analytical essay dead poets society

Essay about Dead Poets Society: Film Analysis

Anyone can prepare themselves to become a stronger writer. It takes practice and self motivation to proceed in the process to get better. It’s not easy, but with determination it can be accomplished. In the film, Dead Poets Society, a new English teacher, John Keating, uses atypical methods of teaching to reach out to his students at an all-boys preparatory academy. Through his lessons, his students learned to overcome the pressures from their families and school and tried to pursue their dreams.

In “Part 3” of Cal Newport’s, How to Become A Straight-A Student, Newport provides tips on how students can prepare themselves to write powerful essays. The film can translate well into the book written by Newport because students can use the themes presented in the movie to help them overcome obstacles in the writing process. Writing has roadblocks like life, we have to conquer it to improve. While the objective from Dead Poet’s Society differs from “Part 3” of Cal Newport’s, How to Become a Straight-A Student, it can be implied that the power to becoming a strong writer is to overcome obstacles.

Sometimes it’s hard to keep an open mind for new ideas, but exploring and discovering different perspectives can help benefit the grade you receive on your paper. It will spark the audience’s interest because of the engagement of a divergent outlook. In the film, Keating says, “I stand upon my desk to remind myself… that we must constantly look at things in a different way. The world looks very different from up here… Just when you think you know something you have to look at it in another way… When you read, don’t just consider what the author thinks, you must consider what you think” (Weir, Dead Poets Society).

He stands on the desk to emphasis how looking at things from another viewpoint can change a person’s perspective. There isn’t only one way to look at ideas and objects. For your paper, try and find a unique perspective of your own and write your thesis. If you need help, don’t be afraid to ask. Sometimes a seed is needed to help you get started. Ask for opinions from your friends and professors. As stated in the text, “[They] will help you identify pieces of your structure that are unclear or unnecessary” (Newport 185). A perspective can be compared to a thesis.

It will change and evolve as you continue in the paper-writing process (Newport 157). It’s inevitable, just like how it’s inevitable for perspectives to stay the same. Don’t wait too long to get started, find your own standpoint and just write your thesis. Your thoughts matter. Once a standpoint is found, your voice needs to be heard. Building up the courage to express oneself through words will be beneficial and helpful in the process of becoming a strong writer. In the film, Keating is teaching his students that they do not need to be resigned to what the author thinks.

He tells his students, “You must strive to find your own voice. Because the longer you wait to begin, the less likely you are to find it all” (Weir, Dead Poets Society). This quote conveys that it’s best not to wait too long to find the courage to find your own voice and express it. This is similar to “Part 3” when Newport quotes a straight-A student saying, “I don’t believe in sitting in front of a blank screen and just starting to write, hoping it will come to you” (Newport 141). Waiting for ideas to come to you will waste your time.

You have to do whatever it is necessary to get the creative juices flowing. To become a powerful writer, a student must prepare to present their ideas in their own voice. You don’t get better overnight. Newport writes, “the hard truth is that the only way to get better at organizing and presenting your thoughts is through practice” (Newport 175). You get better as you practice. Writing may be intimidating, but taking the time to practice can help you improve. Making the most of the present time can help your paper become extraordinary.

In the film, on the first day of class, Keating takes his students out to have their lesson in the hallway, instructing them to observe the pictures on display because, even though they’ve passed it many times, they haven’t really looked at it. He tells his students, “Seize the day boys, make your lives extraordinary” (Weir, Dead Poets Society). His message was to make the most of their lives, leave behind a legacy, because eventually death will come. When you are writing, you should limit your distractions and focus on the task at hand.

Making the most of your time will result in more work being completed. In “Part 3,” Newport states, “The key to effective paper writing is breaking down tasks into manageable units” (Newport 144). He is conveying that breaking down the writing process will be more organized and efficient than rushing to get it done. Once you’re done with the draft of your paper, come back to the thesis. “Don’t be afraid to leave room for ambiguity” (Newport 157). Be vague with the thesis. In life, students may not know how to become extraordinary and it’s okay to not know.

There is a broad list of opportunities. They will get there, but they have to take the steps towards that goal or find a way to get there. Writing a great paper doesn’t come to a person all at once, creating productive steps can help get to that level of work. However, if steps are made and there is no time being spent to complete them, it’s useless. Use your time wisely and your paper can become extraordinary. You don’t need to be a superhero to become a strong writer. The power is already in you, you have to find it and bring it out.

Don’t be afraid to think outside the box for ideas, it will help bring attention to your paper. Once your ideas are found, use your own voice to express it in your writing. You don’t have to be resigned to a certain way of thinking. Make sure to spend time on writing your paper. Ideas will only be ideas if you don’t do the work. It may seem impossible to write an amazing paper right off the bat, but make it possible by practicing. You become a strong writer as you overcome the roadblocks. It’s only impossible if you don’t make it possible.

