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Study Groups In The Paper Chase (1973)

Decent Essays

“It’s a device. A tool. Groups of first-year students that get together a couple times a week. Review the class work, the casebooks. They make outlines and then share them. It helps at exam time. You interested?” (Paul & Thompson & Bridges, 1973, scene 2). On the surface study groups may seem to be an effective strategy for enhancing learning, but they can actually lead students to encounter more problems than solved in the long run. These problems can vary from fairly small to very serious, which is seen throughout the film, The Paper Chase (1973). This film provided the gold standard of awful study groups with bickering, backstabbing, and withholding study aids. From the very first meeting, it was bound for failure as the members of the group …show more content…

Since everyone has strengths and weaknesses, members of the group can gain new perspectives and learn from each other. Each group member has different qualities and ideas to offer to the study group. If students study by themselves, they will only get one perspective, yet in groups, they can receive various viewpoints, which can further develop their critical thinking skills. Also, it is often quite hard to understand every detail of lectures and assigned work when doing self-study, so studying in a group with other students can help to fill in the gaps of material that may have been missed. Along with that, speaking out loud in a group can help strengthen these learning gaps. By trying to explain something to someone else, members can reinforce the concepts, therefore making information easier to recall in the future. Also, listening and asking questions can provide more food for thought, along with strengthening communication skills. Moreover, study groups can provide students an opportunity to learn and strengthen their …show more content…

Since the members of the study group came from universities to Harvard law school, most of them have never before been pushed intellectually, nor faced any real adversity in terms of competition. Therefore, combining smart intellectuals in a group may seem like a great tool, but there is bound to be competition eventually. In one of the group meetings, Bell states, “You want to know about my outline? It’s 800 pages long, and it’s fantastic. I’m going to publish that outline. My outline is better than the casebook,” (Bell). Bell believes his outline is the best, and later on threatens not to share his outline with anyone else unless theirs begins to stack up. Competition is also shown in Brooks’s case where he struggles to keep up with his group members. His wife Asheley tells group member Hart, “He’s just so tired. He works so hard. Every night till 3:00 or 4:00. The competition is killing him,” (Asheley). Other types of competition that takes place throughout the film is the desire to be recognized as the top student in Kingsfield’s eyes. This takes place in Kingsfield’s lectures in the classroom scenes where it is shown that the same students answers Kingsfield’s questions, which just so happen to be members of the study

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