Reflect/Evaluate, Dead Poet’s Society, in light of the principles of transcendentalism. As you are making connections between the movie and the movement consider focusing on ONE of the following: Mr. Keating and his English Classroom, The Dead Poet’s Society, Todd Anderson, Neil Perry, Knox Overstreet, and/or Charlie Dalton. (300 words)
The movie called “Dead Poets Society” is about a group of students who get together to read poetry. This movie is one that is full of connections to transcendentalism. The first can be seen in the dead poets society in itself. This connection can be seen in the way that in the club the boys go to read poetry, and this also relates to the clubs of transcendentalists who sat and read poetry in groups to each other. This in turn provides a solid connection to transcendentalism as well. Although this is a solid connection to transcendentalism, there are many others connections to transcendentalism. One of these connections can be seen in the way Robin William’s character teaches. The way that he teaches is to promote free thinking and individualism. This can be seen in the way that he promoted Neil’s passion for going out for the play at another school. This in turn supports the way that he promotes individualism and at the same time promotes free thinking as well. Another connection can be seen in the way that he has the boys go outside the classroom. This shows the way that he himself is being individualistic. This can be seen in the way that he is doing something that goes against the norm by teaching outside. Another connection can be seen in the way that he makes the boys stand on his desk in order to see the world differently. This relates to transcendentalism through the way that they also looked at things differently. The next way that transcendental values can be seen is when he has the boys march differently from one another. This shows the way that transcendentalists valued individualism and non-conformity. The last way that transcendentalist values can be seen in in the way he made a shy student come up with poetry. he did this in order to help the boy express individualism and come out of his shell which was another transcendentalist value.
ReplyDeleteThe movie “Dead Poet’s Society” explores the concept of transcendentalism. The boys recreated the society and brought it back to life by using their own intuition. Neil Perry shows great signs of transcendentalism by nonconforming to his father’s ruthless power over him and proceeding to take up theater. Neil Perry’s life is fully in the hands of his father, which he hates more than anything, but doesn’t want to let his parents down. His parents want him to go into medicine, but Neil has a passion for theatre and they don’t approve of his passion. Besides the rest of the movie when Neil’s father has the upper hand in all of his business, Neil pushed himself and became his own self-governed person when he went behind his father’s back to continue to perform on stage. Unfortunately, Neil’s only way of being able to take control of his life was by taking his own life. He was brave and determined enough to take his own life than to live a life of shame. Neil’s actions were a necessary step in his process of self-discovery and individual growth. His outburst of individualism had deadly consequences for his reckless attitude and guilt brought upon him by his father. Neil’s ruthless act caused extreme pain for his friends and parents, but only Neil knew what the right decision he had to make. Even though Neil’s death was out of the blue, his friends knew who led Neil to take his life, but didn’t want to expose the real truth of Mr. Perry. Neil Perry governed his own self that day when he took his life and it made a huge statement to Todd Anderson because it motivated him to open his mouth and stand up for his own opinion of the death of his roommate. Neil Perry is the perfect example of a fearless nonconformist. He demonstrates the importance and necessity of self-discovery and individual growth.
ReplyDeleteDead Poets Society connects to the Transcendentalism movement in many ways. Mr. Keating, the new English teacher, taught about the Romantics and Transcendentalists, instead of the realists in his class, because he knew that the boys would learn valuable life lessons from the literature of that period. By doing this, Mr. Keating did not make friends with the school’s principle, but he went ahead with what he thought would be best for his students. Much like Transcendentalists, Mr. Keating went against the popular opinion of how people should live. Although it was tradition to teach about simple, realistic literature at the school so as to prepare the boys for their dull futures, Mr. Keating saw potential in his class, so he wanted to show them ideas that they would not have been exposed to otherwise. Mr. Keating stressed the importance of nonconformity and free-thinking, imagination over logic, and to stand up for your beliefs no matter how unpopular. Mr. Keating used certain exercises to get the boys to come out of their shells, although it did not influence all of the boys as much as the few who revived the Dead Poets Society. He took his class outside to learn about the topics by example. This shows the importance of learning in nature, just like the Romantic writers believed. The Latin teacher had been siding with the views of the school until he saw how the new ideas affected the students. He wanted his own students to have the same amount of passion for what they did, so he decided to adopt some of Mr. Keating’s teaching style by taking his class into nature. Mr. Keating did not want the boys to grow up and have dull lives like their parents wanted, but he wanted them to experience other things that were not expected.