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Dead Poets Society

53 pages • 1 hour read

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Summary and Study Guide

Introduction

N. H. Kleinbaum’s Dead Poets Society is a 1989 novel based on the motion picture written by Tom Schulman. The novel was released as a companion piece to the wildly popular film—also titled Dead Poets Society and released in 1989— which starred famous actors such as Robin Williams as Mr. Keating, and Ethan Hawke as Todd Anderson . The film scored high with critics, winning the Oscar in 1990 for Best Original Screenplay and receiving nominations for Best Picture, Best Actor (Williams), and Best Director (Peter Weir).

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The novel, like the film, follows a group of boys at an isolated preparatory school in Vermont, where excellence and uniformity are not just expected but commanded of them. Their worlds are changed when the new English teacher, Mr. Keating, arrives, bringing with him his unconventional methods of instruction. He teaches the boys to seize the day and make their lives extraordinary.

This guide is based on the original 1989 Hyperion copy of the novel, published for Touchstone Pictures.

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Content Warning: This book contains references to death by suicide and sexual assault, and uses outdated and culturally appropriative terminology that is reproduced only in direct quotes. 

Plot Summary

Tucked away in the hills of Vermont is a preparatory school designed to produce some of America’s best and brightest young male students: Welton Academy . The novel begins at the start of the fall term, when newcomer Todd Anderson is being inducted into the school. Todd is shy and fearful, always walking unnoticed in the shadow of his older brother, a legacy student at Welton. Other characters introduced in the convocation ceremony are future lawyer Knox Overstreet and future banker Charlie Dalton , both of whom are following in their fathers’ respective footsteps. Neil Perry , whose family is less wealthy than the others at Welton, is also present with his father, who is ever hard to please. Finally, the headmaster introduces the students and their parents to Welton’s newest addition to their staff: Mr. John Keating , the new English teacher.

Todd is set to room with Neil, a popular boy who is involved with several extracurriculars, including the school paper. While Todd is settling in, a number of Neil’s friends drop by and introduce themselves. Amidst the excitement, Neil’s father, Mr. Perry , enters and asks to speak with Neil. He tells him that he worries Neil is overloaded with extracurriculars and demands that he resign from the school paper. Neil begins to argue back, since he is the editor, but his father won’t hear any more of it, and Neil concedes. Neil’s friends tease him for being a pushover, but he reminds them that they all act the same way with their own fathers.

Welton (nicknamed “Hellton” by the students) proves to be even more challenging than Todd expected, and he finds himself struggling to keep up with the high expectations the school sets for its students. The teachers in Latin, trig, and other subjects begin the semester with mountains of homework assignments. It isn’t until the boys find themselves in Mr. Keating’s class that they feel they can breathe for a moment.

Mr. Keating, a young man in his thirties, sits in the classroom, staring out the window. Finally, he introduces himself and asks to either be addressed as Mr. Keating, or “O Captain! My Captain!”, in reference to the Walt Whitman poem. Then, he gets up and leads the boys to a hallway that is lined with photographs of students from the past several decades. He asks them to lean in closer and see that they aren’t much different from the students at Welton today. He asks them to consider how many of them actually followed their dreams and how many followed the path life seemed to have carved out for them. He encourages the boys to remember a particular Latin phrase: “carpe diem,” which translates to “seize the day.”

That night, Knox has to decline the boys’ offer to have a group study session. He has been instructed to have dinner with the Danburrys, his father’s friends. Knox initially dreads the appointment, but his attitude changes when he is greeted at the door by a beautiful girl named Chris. Knox is immediately enraptured with the pretty cheerleader but is crushed to discover that she is dating Chet Danburry, the son of his father’s friends. He returns to the boys that night with the tragic news: He’s met the most beautiful girl, but she’s taken.

The following morning, Mr. Keating’s class again proves to be unconventional. Mr. Keating asks his students to read the introduction to their assigned poetry book aloud. The introduction, authored by Dr. J. Evan Pritchard, claims that poetry can be ranked in a type of mathematical scale, one that accounts for a poem’s technical skill and its importance to the world at large. After deducting these two figures, one will arrive at a measurement of a poem’s greatness. Mr. Keating, after demonstrating this graph, turns to the class and declares the entire formula to be absurd. This is no such way to measure a poem’s greatness, as if a thing could be measured at all.

He commands his students to rip out the entire introduction and throw it away. They will be studying poetry differently in this class, and have no need for Dr. J. Evan Pritchard. The boys are hesitant at first, unsure of why they could be asked to destroy the book. Eventually, one by one, they rip the pages gleefully. They lean on the edge of their seats as Mr. Keating talks about the beauty and romance of poetry—both of which are essential to their understanding as members of the human race.

