Transcript Characters in DPS Neil Perry, Todd Anderson, Charlie

Prepare for Dead Poets’ Society
Keyword preparation
• Romanticism
• Realism
• Walt Whitman
• Henry David Thoreau
• Ralph Waldo Emerson
Pre-watch questions
• What does CARPE DIEM mean?
• Have you ever heard of Walt Whitman? What do you know
about him?
• Do you know anything about Romanticism? And Realism?
• What do you know about Thoreau and Emerson? What do
you know about their philosophy?
• Read and try to understand the theme of the poems from
the movie. Can you guess the theme of the movie from the
poems you read?
• Read: Krutch, J. W.,e.d.: Walden and Other Writings by
Henry David Thoreau, Bantam Books, 1981
Who are they?
Characters in DPS
Neil Perry,
Todd Anderson,
Charlie Dalton (aka Nwanda), Knox Overstreet
Steven Meeks,
Chris Noel,
Gerard Pitts,
Richard Cameron
John Keating,
Mr. Nolan,
McAllistar,
Mr. Perry
• Task 2
Post-watch Qs:
• 1. What do you get about the characters in the movie? (Keating, Neil, Todd,
Charlie, Knox, …, their family background, their personalities, etc) Who
would you classify as Romanticists, and who Realists? Illustrate your points.
(Who do you like best? And why?)
• 2. What are the ideas Mr. Keating tries to advocate to the students? (What are
the purposes of Mr. Keating’s unusual classroom activities?) How do the
student react to them? What do you think of them?(e.g. which of the ideas
have impressed you most?)
• 3. What is so special about Mr. Keating’s teaching method? How is his
method different from other teachers?
• 4. How have the students changed with Keating’s influence? Who do you
think has changed most under Keating’s influence? (Who is really the
bravest of Keating's boys? Give your reasons.)
• 5. Why exactly did Neil take his own life? Could Neil have found
another way out of his predicament? Was suicide his only
answer? Who really was to blame for Neil's death? Would Neil
still have eventually committed suicide if Mr. Keating had never
come into his life?
• 6. What’s your understanding of ‘sucking the marrow out of life’?
• 7. Compare the education you have gotten with the two
approaches presented in the film (the strict, disciplined
structure of the boys school as opposed to the freer carpe diem
attitude of their teacher). Which do you find most effective for
yourself?
• 8. Another theme of the movie was the relationship between a
teacher and a pupil. How close and informal, do you think,
should such a relationship be? Is there any potentially
dangerous nature of the relationship?