ReplyDeleteThe Dead Poet’s Society showed ideas of Transcendentalism and the Romantic Era through Mr.Keating and his classroom. He chose to not teach about the realists because he wanted the kids to learn in a way where they would be able to think more freely and more open minded. They were able to speak their minds and easily relate to what Mr.Keating was saying. They absorbed the information that Mr.Keating gave them with ease, because what boy does not want to think or do whatever he wants? Mr.Keating’s teaching methods did not win him favor with the headmaster of the school or many of the parents of his students. Like the Transcendentalists in the Romantic Era, Keating did not follow the way other people thought. He taught what he believed should be taught in a classroom and did not rely on popular opinion to determine his teaching methods. He did not follow the curriculum of the school and made it known to other teachers that he was not scared to teach what he believed. Keating was a man of his own word and focused more on what he knew his class would understand rather than teaching them something that they would forget after taking a test or exam. He wanted what he said to stay with his class forever and for them to remember their english class teacher as someone who taught them to be themselves. He taught them not to rely on others to tell them what to believe, much like the Transcendentalist believed in. Overall, Keating was much like that of the Transcendentalist. He taught his english classroom how to think for themselves and to rely on their own minds to tell them how to feel or what to believe. He took a different approach to teaching that surprised the students and made them excited to learn about new things. They were not expecting to have fun in a class, and when they did, they realized how life could be if they followed their own path and used their own minds to think for themselves.
ReplyDeleteThe movie “Dead Poets Society” connects transcendentalism with a group of young men who come together to overcome odds set against them. The group of boys are led by the new teacher, Mr. Keating, who has ideas that defy all of the ideas taught by the school administration, and the rest of the world. Mr. Keating plays a significant part of shedding light on the principles of transcendentalism. On the first day of the new school year, Mr. Keating asks a student to read the introduction to the English textbook, then asks the students to rip the pages out because they portray nonsense to Mr. Keating. Keating tells the boys that there is no way to rate poetry based on importance, or at all. Throughout the year, he teaches the boys many lessons that contradict what they had learned before. Mr. Keating taught the boys many important lessons that ranged from the different perspectives that people can have, to seize the day because one day everyone will stop breathing, from thinking for yourself, to standing by your beliefs. Keating never failed to teach the boys lessons that would guide them through life in ways that they would never lose sight of themselves. The most important lesson that he taught was to always be themselves and strive to be the best that they could possible be. Keating wanted to boys to be open minded to ideas that they would never have been exposed to with other teachers. When Neil Perry dies, the school blames Mr. Keating for placing absurd ideas in his head that lead to his death. When Mr. Keating is fired, their new teacher has the perspective of a realist. He teaches what would be considered “proper” for students to learn. In the end, the students learn more from Mr. Keating, and stand up for what they believe in, their “Captain.”