In the dining hall later that day, Mr. Keating is joined at his table by McAllister, the Scottish Latin teacher. McAllister inquires about the odd scene he happened to witness earlier that morning: He had seen the students ripping out the introduction to the book. He warns Mr. Keating against encouraging the boys to be artists. Mr. Keating replies that he isn’t trying to create artists but free thinkers. McAllister scoffs slightly at the idea but overall is charmed by Keating’s enthusiasm and lets the topic rest.

Meanwhile, Neil has found something of interest at his own lunch table. He shows the boys a school annual from the year Mr. Keating graduated. Under his picture, he is listed as the founder of the Dead Poets Society. After lunch, they follow Mr. Keating outside and ask him what the Dead Poets Society was. Mr. Keating tells them it was a group of boys who met in an old cave near the school grounds and took turns reading poetry aloud.

When they return to their dorms, Neil finds an old book of poems on his desk, presumably left there by Mr. Keating, with an inscription next to a Henry David Thoreau quote, saying that this was to be read at the first meeting of the Dead Poets Society. Neil gathers a group of boys and gets them to agree to meet in the cave that night and bring back the Dead Poets Society. The group consists of Knox, Charlie, and three other boys: Cameron (albeit unwillingly at first, for he is afraid to break the rules), Pitts, and Meeks.

Finally, Neil asks Todd to join. Todd tells Neil he can’t because he’s too afraid to speak in front of the others, and the whole point of the Society is for them to take turns reading aloud to each other. Neil leaves to ask the others if Todd can listen instead and still be involved. His request is granted, and Todd is in the club. They plan to leave that night and sneak out for the cave.

As the Dead Poets Society continues to meet, reading poems and confessing secrets, and Mr. Keating continues to teach against the dangers of conformity, the boys slowly begin to find their own voices. They grow brave in their pursuit of what they want: Neil discovers his passion for acting, auditioning for and landing the role of Puck in the local production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream , and Knox grows more courageous in his attempts to woo Chris. Todd, who the whole time has feared public speaking more than anything, is pulled in front of Mr. Keating’s class to create a poem on the spot, and his words leave his classmates speechless. The friendship between the boys grows, and they discover they have dreams, ideas, and words to share with the world beyond what they’ve been conditioned to contribute by their fathers and the professors at Welton.

Eventually, Mr. Perry discovers that Neil is in the play and that he faked a permission slip from himself and Headmaster Nolan to participate. He tells his son that he must drop the show immediately. Neil visits Mr. Keating to tell him of his problem. He confides in his teacher that he feels trapped by his father’s expectations and isn’t sure how to move forward. Mr. Keating encourages Neil to tell Mr. Perry what he just told Mr. Keating: that his passion for acting is more than a hobby and he wants to pursue it. Neil agrees to think on it. When Mr. Keating asks him later if he followed up with his father, Neil lies and says that Mr. Perry was angry but agreed to let him remain in the production.

Meanwhile, Knox rides his bike to Chris’s school and delivers a love poem to her in front of her entire class. She shows up the night of Neil’s play at Welton to warn Knox that her boyfriend is furious and that he needs to stay away from her for his own safety. As it happens, Chris is on her way to the play as well, alone, and Knox convinces her to come with him. He promises one night to spend time together, and if she still doesn’t want to see him again, he will leave her alone for good. She agrees, and the two of them sit together in the auditorium.

Neil performs beautifully, and all of his friends are in the audience to cheer for him. An unexpected audience member arrives toward the end of the show: Mr. Perry. Neil sees him in the crowd but continues his final speech. Afterward, Mr. Perry takes Neil home, leaving the boys and Mr. Keating confused and worried for Neil.

At home, Mr. Perry informs Neil that he will be withdrawn from Welton and shipped off to military school for the remainder of his high school years. From there he will go to pre-med and medical school, a total of 10 years of his life that will be spent studying something Neil doesn’t want to do. Mr. Perry reminds Neil that he has no say in the matter and that he and his mother are counting on Neil to be successful and wealthy. Without another word, the family goes to bed.

That night, feeling like there is no way out of his situation, Neil sneaks down the stairs into his father’s study, where a pistol is locked in the desk drawer. He puts on the crown he wore as Puck, points the gun at himself, and fires. His parents awaken to the noise and rush down the stairs to find their son, dead on the floor of the study.

Back at Welton, the boys wake Todd up from his sleep to deliver the news. Todd wretches from grief, and the boys cling to each other as they mourn their friend. Todd blames Mr. Perry, saying Neil would never have done it if Mr. Perry hadn’t pressured him as much. Neil’s death launches a school-wide investigation, with the blame ultimately falling on Mr. Keating and the Dead Poets Society. Schools close because of situations like this, and Headmaster Nolan needs a scapegoat. The easiest target is the teacher who has been giving the boys the courage to find their own voice .

