Завдання на зимову сесію 3

Виконали: студенти 1 курсу, освітнього рівня «Магістр»

гр. 8.0352-2 а-з

спеціальності 035 Філологія

спеціалізації 035.041 Германські мови та літератури

(переклад включно), перша англійська

освітньо-професійної програми

Мова і летаратура (англійська)

Петльова Ольга Тимофіївна

Яценко Надія Герасимівна

Дедюкіна Ольга Костянтинівна

Watch the film “Dead Poets Society” (1989) and fulfill the tasks:

1. Describe the setting in detail.

Set in 1959 at the fictional elite conservative boarding school Welton Academy, it tells the
story of an English teacher who inspires his students through his teaching of poetry.

2. What are the four pillars of the Academy?

The four pillars of Welton Academy are the following: tradition, honor, discipline, and
excellence.

3. Do the boys follow these every day? What is their interpretation of the four pillars?

I think Mr. Keating is interfering with that. He believes that poetry should not follow rules
and teaches his students to follow their hearts and teaches in a fun way.

4. What kind of school is this?

Boarding school.

5. Discuss the meaning of how John Keating introduces himself to the class? What do
you think of his methods of teaching?
Mr. Keating is very non-standard, he inspires students and they listen to him with interest. For
example, he enters the classroom, whistles, calls his students and leaves. This immediately
grabs their attention and they follow it with interest. Also, he asks his students to rip an
introduction out of a collection of poems, telling students what they must learn to think for
themselves. He makes the students realize the they are food for worms.
I was very impressed with his methods. He involves students in the lesson, he teaches them
to be extraordinary, individual. He makes his learning interesting and fun. He shows
students how to get out of the comfort zone, shows how to look at objects from different
angles. Personally, I would like to attend the lesson of such a teacher, because during the
training I would have fun. I like his methods.

6. Speak about Neil’s parents and their relations in the family. How did it influence the
decision of the boy to commit suicide?

Neil's parents wanted him to take his life seriously and force him into medicine, but his
connection to John Keating inspired them to pursue their dream of becoming an actor. Neal's
father's disregard for his son's emotions, feelings, dreams, and goals led him to commit
suicide.

7. What is the Dead Poets’ Society what does it represent?

The film represents the idea that life is one, you need to have your own opinion, achieve your
goals, fight for your dream.

8. What Latin phrase captures part of the theme of this movie?

“Carpe diem” means “seize the day.”

9. How does this phrase change each of the characters (Neil Perry, Todd Andersen,
Charlie Dalton (Nuwanda), and Knox Overstreet)?

Boys become more curious about what is going on around them. They don't want to miss any
opportunity that comes their way. Their attitude changes and they begin to think about what
they want to do with their future. They also begin to question their parents' decisions. This
phrase changes Charlie and makes him make rash decisions, makes Knox take risks, and
helps Todd realize his own potential and become a leader. Knox transforms from an insecure
young man into a passionate, driven poet.

10. Here are several key phrases from the movie. Discuss their meaning:

a) We are food for worms.-Our life is not eternal. Our body is just food for worms at the
end of life. There is no value in material things.
b) The powerful play goes on and you may contribute a verse.-the fact that life exists,
should provide enough drive for us to find purpose to also exist.

c) Only in their dreams can men be truly free. T’was always thus and always thus shall
be. -This quote from Mr Keating shows us that only inside our imaginations we can enjoy
our lives. Hopes and wishes are what really build our true minds and in this stressful society,
where everybody is in a determined position. It was always like this and it will always be like
that. Mr Keating was trying to show his students that is good to dream and wonder about
what you will do in your future.

d) I want you to find your own way to walk.-It means that you have to make you own
decisions in your life to achieve your goals

e) Sucking the merrow out of life does not mean choking on the bone.-Even if you live
your life to the fullest, it doesn't mean you should behave irresponsibly or going overboard.

f) Gather ye rosebuds while ye may-He is advising people to take advantage of life while
they are young.

g) Make your lives extraordinary.-It’s urging the boys to seize the day and make their lives
extraordinary.

11. This movie does not answer any questions. It provides choices. Dwell on the
following:

Would Neil still have eventually committed suicide if Mr. Keating had never
come into his life?

No, I don't think Neal would ever have had the courage to kill himself if he had never met
Mr. Keating. Indeed, if it were not for Mr. Keating, he would probably never have acted in a
local play and discovered how passionate he was about the theatre. He realized that the world
is not worth living if he cannot follow his passion. I think the outcome would have been
different.

Why exactly did Neil take his own life?

Neil commits suicide, believing it is the only way he will be free from a future he doesn't
want.

Could Neil have found another way out of his predicament? Was suicide his only
answer?

I believe that he could find other ways to solve problems other than suicide. He could
independently follow the dream and not obey his parents. He could earn his living playing
roles. Or ask Mr. Keating for help, so that he talks to them and they accept the swords of their
son.

With similarly screwed up parents as Neil's, why didn't Todd take the same way
out?

Neil could find other ways out of his predicament. And Suicide is not the only answer for
him. He can compromise with his father. Instead of insisting on acting only, he can still study
medical at the same time.

Who was really the bravest of Keating's boys?

I believe that Neil was the bravest of the group because he was willing to go against every
instruction he was ever told by his father in order to live his dream.