ReplyDeleteDead Poets Society makes a numerous amount of connections to the principle values of the transcendentalism movement through characters, such as Mr. Keating. Mr. Keating was the replacement for the recently retired English professor. He diverged from the regular school curriculum by focusing on the Romantic period and the Transcendentalists. He firmly believed that the poetry of the Romantic period would inspire his students to think independently. Mr. Keating was at odds with the realists because they did not have dreams or ambitions as the transcendentalists did. His unique philosophy about teaching and the practices he used to apply it left him as an adversary of the school’s administrative department. Despite the disapproval of his superiors, Mr. Keating brought his classes outside so that they could appreciate nature. He led and taught through examples on the areas of life and their application to poetry. The transcendentalist view of nature coincides with Mr. Keating’s because they both wanted to celebrate the natural world over the artificial world build by man. He taught his students to think for themselves, rather than blindly conform to society. His convictions in his teaching style were strong because it was the key to saving the souls of his students. Mr. Keating explained to his class that knowing poetry was key to all intellectual pursuits because they help us live, but what we live for are the arts. Mr. Keating was able to connect with his students through his actions, giving value to the principles of transcendentalism. Inside Mr. Keating’s English classroom, his influence and character were inspiring enough to a group of his students to revive the Dead Poets Society. Mr. Keating’s influence did not end with his students but instead convinced another teacher to use nature as a classroom because of how well it engaged the students. The values of transcendentalism were strongly connected to the character Mr. Keating.
ReplyDeleteDead Poets Society is full of the ideas of Transcendentalism, and this is especially prevalent through how Mr. Keating teaches his class. He defies the norm for the school, which includes a lack of creativity and disowns the arts. They are purely intellectual, much like the puritans were. Mr. Keating teaches his class in a way that defies this norm and follows Transcendent beliefs. He has the kids stretch their minds to find their full potential. He does things like make them create their own original poetry and take them outside to do unique lessons. He even taught them about the dangers of conformity at a school where nonconformity is frowned upon. Mr. Keating even used quotes from Transcendent poets to teach his class lessons. The most famous quote from the movie, “oh Captain my Captain” is from the Transcendent poet Ralph Waldo Emerson, and used by Keating. Keating valued intuition over knowledge. This can been shown by the scene where he has all of the students rip out the writing of the realist poet. This shows that he valued the ideas of the Transcendent poets over the thoughts of the intellectuals. The largest piece of proof to Mr. Keatings connection to Transcendentalism is that he lead the kids to make the Dead Poets Society. In this Society they practiced the ideas of Transcendentalism by sharing poems from Transcendent writers and even showing their own talents and expanding their imaginations. This is the opposite of the intellectuals, and shows how Mr. Keating supports Transcendentalism and even encourages his students to think in the same way that he does. All of this adds up to the conclusion that Mr. Keating used the ideas of Transcendentalism to teach his class in a new way, and a way that was seen as wrong by the rest of the school.
ReplyDeleteMr. Keating and his classroom can easily relate to the ideas of transcendentalism. Some of the ideas of transcendentalism include being one with nature, not conforming to society, having your own ideas, and being self sufficient. These ideas are shown in Mr. Keating’s class throughout the movie. The class is one with nature because they go outside to learn. They go outside for inspiration just as Thoreau did in his essay Walden. Mr. Keating’s class also practices nonconformity just as transcendentalists did. They go outside and Mr. Keating shows them how easy and instinctive it is to conform. This leads to them not conforming. They go against usual teaching standards of that time in the way lessons are taught. Mr. Keating’s class also has their own ideas just as many transcendentalists did. They are assigned to write their own poems and most of them do it. Neil also has his own ideas of doing a play at the local public school. Todd has his own idea two times throughout the movie. His first idea is the one about the poem he made up out of his head in class and the other comes right at the end of the movie. It was idea to first stand up on the desks in protest of Mr. Keating being fired. This idea was original to him and he thought of it first. Many transcendentalist thinkers were the first to think of their ideas, just as Todd Anderson in Dead Poets Society. Thoreau was the first to think about living out in the woods under his own accord. He wanted to this as an experiment, not out of necessity. Ralph Waldo Emerson was also a great thinker. He first thought to become one with nature is to become one with God. Todd thought his own ideas just as the transcendentalists did.