Cameron, a rule-follower at heart, is the first to confess. Charlie, disgusted and angered by Cameron’s betrayal, punches him square in the face. Cameron looks around at his friends and tells them that if they don’t confess, they risk expulsion. Mr. Keating will be fired either way, but they can still save themselves. One by one, the Dead Poets are called in to talk about their experience in Mr. Keating’s class and what happened in the cave. Only Charlie refuses to speak, and is expelled immediately. Finally, Todd is called into Mr. Nolan’s office. There, his parents are waiting for him, and there is a contract detailing what happened that has been signed by the Dead Poets (with the exception of Charlie). Todd begs his parents not to make him sign, but eventually he is forced to comply.

The next day, Headmaster Nolan takes over for Mr. Keating in poetry class. He decides that it would be best to start over, so he tells the boys to read aloud from the introduction. They tell him that the pages have all been ripped out. Frustrated, Headmaster Nolan plops his own copy of the book before one of the students and forces him to read. At that time, Mr. Keating appears to gather his belongings. Headmaster Nolan tells him to go ahead. The room is morose as they watch their beloved teacher pack up his materials.

As Mr. Keating is walking out of the room, Todd stands up and shouts for him to wait. He tells him that they were all forced to sign the papers and they know it wasn’t his fault that Neil died. Headmaster Nolan commands Todd to sit back down. However, in a moment of final defiance, Todd instead stands on his desk and faces Mr. Keating. Knox joins, and Pitts, and Meeks. Eventually, nearly half of the class (even those who weren’t in the Dead Poets Society) all stand on their desks as a salute to Mr. Keating: an alliance with the man who changed their lives. Mr. Keating smiles back at them and thanks them. Though they may never cross paths again, none of them will forget the man who allowed them to, for once in their life, think for themselves.

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"Dead Poets Society" is a collection of pious platitudes masquerading as a courageous stand in favor of something: doing your own thing, I think. It's about an inspirational, unconventional English teacher and his students at "the best prep school in America" and how he challenges them to question conventional views by such techniques as standing on their desks. It is, of course, inevitable that the brilliant teacher will eventually be fired from the school, and when his students stood on their desks to protest his dismissal, I was so moved, I wanted to throw up.

Peter Weir's film makes much noise about poetry, and there are brief quotations from Tennyson, Herrick, Whitman and even Vachel Lindsay, as well as a brave excursion into prose that takes us as far as Thoreau's Walden. None of these writers are studied, however, in a spirit that would lend respect to their language; they're simply plundered for slogans to exort the students toward more personal freedom. At the end of a great teacher's course in poetry, the students would love poetry; at the end of this teacher's semester, all they really love is the teacher.

The movie stars Robin Williams as the mercurial John Keating, teacher of English at the exclusive Welton Academy in Vermont. The performance is a delicate balancing act between restraint and schtick.

For much of the time, Williams does a good job of playing an intelligent, quick-witted, well-read young man. But then there are scenes in which his stage persona punctures the character - as when he does impressions of Marlon Brando and John Wayne doing Shakespeare.

There is also a curious lack of depth to his character compared with such other great movie teachers as Miss Jean Brodie and Professor Kingsfield. Keating is more of a plot device than a human being.

The story is also old stuff, recycled out of the novel and movie " A Separate Peace " and other stories in which the good die young and the old simmer in their neurotic and hateful repressions. The key conflict in the movie is between Neil ( Robert Sean Leonard ), a student who dreams of being an actor, and his father ( Kurtwood Smith ), who orders his son to become a doctor and forbids him to go onstage. The father is a strict, unyielding taskmaster, and the son, lacking the will to defy him, kills himself. His death would have had a greater impact for me if it had seemed like a spontaneous human cry of despair, rather than like a meticulously written and photographed set piece.

Other elements in the movie also seem to have been chosen for their place in the artificial jigsaw puzzle. A teenage romance between one of the Welton students and a local girl is given so little screen time, so arbitrarily, that it seems like a distraction. And I squirmed through the meetings of the "Dead Poets Society," a self-consciously bohemian group of students who hold secret meetings in the dead of night in a cave near the campus.

The society was founded by Keating when he was an undergraduate, but in its reincarnate form it never generates any sense of mystery, rebellion or daring. The society's meetings have been badly written and are dramatically shapeless, featuring a dance line to Lindsay's "The Congo" and various attempts to impress girls with random lines of poetry. The movie is set in 1959, but none of these would-be bohemians have heard of Kerouac, Ginsberg or indeed of the beatnik movement.

