notable ones will be reviewed in the subsequent paragraphs. To begin with, Julie Donohue in her article, â€Å"A History of Drug Advertising: The Evolving Roles of Consumers and Consumer Protection† (2006) queried the importance of direct-to-consumer advertising (DTCA) on drugs. Although she agreed on the fact that â€Å"the main tool of consumer protection laws is the disclosure of information in order to level the playing field between buyers and sellers† (p662), to her, this phenomenon actually encourages â€Å"self-diagnosis† and is therefore detrimental to consumer’s health. She blamed this problem on the legal and cultural changes in health care. In her own words, she argued that the â€Å"legal and cultural changes in health care brought about by the patients’ and consumers’ rights movements laid the groundwork for the DTCA of prescription drugs. DTCA was surely an unintended consequence of these social movements and may, paradoxically, serve to frustrate future efforts to protect patients and consumers† (p691). She further argued that the use of mass media advertising for prescription drugs misleads consumers into taking costly prescription drugs that they do not need. She opined that mass media advertisements were only intended to be a â€Å"vehicle for pharmaceutical manufacturers to tell end users about their products’and ‘not to help businesses market their products† (p662). According to her, drugs that advertised to consumers had the advantage of established brand recognition, and this is what has accounted for most pharmaceutical companies pushing their products to the mass media to be advertised. Also, in the book The Truth About the Drug Companies (2004), Angell Marcia, apprised us thoroughly on underpinnings of drug companies. Tracing their eruption from 1980, Angell, lamented the manner in which the pharmaceutical industry has not been innovative. To him, â€Å"only a handful of truly important drugs have been brought to market in recent years, and they were mostly based on taxpayer-funded research at academic institutions, small biotechnology companies or the National Institutes of Health. The majority of ‘new’ drugs are not new at all but merely variations of older drugs already on the market. These are called ‘me-too’ drugs†. (p3). He explained that the thinking behind these â€Å"me-too† drugs is to grab a share of an established, lucrative market and make profit. Thus, to him, drug companies spring up almost every day, not because they intend to bring any new product onto the market, but only to reproduce drugs which are already in existence, and with the motive of making profit. This motive informs their resort to the mass media for direct-to-consumer advertisements (DTCA) so as to gain advantage over their competitors. He thus advocates that the Food and Drugs Authority (FDA) must stiffen their approval of new drugs coming unto the market. Thus, to him, â€Å"the me-too market would collapse virtually overnight if the FDA made approval of new drugs contingent on their being better in some important way than older drugs already on the market† (p12). He is of the view that this measure would make drug companies focus on finding truly innovative drugs and also reduce the incessant and enormously expensive marketing necessary to jockey for position in the me-too market. Furthermore, in their article â€Å"Media Credibility and Informativeness of Direct-to-Consumer Prescription Drug Advertising†(2004), Huh et al evaluated consumer perceptions of the media credibility and informativeness of direct-to-consumer prescription drug advertisement and examined how those perceptions were influenced by consumer predispositions and demographic characteristics. To them, DTC advertisements are targeted mostly at â€Å"older consumers’’a segment that is particularly susceptible and vulnerable to commercial persuasion† (p29). This is because, to them studies have documented â€Å"various physical, psychological and social changes that accompany aging, including reduced sensory abilitiescognitive impairmentsthat can alter the communication process and result in decision-making difficulties and decreased resistance to persuasion† (p34). This trend, they argue is what has necessitated the insistence on media credibility because †Å"audience tend to rely on media they consider credible and informative† (p29) in choosing which drug to buy or not to buy. They argued that, in recent times, the basic objective of DTC advertisements are to â€Å"inform, persuade and remind consumers to take prescribed actions toward advertised drugs-to learn, to prefer, to ask for, and to ask for again† (p30). This, to them, is a significant departure from the original form of advertising, which concentrated on â€Å"influencing and maintaining demand for prescription drugs through the use of the push promotion strategy† and which took the form of â€Å"trade advertising directed at physicians and was used to deliver information that would work with other promotional tools to educate, persuade and help sell advertised drugs to physicians† (p29). Notable among their findings was the fact that â€Å"consumers place greater value on the information utility of the media of DTC drug advertising than its credibility as an information source about prescription drugs† (p53). Moreover, Burke et al in their article â€Å"Deception by Implication: An Experimental Investigation† (1988) set out to, among other things, measure the â€Å"misleading of two common types of advertising claims and their relative effectiveness for increasing consumer brand preference and purchase likelihood† (p484). These types of advertising claims include, those â€Å"that might lead the consumer to have a false impression of a product not by literal interpretation, but by implication† (ibid). To them, there is a need for consumer protection for products such as â€Å"pain relievers, where brands offer similar or identical performance and consumers lack a rigorous reality test of the truthfulness of ad claims† (p492). This is because, they found out that â€Å"expanded and qualified claims can enhance consumers’ images of advertised brand and related purchase intentions† (ibid). They then proffered that in view of the potential of these ad vertisements to â€Å"mislead consumers in cases where the advertised brand has no real competitive differentiation, advertisers are advised to use such claims judiciously† (ibid). To add to, in his article â€Å"Self Regulation and Television Advertising: A Replication and Extension† (2001), Abernethy Avery opined that â€Å"although television stations have the right to reject almost any advertisement submitted for broadcast, exercising that power to protect consumers from potentially false or misleading claims can directly lower station revenues† (p1). Thus to him, because of the possibility of television stations, like other media platforms, of losing revenue or not making much profit, these media outlets accept any advertisement from advertisers and air them on their platforms, without recourse to whether or not the advertisement can harm or mislead the consumer. Though he agrees that there are state and federal laws regulating the advertising of certain products such as tobacco, and also specific punitive measures for false and misleading or defamatory advertisements, he is of the view that much responsibility rests on media houses to engage in â€Å"self-regulation† (p2) or â€Å"clearance process† (p3) to sieve advertisements before putting them out for the public’s consumption. In his own words, â€Å"owners and managers of media vehicles have great power to determine the type of advertising they carry’’and determine if it is acceptable for their audience† (p2). He believes this process has the potential to â€Å"provide considerable consumer protection from false, misleading, or, inappropriate advertising† (p3). He found out through his research that â€Å"only 3% of stations substantiate the claims of every submitted advertisement and 2.5% of stations reject 10% or more of advertisements submitted for broadcast† (p9). These results to him, indicate that the â€Å"consumer protection provided by television advertisingis uneven† (ibid). As part of measures to curb this anomaly, he posits that the Federal Communications Commission must â€Å"require stations to submit their advertising review policies during license renewal and that those policies be part of public record† (p10). He believed that this measure would improve consumer protection since media houses and advertisers will be under obligation to put out true information about products. REFERENCES: Donohue, J., (2006) â€Å"A History of Drug Advertising: The Evolving Roles of Consumers and Consumer Protection† in Milbank Quarterly, Vol. 84, Issue 4, pp 659-699 Marcia, A., (2004) â€Å"The Truth about the Drug Companies†. Huh et al., (2004) â€Å"Media Credibility and Informativeness of Direct-to-Consumer Prescription Drug Advertising† in Health Marketing Quarterly, Vol. 21, No. 3, pp 27-61 Burke et al., (1988) â€Å"Deception by Implication: An Experimental Investigation† in Journal of Consumer Research, Vol. 14, No. 4, pp 483-494 Abernethy et al., (2001) â€Å"Self-regulation and Television Advertising: A Replication and Extension† in Journal of Adertising Research, Vol. 41, Issue 3, pp 31-37