ReplyDeleteThe connection between the movie Dead Poets Society and Transcendentalism was strongly used in Mr. Keatings classroom. He taught the boys in a way that they could open their minds and adventure their own mind. Mr. Keating was far from traditional and the head of the school was apprehensive about this difference. This movie has references to other principles including Romanticism and Puritanism. The head of school was very traditional and wanted to keep the order of teaching as it always has been. This strictness is closely related to Puritanism because they focused on reason and not about individual thought. Mr. Keating also used Romanticism in his teaching because he was optimistic about the idea of death when he said that “everyone is going to die and stop breathing.” He was very optimistic about life and each person has a worth to believe and say what they feel and think. Transcendentalism was used the most Mr. Keatings classroom because everyday for his class, he presented a lesson that they could learn from which widened their thoughts. He took them outside to experience nature and create a different atmosphere to learn instead of sitting in the classroom. The ending of this movie showed that his teaching taught the boys to think what they believe. They respected Mr. Keating and they showed him that by standing up and saying “Oh Captain, My Captain.” This allowed Mr. Keating to have peace of mind and know that he taught those boys something that they will remember for the rest of their lives. This movie connected to the different types of literature and gave concrete examples of how these concepts can be fulfilled in life. This also revealed the reality that people think in different ways and live life the way they choose, The characters in this movie were showing the different ideas. Neil’s dad and the head of school were all on the side of tradition and this is what the boys grew up believing. Mr. Keatings classroom gave them a way to expand their knowledge of themselves and teach them more ways to view life. This revealed the effect that this Transcendentalism affected them.
ReplyDeleteIn the movie “Dead Poets Society”, there are many different occasions in the movie when it connects to themes or periods of literature, such as romanticism, puritanism, and also transcendentalism, the most important and also prevalent in the movie. This theme of transcendentalism that is in the movie can most easily be seen with Mr. Keating and his classroom. One of the first occasions as to when this is apparent is when Mr. Keating took his class outside, so they could see the beauty of nature, instead of being cramped up in the classroom, like they normally were, blindly following whatever the teacher was teaching. Another value of transcendentalism that is apparent in the movie is nonconformity and that can be found in the lesson where Mr. Keating brought out the students into the courtyard and had them walk around. When they all started to walk to same, Mr. Keating had them all walk their own way, showing how nonconformity is sometimes a good thing. Lastly is the idea of individualism. While Mr. Keating didn’t really tell the students directly to be individuals, other than when he told them to write their own poem instead of studying and analyzing poetry, it still was taught to the students and they finally started living their own life, and not the life their parents are making them. Along with that, individualism is also shown when Mr. Keating is walking out of his classroom after he gathered his belongings, and the students started saying “O Captain! My Captain!” and they were not conforming to the boring and not thought provoking class that was being taught. They wanted to have Mr. Keating back and they showed that by not conforming to what the teacher who filled in wanted. All in all, the movie is a great source to find transcendentalist ideas, but one would have to dig just a little bit to find it.
ReplyDeleteThe Dead Poets Society focuses on the idea of transcendentalism throughout the whole film. All these ideas originated in a single isolated place that lead to all of the events that occurred in the movie and that was Prof. Keating’s classroom. He is what helped the students to begin thinking for themselves and using their intuition to find what they wanted in life. This also helped them to learn a life of nonconformity if it was to go out to a party, become a lead role in the school play, or find themselves by reading poetry, helping them to share their individual emotion and show their friends who they really are. Mr. Keating’s style also helped them to feel comfortable through this process because he held his class in a fun open minded way unlike all other uritan like classes that the prep school offered. Keating treated his students as friends and that’s one of the biggest reasons that they were willing to open up to him, if he was like all the other no nonsense teachers in the school his students would never have been as comfortable opening up their many different and unique emotions to him. When Keating first arrived he had a room full of serious and stressed boys sitting straight faced and upright. When he left the school it was a different story, he left a classroom that was filled with a group of boys that were willing to stand up for what they believed in. Even if their actions may lead to consequences it, in most cases, was still worth it if they had the opportunity to be able to speak their mind. If it was not for Mr. Keating coming to the prep school the boys would still have been stuck in the puritanistic thought process and the belief conformity is the way to go.