One scene in particular indicates the distance between the movie's manipulative instincts and what it claims to be about. When Keating is being railroaded by the school administration (which makes him the scapegoat for his student's suicide), one of the students acts as a fink and tells the old fogies what they want to hear. Later, confronted by his peers, he makes a hateful speech of which not one word is plausible except as an awkward attempt to supply him with a villain's dialogue. Then one of the other boys hits him in the jaw, to great applause from the audience. The whole scene is utterly false and seems to exist only so that the violence can resolve a situation that the screenplay is otherwise unwilling to handle.

"Dead Poets Society" is not the worst of the countless recent movies about good kids and hidebound, authoritatian older people. It may, however, be the most shameless in its attempt to pander to an adolescent audience. The movie pays lip service to qualities and values that, on the evidence of the screenplay itself, it is cheerfully willing to abandon. If you are going to evoke Henry David Thoreau as the patron saint of your movie, then you had better make a movie he would have admired. Here is one of my favorite sentences from Thoreau's Walden, which I recommend for serious study by the authors of this film: " . . . instead of studying how to make it worth men's while to buy my baskets, I studied rather how to avoid the necessity of selling them." Think about it.

Roger Ebert

Roger Ebert was the film critic of the Chicago Sun-Times from 1967 until his death in 2013. In 1975, he won the Pulitzer Prize for distinguished criticism.

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Film Credits

Dead Poets Society (1989)

130 minutes

Josh Charles as Knox Overstreet

Dylan Kussman as Richard Cameron

Robert Sean Leonard as Neil Perry

Robin Williams as John Keating

Gale Hansen as Charlie Dalton

Ethan Hawke as Todd Anderson

Directed by

• Tom Schulman

Photography by

Produced by.

• Steven Haft
• Tony Thomas
• Paul Junger Witt
• Maurice Jarre
• William Anderson

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Dead Poets Society

By peter weir, dead poets society themes.

The first and arguably most important of the four Welton pillars, Welton prides itself on its adherence to tradition. This is evident in the first scene in the film, when the older man in the procession passes the flame of his candle to the young boy in the first row, who passes his flame onto the boy beside him, and so on. Welton’s emphasis on tradition comes into conflict with Mr. Keating ’s unconventional lessons and teaching methods, which by their unorthodox nature are inherently opposed to Welton’s traditional values. This conflict reaches a peak when Neil’s dreams of pursuing a less traditional career path, stoked by Keating’s influence, are shattered.

Another of the Welton pillars, the threat of discipline is present in every aspect of the boys’ lives. Punishment for being out of your bedroom after hours or even speaking during study time looms above their heads, and venturing beyond the school’s campus to meet in secret is a violation of school rules and is subject to significant punishment, possibly even expulsion. That the boys choose to form the Dead Poets’ Society anyway speaks to their disregard for the threat of discipline, even though it comes back to bite them once Charlie publishes an article advocating that girls be admitted to Welton.

Freedom of Choice

The boys come up against many potential conflicts with regard to the choices placed before them: Knox must decide whether or not pursue Chris’ affection despite her commitment to Chet; many of the boys, including Todd, must choose whether or not to form the Dead Poets’ Society at all; and Neil must choose whether his love of acting is worth going behind his father’s back. Ultimately, it is when their freedom to choose is taken from them that the boys are the most miserable, particularly in the form of Neil being forced to withdraw from Welton, and the boys having to sign a document implicating Keating in Neil’s suicide.

Coming of Age

As teenagers in secondary school, the main group of boys experience a range of coming-of-age events that run the spectrum from the innocent to the downright tragic. Among the more light-hearted of them would be Knox’s pursuit of Chris Noel’s affection, likely the first girl he’s engaged with in a significant romantic way given how infrequently the boys are able to meet girls. Knox discovers the trials and tribulations of attempting to woo a woman, particularly one already involved in a decidedly unhealthy relationship with a jerk like Chet. On the darker end, the boys deal with the hardship of suicide and the mourning that accompanies it when Neil takes his own life, a form of maturation that only tragedy can elicit.

Carpe Diem: "Seize the Day"

One of Keating’s main, overarching lessons for the boys is the idea of “seizing the day”—that is, making the most of the time they have now and taking advantage of the opportunities available in order to realize their goals. This comes in many forms for the boys: Knox successfully calling up Chris and getting invited to a party; Neil auditioning for and landing a prominent role in “A Midsummer Night’s Dream.” One could argue that it’s the lesson that stays with the boys most, and the one that the administration is least happy to see the boys embracing.

Going hand-in-hand with the theme of discipline, the boys are only able to form the Dead Poets’ Society by engaging in a bit of rebellion—and in the context of Welton’s strict rules, some pretty consequential rebellion at that. Many of the main characters, like Charlie and Neil, are introduced as being prone to a certain level of rebellion from the film’s beginning, as with their vulgar reinterpretation of the school’s four pillars. Others must work their way up to the idea, like Cameron, Knox, and Todd, who initially hesitate at the idea of forming the Society.