What happened to the original Dead Poets Society? Why did it cease to exist?

The Dead Poets Society still lives on, in suburban Northern Virginia, in the hearts of eight
beat poet-bodhisattvas who, though separated by many thousands of miles, still meet to drink
coffee by the lake and then, candles, books, cigarettes and hearts in hand, make the way up
the hill from the road into the woods, talking of revolution and poetry.

How did the poetry book make it into Neil's room? Did Keating put it there? And if so,
why, after telling the boys that the present administration would not look favourably on
it, would Keating do that?

I think Mr. Keating did put the poetry book in Neil's room. I also think he put it there even
though he knew that the administration wouldn't like it, he was trying to teach the boys to
think for themselves, and not always do what people tell them to do. I think he knew that Neil
was ready to do things for himself, his father just wouldn't let him. I think that is why he
gave him the book, even though he knew the administration wouldn't like it.

In the initial screenplay, Todd specifically does not sign the paper at the end. In
the movie, we are not told one way or the other. Did Todd sign it or not and why?

I believe, yes Todd did sign it. It was totally against his will but his father made him. It is
another illustartion of the control the parents had over their children in this time period. Todd
did it, but he had no choice, as he says in the end, "they made us sign it".

Dead Poets Society: The Next Day... What happens next? What does the future
hold for Keating and the boys?
However, Knox is suspended prior to this, but they all transfer to a new school and start a
new life without their leader Neil.
 Who really was to blame for Neil’s death?

I believe that there is no one person who is to blame. Keating with his teaching methods,
misunderstood parents and Neil himself are to blame for this. Keating did not take into
account the fact that the boys were in the care of their parents, the parents did not want to
listen to their children, and Neil did not find a better way to solve the problem.

What is the meaning of poetry?

The meaning of poetry is passion. Passion is what we live for.

In the end, risking expulsion, would you have stood? Give your reasons for your
answer.

I hardly resisted risking exile. Rather, I would compromise, do what I love and study where
my parents want. Because not only my desires are important to me, but also my family and
their support.

12. Recollect episodes in which the following poems were used. What is the effect of it?

She Walks In Beauty - Lord Byron

Lord Byron’s ‘She Walks in Beauty Like the Night’ also makes an appearance in the film, as
it does in ‘Dead Poets Society’ starring Robin Williams and Ethan Hawke. It is one of the
poems that Charlie (aka Nuwanda) recites and passes off as his own to the girls he invites to a
meeting of the reformed DPS in a cave. The meaning of She Walks in Beauty is that both
inner and outer beauty are important. Byron also attributes inner beauty to purity and
innocence.

Robin Williams’s character, Mr Keating slightly abridges “O me! O Life!” to explain the
purpose of poetry to his pupils:
Oh me! Oh life! of the questions of these recurring,
Of the endless trains of the faithless, of cities fill’d with the foolish.

The Prophet - Abraham Cowley

I think this reading proves that passion isn't a modern invention, and that despite a poem
being written in the 17th Century, it can still be as relevant three hundred years later.
Cowley's poems are ideal to read aloud, as they have a very natural and fresh feel to them.

O Captain My Captain - Walt Whitman

He uses it when he introduces himself to class. He says that they can call him “O Captain My
Captain” making his students interested.

To the Virgins, Make Much of Time - Robert Herrick

More familiar works include ‘To the Virgins’ by Robert Herrick, whose ‘gather ye rosebuds’
philosophy is the central concept of the film. In “To the Virgins, to Make Much of Time,” a
speaker encourages young women to seize the day and enjoy their youth—and, more
specifically, to have plenty of sex and find a husband while they're young. Mr. Keatling asked
his student to read it on the lesson in hall.

The Road Not Taken - Robert Frost

The Theme Of Our Poem. We think that the theme of the poem, “The Road Not Taken” by
Robert Frost is that everyone can choose where their life goes, and that it is alright to choose
the different path, not just to be different but to stay unique and be yourself.

Sonnet XVIII - William Shakespeare

Sonnet 18 doesn't play as big of a role as some of the other poems in 'The Dead Poet's
Society! But the screenwriter was being sneaky when he
inserted this in to Charlie's dialogue.

13. Choose one of the poems, explain the meaning and prepare to read it aloud in class.

To the Virgins, Make Much of Time - Robert Herrick

More familiar works include ‘To the Virgins’ by Robert Herrick, whose ‘gather ye rosebuds’
philosophy is the central concept of the film. In “To the Virgins, to Make Much of Time,” a
speaker encourages young women to seize the day and enjoy their youth—and, more
specifically, to have plenty of sex and find a husband while they're young. Mr. Keatling asked
his student to read it on the lesson in hall.

Gather ye rose-buds while ye may,

Old Time is still a-flying;
And this same flower that smiles today
Tomorrow will be dying.

The glorious lamp of heaven, the sun,

The higher he’s a-getting,
The sooner will his race be run,
And nearer he’s to setting.

That age is best which is the first,

When youth and blood are warmer;
But being spent, the worse, and worst
Times still succeed the former.

Then be not coy, but use your time,

And while ye may, go marry;
For having lost but once your prime,
You may forever tarry.
Gather ye rosebuds while ye may (Dead poets society)