Seize the day! Make your lives extraordinary.” This idea of carpe dium is central to the message of the movie and a key part of romanticism. One of the first things Mr. Keating tells the students is to call him “Oh Captain, my Captain,” which comes as a shock to the students who are told by strict orders by all other teachers to refer to them formally. He teaches the boys to think for themselves, a lesson looked down upon at the elite academy directed towards developing their minds through learning out of textbooks. Mr. Keating then has the boys stand on their desks to teach them how they can see the world in a different way.
They live by the philosophies of writers like Walt Whitman, Henry David Thoreau and Ralph Waldo Emerson. The boys in the Society were introduced to a new outlook on life when Professor John Keating arrived at Welton Academy. Among them were people who never got the chance to live their lives to the fullest. Through his teachings, the boys are relieved of the harsh pressure put on them by everyone. They find themselves and learn how to express themselves in ways they otherwise would never have been able to.
Cathy Pham Mrs. Jaspard AP English Lang/Comp 29 December 2012 Philosophies of Transcendentalism In the movie Dead Poets Society, the philosophies of transcendentalism are explained in depth, though in a more interesting way. Near the beginning of the movie, where several orthodox methods of teaching are shown, tradition was expressed. The typical class introductions, the way the lessons are delivered, and the assigning of homework are all done in a similar fashion. That is, until the boys sat through a class taught by Mr. Keating, Welton’s new English teacher. His unorthodox methods not only taught the boys to think for themselves, but they also awoke the boys’ inner desires and dreams.
In Albert Camus’s The Outsider, freedom is portrayed as the conformity with the guidelines and expectations created by society, and following this rules in search of acceptance. Meursault is the “outsider” in the novel, because he refuses to be what society expects of him. Instead he chooses to be different and live by his own set of rules and expectations. Mr Keating from the movie “Dead Poets Society” is a high school teacher for the private school Welton, who gives his students a new perspective in life as they begin to follow their own dreams and ideas, which completely contradicts the expectations of their parents and school representatives. In both the novel The Outsider and the movie “Dead poets Society” it is evident that liberty does not exist, since a person is only free while obeying society’s guidelines.
English 2 07 May 2013 False Impressions In the autobiography Hunger Of Memory, written by Richard Rodriguez the book recounts his personal experience of his education starting in childhood all the way to adulthood. Although Rodriguez has had much success as a student and as a writer, he always felt misplaced among is peers. Rodriguez argues to be successful students in the classroom that they need to sever their familial and cultural ties, especially if their home lives are very different from what they experience at school. Additionally, Rodriguez claims that our standards of beauty often determine our sense of worth in society. In reading the book I found fallacies that Rodriguez had in his writings, which included
Theme: Rebellion the film “Dead Poets Society” produced in 1989 by film director Peter Weir, tells the story of an English teacher at a highly conservative and autocratic boys' school, who inspires and persuades his students away from conforming to the traditions through his unique teaching styles. Throughout the duration of the film, Mr. Keating leads the students he teaches in a new direction of personal excellency. This process includes with new ways of learning techniques, teaching the students to be their own person and influencing the Dead Poet Society on the group of students, which eventually leads the students to rebellion against the school tradition. Peter Weir uses a number of film techniques to develop this theme of rebellion in the film. When the audience first see the school grounds during the opening section of the film, we are confronted with the sturdy stone structures of its buildings, high interior walls and ceilings, shown in high angle camera shots, which emphasises the power and the authority of the school.
Simply stated, he is the man voted most likely to do anything in his senior yearbook. That anything turned out to be an English teacher, or better a life teacher, to a group of young men who were naive about the world they lived in and everything outside of their small boarding institution. Meet John Keating, the teacher played by Robin Williams in the influential movie Dead Poets Society. The teacher who used all aspects of the word ethos to motivate and transform his students’ lives. Ethos can be described as the nature, character, or unique values peculiar to a particular human being.
In the novel, Finney comes back to school so certain of himself “with such health,” he keeps doing things he shouldn’t be doing, which makes him believe he is still eligible to participate in the war (Knowles 104). Just like Finney, Neil in the movie is so sure and proud of himself for preforming in the play that he uses one of his soliloquies to direct an apology towards his dad; this makes his dad even madder (Dead Poets’ Society). Since Neil and Finney are both courageous and “most innocent of all” the characters, it’s harder to face the reality that’s in front of them, like how Neil can’t comprehend his dads firm answer, and how Finney won’t believe he is actually cripples (Telgen). Furthermore, Finney, who is brave, suggests jumping off the tree with Gene. Although Gene almost falls off, Finney catches him and saves Gene’s life, but he “practically lost it” too (Knowles 33).
most may view this type of academic control as inhumane, I see it as an excellent chance to take advantage of a opurtunity that will guarantee academic advanement and securing a successful future. Welton Prep Academy, the all boys school in the Dead Poets Society has many restrictions which take away freedoms that most high school kids have. While the students at Welton are dressed in the same dull uniforms the students at the public school are allowed to express themselves and show individuality by choosing what they wear. At Welton the boys express their individuality not through what they wear but through their diverse personalities and their unique creativities. At Welton the boys do not have the opportunity to play any sports where at the high school it has sports teams like football and cheerleading which both characters Chet and Chris participate in.
By telling them to rip the pages from their poetry textbook, he plants the seed of enthusiasm within each of them. They all have aspirations that have been crushed by the conformity of life and Mr. Keating helps them to realize their dreams. “Carpe Diem” becomes a central quote in the movie. Each boy soon seizes the day for himself. For the first time these boys come to the realization that they can be their own individual and that they can think for themselves.