According To Mr. Keating Why Read Poetry Why Does He Have Them Rip Pages Out Of Their Books

[Hermila Farquhar]

Theformat of this book lends itself to even the youngest student researching and writing. Students can research their own strange animal, or a specific color animal, or even animals from a specific place, and then create a page for a class book. Students can create their own template or you can create one for them.

I love the back of the book as much as you do!! Some of my students will mimic books they read. I have had students create their table of contents and index from their books. I could only imagine what their personal books end up looking like because they use a resource like this.

Dead Poets Society explores the conflict between realism and romanticism as these contrasting ideals are presented to the students at an all boys preparatory school. Welton Academy is founded on tradition and excellence and is bent on providing strict structured lessons prescribed by the realist, anti-youth administration. With the dawning of each new semester, hundreds of parents abandon their sons, leaving them in the tried hands of Welton staff in hopes that they will raise doctors and lawyers. When a replacement English teacher arrives, who happens to be a Welton alumnus, he brings with him a passion for teaching romanticism, thus opening a never-before-seen world to his students.

Amidst these eccentric activities, the students, intrigued with their new teacher, learn that he was a member of the Dead Poets Society. When asked, Keating describes glorious moments of creating gods, but warns them to forget about the idea. Nevertheless, they repeatedly sneak off campus to convene their own version of the Dead Poets Society. Todd is allowed to attend as an exception: since he does not want to read aloud, he keeps minutes of the meetings. Throughout these meetings, each character is able to develop his own romantic or realist nature.

Meeks is the most academically gifted of the boys and; this is certainly his reputation amongst his peers. Though studious and compliant, he is well-liked by the others and is a strong supporter of Mr Keating. Like others, he reluctantly joins the Dead Poets Society but ultimately embraces all that it stands for.

Pitts is an insignificant character but is part of the core group of boys who form the Dead Poets Society. Tall and lanky, he is socially awkward and somewhat withdrawn. Though he is introverted and does not seem to take risks, he rises from his seat at the end of the movie, demonstrating that he clearly respects Mr Keating.

He also uses a wide range of methods to manage his image. He engenders trust through visible self-sacrifice and takes personal risks in the name of his beliefs. He shows great confidence in his followers (the students). He is very persuasive and makes very effective use of body language as well as verbal language.

Mr Keating has a deliberate charisma in a theatrical sense: he makes effective use of storytelling, including the use of symbolism and metaphor. Especially when he talked about The Dead Poets Society for the first time, he described the world of poetry which is linked to passion and aim of life.

As we saw, Mr Keating tends to be a charismatic leader. A number of criteria are relevant to emphasize this theory as his vision, his sensitivity to the environment, to students need, his personal risk taking and his unconventional behaviour.

Mr Nolan can be recognized by how he makes his decision. There is no discussion or the discussion begins with a foregone conclusion. Also, he guides the students with negative motivation that leave them in a bad position. They feel that they are the only ones who disagree and that is why they have to be exiled.

Ultimately, this means that the only way to really oppose Mr Nolan was with the support of a sizable percentage of the group. Mr Nolan will speak of betrayal in this case. Mr Keating would not, as a disagreement is never a betrayal unless there is an expectation of being followed and obeyed.

We observe that the relationship is based on authority. The two characters are quite different: Mr Perry is cold, quiet and he hides his feelings and Neil is full of hopes and dreams with a deep emotional sensitivity.

The last interaction between Neil and his father takes place at home. Mr Perry is desolated, he accuses Neil to have defying him and to have run his life. At this time, we know that Mr Perry would never change his state of mind and will never allow his son to follow his own way.

As we talked about in the characters description, all the students are differentiated by their own actions in the movie. At the beginning they are characterized by being students from the same school then they can be perceived as different individuals.

Also it is really clear that Welton has a conservative spirit and is dedicated to give to the students its traditionalist way of thinking. The school represents tradition and the teaching methods are very established, which is opposed to the innovative and creative way of teaching of Mr Keating.

