Hannah Ameen Essay
September 26. 2014 Dead Poet’s Society
The film Dead Poets Society written by Tom Schulman is story about students that attend the authoritative "Welton Academy," a prep school in Vermont. Parents who insist on sending their children to the best universities after high school send their kids to Welton for high school. Welton, like many prep schools of the time, admitted only boys. The movie takes place in 1959. The plot centers on the influence of Mr. Keating, a young and exciting English and poetry teacher, who is determined to teach his students to live life with absolute passion. Inspired by Mr. Keating's philosophy of life, many of his students recreate the "Dead Poet's Society," a secret club that meets in a cave in order to discuss poetry, philosophy and other topics. The club, which Mr. Keating had created many years earlier when he was a student at Welton, would be completely unacceptable to the conservative school. The school believes that Welton’s students should be in their rooms, studying all the time. This movie is about what happens when these students decide to pursue their own desires, and to live life with the passion that Mr. Keating encouraged. In The Dead Poets Society there is much evidence to support that excellence is not always rewarded in this world and being different should be accepted.
There are several traditional and educational values of Welton Academy. A traditional value of Welton academy would be that all the boys have to wear a uniform. Considering the school is all boys all of the boys wore the same exact thing. An education value of Welton was a very small class size. Also an educational value was for every student to go to a top-notch school coming out of Welton. Also the school issues instructions to the teachers on the curriculum and the manner in which it is to be administered, while the students are expected to follow it unquestioningly. Everything at Welton has to be the exact way that the administration wants it to be.
There was a conflict between the traditional and conservative values promoted by Welton Academy as a school, and thee teaching methods of John Keating. The teachings of John Keating resemble who he is as a human being. He teaches his students what he thinks are good values. He teaches them the idea of “Carpe Diem”, which means seize the day. This shows that they should go out and accomplish tasks. He takes them out of the classroom to demonstrate what he means. This definitely affected the students’ lives because they are going to live more freely. By encouraging his students to freely express their emotion he is undermining the pursuit of excellence because he is taking the majority of their focus off of the classroom. Studying is a good example of this because the school “goes by the book” too much and Keating is taking a different approach to teaching these students. He undermines the pursuit of excellence by having them thing freely which results in a slower way of learning. If he went by the book it will be done quickly, but he wanted to teach them so they actually learn the information and not forget what they are taught. Keating has a giant impact on the boys.
This subculture of Mr. Keating’s classroom in my mind was right. Mr. Keating looked at things in a totally different way than the school wanted. He had more leniencies for things and the students I believe truly benefited from it. For example when Keating told the students to rip out the first pages in his literature book. The students were hesitant at first because that was against Weldon’s policies. Mr. Keating sent a signal to the boys that if you really wanted something in life you have to dig for it.
Neil Perry is a confident and popular student who excels in his studies. Neil’s father wants him to drop out of the play and he plans for him to become a doctor in the near future. His father didn’t except the fact that he was good at what he did because his
ardent disciple of Keating’s “Carpe Diem” philosophy. This sets him up for a confrontation with the conservative forces in the film. Show how the conflict between Neil, his father and the establishment is developed from a filmic perspective.” Dead Poets Society repeatedly shows relational conflict, often between the boys and authority. Perhaps the most obvious example within the film is that of Neil’s relationship with his father. This conflict mainly results ofrom bad a lack of communication and misunderstanding…
to nature. In addition, the more modern motion picture, Dead Poets Society, further reflects this transcendental philosophy. Throughout the film, Mr. Keating, an English teacher, educates his students of ideals very similar to that of the Transcendentalists, and his students completely buy in to his teachings through following their true passions. Transcendentalism is a way of life that can undoubtedly benefit one’s life, as well as society as a whole through its value of individuality and a simplistic…
Brad Loeffler Mrs. Baker Compare/Contrast Essay November 25, 2014 Carpe Diem “Carpe diem. Seize the day, boys. Make your lies extraordinary,” says Mr. Keeting in The Dead Poets Society. Take the chances that are offered so that things do not become or remain a subject to conformity. Both Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury and Dead Poets Society involve a dystopian society in which conformity rules the lives of people in that society. Conformity is a bad thing; for example, never acting differently…
Sydney Leatherman Mrs. Randolph English 11 24 April 2014 Dead Poets Society Essay Reflecting upon the film Dead Poets Society, the school of Welton is established on four pillars. The four pillars taught in the school of Welton are tradition, excellence, honor, and discipline which is what standards Bridgeport High School is built upon. Bridgeport is a school that almost fits to these four pillars because it is commonly known that we are an excellent school that carries out many traditions. Also…
Essay Poetry has the ability to give the responder different ideas and emotions by showing the poets imagination. There are many types of poems such as: Free verse, Acrostic, Limerick, Sonnet, and Haiku etc. The two poems I have chosen for my essay is Stealing by ‘Carol-Ann Duffy’ and We real cool by ‘Gwendolyn Brooks.’ Carol-Ann Duffy is a poet and playwright. She writes about oppression, gender and violence, in an accessible language that has made them popular in schools. Gwendolyn Brooks was…
Time” “Nothing Gold Can Stay” “Barter” “Loveliest of Trees, the Cherry Now” “Much madness is divinest sense” “She rose to his requirement” “The Lady’s Reward” “Barbie Doll” “what the mirror said” Essays Walden “Self-Reliance” Other Be familiar with these: Dead Poets Society Just major concepts, which may be compared with “The Last Lecture” ideas in the literature You will have to complete short answer and fill in the blank, as well as multiple choice items. Application…
The essay “When We Dead Awaken: Writing as Re-Vision”, by Adrienne Rich goes back to the 50ies, in a very difficult period for women and female writers, clearly dominated by men. At that time women had a very traditional role: that of a wife, mother and muse for male engaged with domestic activities. Rich can be considered a pioneer, because she was of those women who managed to be a wife, mother and writer successfully. However, Adrienne Rich herself struggled to find her identity and free her imagination…
that needs to be addressed is the true meaning of the word “highbrow” to Woolf. Although the word “highbrow” generally refers to an individual of a higher class and social status, I don’t think that’s what she intends in this essay. I truly don’t think that Woolf wrote this essay using the word “highbrow” to discuss the issue of class differences and social positions. I say this because Woolf refers to highbrows as being “the man or woman of thoroughbred intelligence who rides his mind at a gallop across…
California is good. During summer, many people will consider having their vacations in California because there are many beautiful beaches where they can enjoy the sunshine, the breeze and the blue water. As what Thomas Steinbeck wrote in his short essay, “I have been abundantly rewarded by the sight of the great Pacific” (Steinbeck 67). The coast along the Pacific Ocean creates stunning view for every visitor, especially the marvelous water color from the beautiful beaches like Laguna Beach and Coronado…
addition to his commentary on the downward spiral of society around him. Eliot employs a change in speaker amongst many different characters as well as allusions to other relevant and popular art, literature, and events of the day that preceded this poem. The Waste Land is essentially a cacophony of allusions and stances. While writing this poem, Eliot had entered a sanitarium as a result of several nervous breakdowns triggered by the ills of society that he condemns in this work (Bush 68). In addition…