Individuality

Keating places a particular emphasis on helping the boys to find their own individuality. This come in many forms: he asks them to compose original poetry, sparking an intense episode in which he teaches Todd the power of invoking one’s inner passion in front of the whole class. He also teaches the boys Robert Frost’s “Two roads diverged in a yellow wood” through his exercise in which each boy must find their own way to walk. This search for individuality is met with harsh opposition and criticism by the more conservative and traditionalist members of Welton’s faculty.

Dead Poets Society Questions and Answers

The Question and Answer section for Dead Poets Society is a great resource to ask questions, find answers, and discuss the novel.

What’s the theme of dead poets society rip it out

Do you mean the scene where Keeting asks his class to rip out the Pritchard text? He wants them to avoid conformity by ripping a text that treats poetry like a math equation.

Explore Keating's influence on his students and how his encouragement of originality and "carpe diem" affect them.

I can't write your essay for you but can make a general comment. One of Keating’s main, overarching lessons for the boys is the idea of “seizing the day”—that is, making the most of the time they have now and taking advantage of the opportunities...

According to Pitts, all of the girls go for “jerks”. Do you agree with his assessment? Why or why not?

Well, this is a pretty subjective answer from personal experience. Many many years ago I was captain of the chess team in high school. Lets just say girls were not clamouring to wear my jacket. The hockey players,they used to throw pucks at our...

Study Guide for Dead Poets Society

Dead Poets Society study guide contains a biography of director Peter Weir, quiz questions, major themes, characters, and a full summary and analysis.

• About Dead Poets Society
• Dead Poets Society Summary
• Character List
• Director's Influence

Essays for Dead Poets Society

Dead Poets Society literature essays are academic essays for citation. These papers were written primarily by students and provide critical analysis of the film Dead Poets Society directed by Peter Weir.

• Authority Against Individualism: Dead Poets Society and The Rabbits
• Dead Poets Society: The Powerful Thought of Individuality
• Identity in Dead Poets Society and Frost's Poetry
• Exploring Transitions: Educating Rita and Dead Poets Society

Wikipedia Entries for Dead Poets Society

• Introduction

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Dead Poets Society: Characters' Analysis

• Category Literature , Entertainment
• Subcategory Movies
• Topic Character , Dead Poets Society , Film Analysis

The movie “Dead Poets Society” is set in the United States in 1959, at the traditional Welton Academy, a university which is very strict and whose students come from the upper class.

To start with Mr. Nolan, the headmaster represents the traditional, authoritarian leader. What he says in the movie revolves around the core values of tradition, honour, discipline and excellence, which are the values of the university itself. His speeches focus on the prestige of the school and the responsibilities that come with being a student at Welton Academy.

Our writers can write you a new plagiarism-free essay on any topic

The ceremony he leads at the beginning of the year is conventional and leaves no room for imagination. Students are not given freedom. They are not given any opportunity to say anything. Mr. Nolan is the type of leader who does not involve his students or care for anything beyond the school curriculum that might be of interest to the boys. He makes no comments regarding Neil’s (a student) passion for acting, apparently ignoring the real cause of Neil’s later suicide, and has no awareness of Todd’s own emotional conflict when he decidedly tells him to live up to his brother’s status.1

Thus, Mr. Nolan puts a lot of pressure on his students and invokes the past in an attempt to encourage the students to live up to the tradition: “You have some big shoes to fill. Your brother was one of our finest,” he communicates to Todd. In doing this, he again leaves no room for change, or for the growth of the students as free individuals with unique personalities.

Authority is one of the key concepts of his leadership methods. Nolan is a very rigid figure, and has no sense of humour. Moreover, he resorts to the traditional method in doing so: he beats him with a paddle. When the article that Charlie writes for the school journal comes out, Mr. Nolan’s only purpose becomes to find the culprit, thus the focus is on the student who has challenged his authority. His speech is not about justice being done, but about the guilty person being found by him.

After Neil’s suicide, Mr. Nolan’s authority is again in danger of being subverted. He tries to save his reputation by threatening to find the guilty person, and in the end he finds a scapegoat in Mr. Keating.

Mr. Nolan falls into the category of “autocratic leadership”, according to Kurt Lewin’s approach, described in Kendra Cherry’s article. This style implies that the leader takes the decisions and the members of the group (in this case, the students) are not given any freedom. According to Daniel Goleman, Mr. Nolan’s style is “coercive”, and he argues that the main fallacy with this style is that it “undermines one of the leader’s prime tools—motivating people” (2000). As a result, the students’ attitude towards Mr. Nolan is of refusal to cooperate, unless they are threatened. In the end, the students are forced to sign a document against Mr. Keating’s teaching methods, but only when they risk being expelled. However, they refuse to collaborate when there is no danger of being punished. When Mr. Nolan asks them to give the name of the students who wrote the article in the school journal, they keep the secret and eventually Charlie gives himself away.