Honor represents the renown that the school receives by placing a lot of students in elite universities. The institution is well known and prestigious; Mr Nolan has for role to maintain the reputation of the school and to keep high standards. He is only here to watch that the students are taught in a traditional way.

Mr Nolan, model of authority and obedience, represents the traditionalism and the conservatism of Welton: an institution opposed to the individualism of Mr Keating and the Dead Poets Society philosophy.

We can notice at this time that Neil is completely influenced by Mr Keating character and curious about The Dead Poets Society. When he starts reciting poetry, he seems to have discovered a new way of thinking, it is a revelation for him. The words that he pronounces have an echo in himself.

Now the group of students is united by this secret. This intimacy allows them to act on their own, they are using it as a way to know all the things which are forbidden inside the school. They are smoking, drinking, playing music or bringing girls. We can say that they are experimenting the pleasures of life which give a real sense for Keating and which represent the devil for Mr Nolan.

During his very first class session Keating demonstrates that he is not just there to convey academic information, but also to show what students can do with such knowledge in their everyday lives. The first class session is, indeed, not so much a lesson in English literature, but a dramatic philosophical wake-up call.

Then, we will see that Keating will manage to underline his conception of the liberal arts. He told them to not focus only on academic fields but to be interested in what seems at first only secondary importance.

We will see through this part that the vision of Mr Keating is underlining some values, opposed to the traditional Welton values. In this way, his teaching methods appear as unusual (by the standards of the 1950s).

He also goes directly against the academic principles by asking them to tear up the first page of their poetry book which compares poetry with mathematics. For him, a book is not a sacred authority but a tool that ought to be used. He frequently reminds them to think for themselves, and not just to accept passively what teachers or textbooks try to tell them.

Thus, Mr Keating keeps emphasizing his philosophy: determined individualism and non-conformity which is illustrated by the scene he brings the whole class outside the building and makes some of them walk around the yard. This exercise has as a goal to prove a point: the dangers of conformity.

He notices that they are adjusting their steps to those of the other students and that the walk turns into a strident march. He demonstrates them the difficulty in maintaining their own beliefs in the face of others and explains that their beliefs are unique.

The reason why Mr Keating inspired most of his students is because he helps them to express their potential for enthusiasm and feeling, their non rational faculties. He mobilized their primal and natural capacities first, and only then their theoretical intellect. While other teachers enforced learning by imposed discipline and rote, Keating managed to turn knowledge into something they desired-by connecting it to their primal interests.

Mr Keating poetry became a passionate way of experiencing the world and seizing the day. Mr Keating succeeded in bringing his students to life because he trusted his wild intuition more than the established routines of traditional learning.

This movie is relevant concerning some of the leadership theories. As we analyzed, it gives clear descriptions of the charismatic and the authoritarian styles which are well represented by Mr Keating and Mr Nolan characters.

The movie is also a cinematographic example of using symbolism and metaphors to support the message. For example, during the first speech of Mr Nolan, the camera angle is directed up adding to the authoritarian image of the character.

For example, in a military context the only acceptable style would be the authoritarian leadership style. As the decisions need to be taken quickly and need to be pass down without rebottle. In this situation, charismatic leadership might not suffice.

Another important part of the analysis was about the followers. As we know, there is no leadership without followers. Another point where the movie is too rigid with its characters: the students followers are too intend on following who ever gives the initiative to lead. We saw few times that most of them were influenced or by Mr Keating or by Mr Nolan and if they would change their mind, it would be a 100%.

Bill Beattie once said, The aim of education should be to teach us how to think rather than what to think rather to improve our minds, so as to enable us to think for ourselves, than to load the memory with thoughts of other men. All too often, however, individual thoughts are crushed by the powerful weight of conformity. In the film Dead Poets Society, conformity exercises it s influence and the results prove disastrous for some. For others, the effect of conformity compels them towards individual strength and the discovery of one s true self.

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