Mr. John Keating, the school's new English teacher, had fresh, idealistic and unorthodox teaching methods which he used to enrich the lives of many young men. His teaching style was vastly different from the predictable and boring style of the other teachers. On his first day at the school, he instructed the students to rip out the introduction from their text books because it was all about how to score and read poetry. Mr. Keating believed that poetry cannot simply be measured but that it conveys a visceral message to the reader. Mr. Keating encouraged the students to practice freedom of thought, which he called Carpe Diem - Seize the day.
Always trying to please his, he takes a chance and auditions for a play. Fortunately, he gets the lead (Dead Poets Society). For once in his life, Neil is able to do what he loves and does not follow the path his parents have laid for him (Dead Poets Society). He feels as if he has been released from a cage after all those long years, and after being encouraged by Mr. Keating to follow his dreams, Neil is notably more optimistic in the movie after getting the lead (Dead Poets Society). Another example on how Mr. Keating has helped a student is demonstrated when Knox Overstreet kisses Kris, the girl of his dreams (Dead Poets Society).
Once he decided to join, he informs all of his friends about the exciting news until Neil’s father, Mr. Perry, gets word and demands for his son’s private attention out in a nearby hallway. For the majority of Neil’s life, choices have been made for him. He’s been living out the ideas of Thoreau, animating a "life of quiet desperation” and can’t seem to “suck the marrow” out of life. Mr. Perry’s academic expectations of his son are so high not even Neil is convinced that he’ll fulfill them with a cheerful heart. Perry’s friends attempt to comfort him shortly after the brief argument between himself and his father, but being “future bankers and lawyers”, Neil believes that they’re in the same boat, unable to tell him any different.
Transcendentalism in Dead Poets Society The 1830s and 40s in New England can be characterized by an emphasis on the analyzing and examination of ones individual conscience, known as Transcendentalism. Ideas coined by main Transcendentalists, Henry Thoreau and Ralph Waldo Emerson inspired many people in not only theirs’, but later generations to follow their intuition and pursue their individualism. These ideas play a main role in the behaviors and endeavors of characters in the movie “Dead Poets Society” which features a group of teenage boys enrolled in an extremely strict, elite preparatory school. Throughout the movie, the transcendentalist inspired teachings of Mr. Keating, their English teacher inspires the boys to pursue their individualism, which has both great and tragic outcomes. Todd Anderson can originally be characterized as the withdrawn one of the group.
After Haroun’s quest to get his father’s storytelling abilities back, his father gains his freedom back. Now his father can, not only, freely tell his past experiences but express his feelings, emotions, and beliefs through his stories. At one point in the story Khattam-Shud, the Cult master, tells Haroun that the world is made for controlling and not for fun. By controlling how people speak the Cult master tries to assert his control. One success he had with this was with the
Charlie’s doubts about growing up are softened when he begins to become friends with two seniors, Patrick, a gay man, and Sam, a dark yet loving girl; both see the beauty in Charlie’s shyness and teach him how to live in the moment instead of hyper focusing on other people’s lives. Charlie also forms a relationship with his AP English teacher, Bill, who assigns him extra reading and tells him to “participate” in life. These two relationships are what help Charlie go through his first year of high school with friends and happiness. Although the novel is written in letters, Chbosky does a wonderful job in showing both sides of this bittersweet tale. Because Charlie is an observer of life, he sees things that people usually don’t and has to keep them as secrets.
In “Dead Poet’s Society” Mr. Keating taught his English class the phrase "carpe diem", meaning seize the day. He told his class that in order to go far in life they need to take a risk, a leap of faith. He helped one of his students gain the courage to talk to the girl he liked. His name was Knox Overstreet. The girl he liked had a boyfriend, but he didn't let that stop him from trying to win her over.
Neil had experienced freedom, a privilege he was not going to willingly relinquish. In the end, Neil stands up to his father, but is unable to communicate his beliefs. Rather than continuing to live an unhappy life on a path he was forced to take, Neil decides that the only way to have individual freedom is by taking his own life. Although he lost everything, suicide was the only way for Neil to stand up to his father and live life to the fullest, a la carpe diem. Through self-destruction, Neil is taking control of his life decisions, and as a result, accepting the
. .” (Franklin, 1996, p.62). His father always advised him to behave respectfully, to avoid lampooning and libeling (Franklin, 1996, p.24). Moreover, meeting new people as he was in search for job in outer colony, allowed him to
Langston Hughes Comparison Langston Hughes was a master with words when it came to his poetry. He used techniques that pulled the reader into the poem. His greatest use of technique skills would be the creation of his personas, and his clever use of dialect. He uses these in poems such as “Mother to Son”, “Theme for English B”, and “Dream Boogie.” The poem “Mother to Son” is simply about a hard working mother talking to her son. She warns him about life’s hardships and tries to encourage him to never give up.