On the other hand, John Keating, a recently appointed English professor is everything that Mr. Nolan is not. He has charisma, humour and inspires his students. Against the conservative background of the university, professor John Keating becomes one of the most remarkable figures at Welton. His non-traditional teaching methods, together with his passion, his charismatic personality and the genuine care for his students, make him stand out from the rest of the members of the school committee, and thus he becomes a favourite amongst the students, the leader of a group of students whom he does not control, but inspire. Mr. Keating’s opponent is Mr. Nolan, the headmaster, who represents precisely what Mr. Keating does not: authority and tradition. John Keating and Mr. Nolan represent two different types of leaders with different teaching methods and core values.

Keating is a leader in the sense that he brings his students together. He does this by having a vision and by creating values that go hand in hand with his vision. He manages to keep the group together and focused. Even when one of the students writes a bad poem, he does not assume a superior attitude: “We’re not laughing at you; we’re laughing near you,” he tells the student. The best scene in the movie for exemplifying togetherness is perhaps the moment when the boys find out about the “Dead Poets Society” group meetings that Mr. Keating used to organize when he was younger and they decide to do the same.

Mr. Keating is a visionary. He has a clear vision, which he infuses into his students. “No matter what anybody tells you, words and ideas can change the world,” Keeting tells his students. This, together with “carpe diem” i.e. seize the day, are his mottos, and become the mottos of his students as well. Under his influence and guidance, Neil follows his passion for acting and is supported in taking up his first role in a play. Knox decides to make a move and call Chris, the girl he fancies. He convinces even the shy Todd to overcome his fear of speaking in public.

John Keating is also a value creator. He stands for making the most out of life, taking risks and not missing whatever opportunities life throws in one’s way. Focusing on a few key values makes the vision clear and well-defined: “If you make it your goal to be a value creator, then it becomes an instinct […] it’s clarifying, and if you can focus on that, it is the way to win”. This acts as a shortcut to the students’ own personalities. Every student feels he can identify himself with Mr. Keating, and this strengthens the team spirit in the group and the group dynamics.

He establishes his authority by having the students call him “captain” right from the beginning, and takes this word from Walt Whitman’s poem, “O Captain! My Captain!”. Therefore, he makes use of a historical reference in order to gain prestige.

There are some other creative methods he uses in order to gain the students’ respect and a certain amount of power over them. When he enters the class for the first time, there is an air of composure in his attitude, which the students do not expect. He enters the class while whistling and asks the students to leave the class and follow him. Then he tells them that he had been a student of “Hellton” too, thereby establishing a democratic relationship of equality with his students that he is one of them, and he calls “Welton” as “Helton” as the students do in private. Afterwards, he shows them photos of Welton graduate students that are no longer alive, encouraging the students to “seize the day”: “You see, gentlemen, these boys are now fertilizing daffodils. But if you listen real close… you can hear them whisper their legacy to you.” Then he asks the students to go closer to the photos and whispers in their ears “carpe diem”. He ends the class with telling the students to “make their lives extraordinary”.

John Keating’s discourse often includes the future; he invites the boys to think about what they could be. However, Mr McAllister warns him against his methods: “You take a big risk by encouraging them to become artists”. Neil takes his acting career too seriously and suffers deeply when he realises that change cannot come immediately. In the end, his leadership style has its drawbacks, just like any other style.

Every class of Mr. Keating’s becomes a show he stages. He creates “compelling spectacles” with every class he holds. During the next class, he tells his students to read the definition of poetry from their books, and then, unpredictably, tells them his opinion about it and uses humour to fully make his point and tells the boys to rip out the page from the book, involving them in the show. “Gentlemen, tell you what. Don’t just tear out that page. Tear out the entire introduction,” he says adding to the drama.

In another scene, he asks the students to gather round him and tells them his meaning of poetry which goes like “We don’t read and write poetry because it’s cute. We read and write poetry because we are members of the human race… poetry, beauty, romance love — these are what we stay alive for.” Then he gives them his definition of the meaning of life: “That the powerful play goes on and you may contribute a verse”. By this, he shifts the focus from him to the students and appeals to their own visions of the future.

Yet another scene shows that Mr. Keating climbs on his desk and asks the boys why he does this. “I stand upon my desk to remind myself that we must constantly look at things in a different way,” is his answer. By doing so, he also asserts his authority in a less obvious way. However, later on he invites his students to do the same, therefore equality is once again established between the professor and the students. This is also another example of how he stages his own play during his classes and how everybody else gets to have a part in the play.