ReplyDeleteThe idea of Transcendentalism is shown all throughout the movie, Dead Poet’s Society. Not only is the plot about Mr. Keating and how he taught the boys in a Transcendentalist type of way, but poets from that time period are literally featured and many of the boys as well have Transcendentalist characteristics. One boy specifically, is Neil Perry. In the 1950s, when the movie takes place, sexism took a big role in society. Men were supposed to go to school and into the army and women were supposed to stay home and work there. Neil was a kid who went against the “social norm” of what most high school boys did and was involved in the theatre and performing. That was where his passion was and that was he enjoyed doing most. He wanted to do what was best for him and what he loved, putting himself in front of the opinions of others. This itself is very “”Transcendentalist” because Neil put his passion and intuition above the typical routine of going to school to become a doctor or lawyer and then entering the army. However, with any Transcendentalist comes battles and others who will try to bring them down. In Neil’s situation, it was his dad, who believed that men should not be involved with something like theatre and that it was embarrassing for him that his son did this. The struggle of having to deal with the hate from his dad, lead Neil to commit suicide. This was a big turning point in the movie that proves that no matter how invincible you may think someone is, there are still always people who will, or at least try, to bring them down. Neil, however, is just one of the many examples of how Transcendentalism is shown within the movie and his role shows the unfortunate results of what can happen when you decide to stick up for yourself.
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ReplyDeleteThe movie Dead Poet’s Society without a doubt can be connected to transcendentalism. Especially with Mr. Keating and his unusual teaching methods. Main ideas of transcendentalism include having respect for nature, listening to your conscience and not what society has to say, making decisions for yourself and living self- sufficiently, and refusing to conform to society. Mr. Keating presents these ideas in his actions and beliefs that he expresses with his students in class. He shows the class to have a respect for nature and how by taking them outside for a class period. He helps the boys find inspiration and peace within nature. Thoreau found inspiration for his Walden while living self-sufficiently outside in nature. Transcendentalists would often seek inspiration while spending time outside. Also during this class period Mr. Keating helps them realize that being you makes the world more interesting and enjoyable. Mr. Keating also teaches his students that they need to listen to their own conscience and not society. He does this when he encourages Neil Perry to play the lead role in a play even though Neil’s father orders him to quit. Neil begins to feel encouraged to make decisions for himself, another idea of transcendentalism, after he gains approval of acting from Mr. Keating. Transcendentalists were often known for making decisions for themselves like Thoreau did when he wanted to move into the woods to become self-sufficient. After Neil commits suicide Mr. Keating is held responsible because of how greatly he had influenced Neil to stand up for himself. When he returns to his classroom to retrieve some of his personal items the boys shows another idea of transcendentalism. The boys begin to stand on their desks saying “Oh Captain, My Captain”. They are refusing to conform with the rest of the school, their parents, and society.
The film called "Dead Poets Society" communicates the idea of transcendentalism to its viewers in many ways. The movie communicates transcendentalist ideas though many of the characters, but Todd Anderson stuck out from the others. "Dead Poets Society" takes place in a private and extremely strict all-boys boarding school. Todd Anderson was a new student that was on the more quiet side. Anderson was roommates with a former member of the school, and his name was Neil Perry. Neil attempted many times to get Todd to do activities that the boys would take part in (such a study groups), but Todd remained private. Todd was enrolled into Mr. Keating's classroom and began to show transcendentalist ideas. When Mr. Keating introduced the group of boys to a group that he was involved in when he attended the boarding school. The group was called the dead poets society, and Todd encouraged that the boys recreate the group. Also, when Todd was asked to read a piece of his poetry aloud to his class, he became scared and sat back down, but he soon went back up to the front of the class and came up with a beautiful poem on the spot. Lastly, Anderson showed transcendentalist ideas when Mr. Keating was fired. As Keating was leaving, Anderson stood up on his desk and started a chain of boys supporting Mr. Keating.