One of the most important concepts in discussing leadership is emotional intelligence, which represents “the abilities to recognize and regulate emotions in ourselves and in others” (Goleman 2001, 2). Mr. Keating shows “intrapersonal intelligence”, the ability to manage oneself. He knows he wants to teach. After seeing a photo of Mr. Keating’s wife, Neil asks the professor how he stands being away from her. Mr. Keating’s answer shows that he can manage himself and that he knows what he wants: “Because I love teaching. I don’t want to be anywhere else”. Mr. Keating is also honest, and takes responsibility for his actions. He accepts leaving Welton Academy without protesting.

Other traits described by Goleman that can be applied are the ability to adapt to new situations — the audience can infer that Mr. Keating has adapted himself easily to the new working medium at Welton Academy. During the classes, he is a creative and a flexible professor. He replies to his students with funny remarks that are made up on the spur of the moment. When Charlie refuses to walk in an exercise that was meant to demonstrate the “dangers of conformity”, Mr. Keating shows flexibility: “Thank you, Mr. Dalton. Just illustrated the point. Swim against the stream”.

Mr. Keating’s personality makes him a charismatic leader. He uses his humour to mobilize his students. He also chooses to make witty and humorous remarks instead of criticizing his students in a direct manner: “Congratulations, Mr Hopkins. Yours is the first poem to ever have a negative score on the Pritchard scale”.

Mr. Keating is driven by motivation and commitment. He continuously tries to bring out the most of his students. He supports Neil with his acting career, proving that he genuinely cares for his students. He continues with his non-traditional methods despite being warned by other members of the school committee and despite the risk of being fired for the same.

In terms of what Garner names “interpersonal competence” (qtd. in Goleman 2001, 2), Mr. Keating shows empathy towards his students. He understands Todd’s fear of public speaking and motivates him beyond his fear. He is aware of the area where his students need to develop and helps Neil pursue his dream.

As far as social skills are concerned, Keeting is a persuader and communicates effectively, convincing his students to work with him; he inspires and guides the boys, initiates change and cooperates with the students, creating a group that is bound together by common values and goals.

Mr. Keating’s style is mainly “authoritative” (Goleman 2004) and enters the scene at a time when change was needed. Goleman argues that this style works best when “changes require a new vision” (2004). Mr Keating thus succeeds in mobilizing his students and in convincing them to follow him. By the middle of the movie, most students take the motto “seize the day” seriously. However, he shows traits of other leadership styles as well. He creates harmony within the group and shows empathy towards his students, thus borrowing elements from the “affiliative” style. He places the emphasis on teamwork and consensus, as would a “democratic” leader do, and urges his students to better themselves, thus assuming a “coaching” style. Therefore, his style contains includes elements of all the styles that, according to Goleman, lead to positive results.

Moreover, Mr. Keating is cautious and while he preaches change, he invites his students to think twice before making a bold move: “There’s a time for daring and there’s a time for caution, and a wise man understands which is called for”. At the same time, he knows when to be daring and when to be wary. He knows that he cannot do anything that could make him remain a professor at Welton Academy and accepts his dismissal without protesting. There is also an air of calmness and composure even when Mr. Nolan or other persons are criticizing his methods.

In conclusion, Mr. Keating’s leadership style shows more flexibility and is more appealing, given the context and the social background of the students. He also shows strong emotional intelligence skills that enable him to attune to the students’ needs easily. His personality and his power to empathize with the students help him become an influential leader.

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Home / Essay Samples / Entertainment / Dead Poets Society / Dead Poets Society: Teaching Strategies and Film Analysis

Dead Poets Society: Teaching Strategies and Film Analysis

• Category: Entertainment , Education
• Topic: Dead Poets Society , Teaching

Pages: 5 (2194 words)

Views: 1270

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• Haft, S. (Producer), Witt, P.J. (Producer), Thomas, T. (Producer), & Peter Weir (Director). (1989). Dead Poets Society [Motion Picture]. United States: Buena Vista Pictures Distribution. 
• Lewis, C.M. (1903). Method of Teaching English Literature. The University of Chicago Press, 11(3), 187-199. Retrieved from https://www.jstor.org/stable/1075357?seq=2#metadata_info_tab_contents 
• University of Leiscester. (n.d.). Effective Teaching Strategies. Retrieved October 10, 2019, from https://www2.le.ac.uk/offices/lli/developing-learning-and-teaching/enhance/strategies 
• Wilcox, L. (2014). Top 5 Strategies for Motivating Students. Retrieved October 8, 2019, from https://www.nbpts.org/top-5-strategies-for-motivating-students/ 

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