ReplyDeleteTranscendentalism is an idea that is shown throughout the movie. It is shown in so many ways but very strongly through Mr. Keating and his classroom. Mr. Keating shows the ideas of transcendentalism by showing his students poetry that would make their minds think and remind them of the great ideas some of these thinkers had. He told his class about how nature should be valued, this is an idea of the transcendentalists, and he showed them this by taking them outside during class periods. Doing this was strange to many of his students but it changed the student’s ways of thinking and gave nature a special value to them. Eventually in the movie when Mr. Keating was removed from teaching at the school, his work had finally impacted the students. They had all formed minds of transcendentalists and shared many values with them; they had much different views on life and what they were going to do. A few students even realized that they did not enjoy what they were learning and wanted to have their own ideas and make their own decisions instead of the ones their parents made for them. Mr. Keating's work in the classroom had affected the lives of the students and helped change society at this time. People who were so used to conforming to others and trying to be normal now were challenged themselves to be different and think on their own. At this time the ideas of Mr. Keating were not accepted by the school, parents of the students, or the students at self-first. However, he followed his own idea and that was to share the idea of the transcendentalists. He knew that he was great, and sometimes, "To be great is to be misunderstood". These ideas were shown all throughout “The Dead Poets Society” and it was a very good movie to learn about them.
ReplyDeleteThe concept of Transcendentalism is prevalent throughout the movie, "The dead Poet's Society." one place in which transcendentalism was shown in a particularly strong light was in Mr. Keating's classroom. Mr. Keating stuck out from the rest of the teachers working at this all boy's school; he didn't want his students to learn through books, but to learn through their own selves and become strong independent thinkers. This factor connects to the idea of individualism which is emphasized in transcendentalism. Keating also refers to romantic and transcendentalist poets throughout the film, particularly to the works of Walt Whitman. The student in the movie learned from the words of Whitman and Keating how to, "Suck the marrow out of life," and, "not choke on the bone." As transcendentalism taught people to rise above the materials of life, Keating encouraged his students to learn to think for their own and rise above what standards are held onto them in their lives. Keating inspires his students to try and live their lives to the full capacity. Throughout the movie, Keating's ideas are repressed by the school board because his teaching style is not what they wish their students to be learning from. Keating however, chooses not to pay attention to their standards and he takes his students outdoors and decides to teach them the art of poetry; not with a textbook but through providing them with their own experiences and teaching them in other forms. The classroom of this fictitious teacher in, "Dead Poet's Society", inspires transcendentalist ideas in not only his students, but in all who watch this film.
ReplyDeleteTranscendentalism is very prevalent throughout the whole movie, Dead Poet Society. With the boys and the Dead Poet Society there are many characteristics of transcendentalism. One characteristic is how they go out into nature. Transcendentalism focuses on being out in nature and finding peace. The Dead Poet Society meets in a small cave out in the woods. Another characteristic is how they read and make poetry. When they are in the cave the group reads and quotes famous transcendentalist poets like Thoreau, Emerson, and Whitman. They would also free verse on their own about different things. The group is a bunch of free thinkers. Mr. Keating changed how all of them thought and turned them into people who thought for themselves. Mr. Keating and his class also related to many characteristics of transcendentalism. One characteristic shown from the classroom is nonconformity. Mr. Keating makes a huge point to his class about nonconformity. He wants all of them, as said earlier, to think for themselves. Mr. Keating doesn't want his students to fall in line with society and believe what everybody else thinks. He also wants his students to find a deeper meaning in things. Everyone can see what something means or looks like from the outside, but Mr. Keating wants all of them to look at literature with a deeper meaning. It is more than just words to Mr. Keating. In the movie Mr. Keating also pays no attention to the standards set by the school. He knows what he wants to teach the boys so that they can understand life from a different perspective. Mr. Keating is inspired by famous transcendentalist like Walt Whitman, Henry Thoreau, and Ralph Waldo Emerson. He quotes them often throughout the movie. He uses them as examples for his students to hear about people that lived their life different from others.
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