Why do good students love bad movies? After years of using film for teaching, the best answer I can come up with is that bad movies are better than good movies for learning language because bad ones make you want to rant and good ones leave you speechless. There's a lot to talk about in "Dead Poets Society".
This is one of the most popular movies about teaching ever made, even though it's about a teacher whose main goal seems to be making himself into a god. The characters are all one-dimensional. The problems are melodramatic. The message of non-conformity is illustrated by standing at attention, together, on top of instead of beside the desk while calling your hero by a military title. It's a mess of meanings.
Genre: drama Rating: PG13, adult themes, suicide, brief nudity, under-age drinking English Language: standard American, advanced Major Themes:Art, Coming of Age Education, Freedom vs. Safety, Ideal Man/Woman, Individual Heroism, Man vs. Himself, Man vs. Society, Man vs. System, Outsiders, Search for Happiness, Social Change, Suicide, Minor Themes: Falling in Love, Alcohol/Drugs, Betrayal, Dating, Family, Historical, Sexuality, Sports,
Section 1 Time: Summary: It's opening day at an upper-crust private boy's school in the 1950s. The ceremonies begin with great pomp and a rehearsal of the school's traditions. The section ends after Neil and Todd meet.
Vocabulary:
pillar: a column that supports the roof of a building
tradition: something that is done the same way consistently in a society
honor: respect from society
discipline: self-control
excellence: the best possible work
Ivy League: 8 universities that are usually considered the best in the USA
Questions:
What are the "Four Pillars"? What would your "Four Pillars" be if you were designing a school?
Talk about an experience in school or a teacher who changed your life.
What adjectives could you use to describe the teachers at Welton? the students?
How is Welton different from other American schools? Is this difference good?
What values do you think are important to the parents of students at Welton?
For Further Discussion:
Take quite a bit of time to introduce the cultural setting for the film with questions to build their background knowledge:
What different kinds of schools are there in your country? Do they have different purposes? Different populations?
What images come to your mind when you think of American schools?
What do you know about public, private, and prep schools?
What's your opinion of the American educational system?
What was America like in the 1950s? What major historical or cultural events were occurring at that time? (society, politics, economy, religion, military, technology, etc.)
Where is New England? What is it known for?
Introduce students to some of the key people American or English icons who are referred to in the film: John Wayne, Marlon Brando, William Shakespeare, Henry David Thoreau, Robert Browning, Robert Frost, Walt Whitman, Walt Disney (Uncle Walt), Keats, Lord Byron, Tennyson.
Section 2 Time: Summary: The caste of boys in introduced. Each boy represents a certain type of student with basically one-trait personalities that make them easy to identify. They mock the school's principles, trying to hide their nervousness about being back at school. Neil, the group's social leader, has a confrontation with his authoritarian father regarding his extracurricular activities. The scene ends when the boys have attended almost all of their classes for the first day, and have just entered Keating's room.
Vocabulary:
a stiff: a dead person (euphemism)
put one's foot in one's mouth: say something that embarrasses you
bootlicking: trying to make a superior like you by doing extra favors (slang)
valedictorian: the best student in a class
extracurricular: activities that are not assigned by a school
dispute: disagreement
travesty: terrible mistake
horror: terrible, frightening
decadence: choosing to live without self-control
excrement: solid waste that comes out of the body (medical term)
Questions:
Describe the situation between Neil and his father. What did they disagree about?
Tell a little about each of the boys. List their names and a brief description of them.
How do the boys act toward each other when they meet?
What is unusual about Todd's brother?
Describe Neil's conversation with his father. Why was Neil's father upset? Why was Neil upset?
What classes do the boys take?
Describe the teachers at the school.
For Further Discussion:
Take a little time to discuss typical first-day-of-school activities in the native culture.
Discuss body language in different situations, i.e. with peers vs. with parents, in friendly situations vs. in a confrontation. Focus on the use of eye contact in various settings.
Section 3 Time: Summary: The students attend Mr. Keating's class for the first day, receive a lecture on the importance of living life to the fullest, and leave with various interpretations of his class, varying from intrigued to bemused.
Vocabulary:
captain: military leader
rumor: stories that do not have any evidence to prove if they are true
hymnal: book of religious songs
Carpe Diem: (latin) Seize the Day
lads: young men (archaic, Scottish)
invincible: cannot be conquered, cannot be destroyed
"the world is your oyster": the world is something that may have a treasure for you
one iota: a tiny amount
fertilizing: adding nutrients to the soil
daffodils: yellow flowers that grow in spring
legacy: inheritance, what someone leaves behind that is valuable
spooky: scary, feeling like ghosts are present
suit yourself: do whatever you want
Questions:
What is unusual about Mr. Keating's English class?
What does Mr. Keating ask the students to call him? Why does he ask them to call him this?
How would students in your culture respond to someone like Mr. Keating as a teacher?
How does Keating try to gain the boys' trust?
For Further Discussion:
Many cultures value poetry more highly than Americans do. Be prepared to take some time discussing the form, rhythm, rhyme, symbols, and general meaning of the poems throughout the film.
Many students will respond well to reading poems allowed if they are given time to prepare. Consider assigning the memorization of certain stanzas as homework.
With Russian-speaking students, focus especially on the way certain syllables are stressed in a poem and on the changes in vowel length and intonation to show emotion. (The Russian language tends to have shorter vowels and more abrupt intonation changes than English, tending to make native-English speakers perceive speakers with Russian accents as unusually angry or aggressive.)
When introducing himself, Keating refers to a poem by Walt Whitman (19th-century American Poet) called "O Captain! My Captain!". Whitman wrote the poem in memory of President Abraham Lincoln shortly after Lincoln was assassinated. In "O Captain…", Whitman talks fo a "ship" and a "fearful trip". What is he referring to through these images?
How did the Captain die?
While looking at the pictures, Keating refers to a poem by Robert Herrick (17th-century British poet) called "To the Virgins, to Make Much of Time". How would you summarize the meaning of "To the Virgins…"? Do you agree with the poem? Is it optimistic, or pessimistic?
Captain! My Captain! --Walt Whitman Captain! My Captain! Captain! my Captain! our fearful trip is done, The ship has weather'd every rack, the prize we sought is won. The port is near, the bells I hear, the people all exulting, While follow eyes the steady keel, the vessel grim and daring; But O heart! heart! heart! the bleeding drops of red, Where on the deck my Captain lies, Fallen cold and dead.
Captain! my Captain! rise up and hear the bells; Rise up-for you the flag is flung-for you the bugle trills, For you bouquets and ribbon'd wreaths-for you the shore a-crowding, For you they call, the swaying mass, their eager faces turning; Here Captain! dear father! This arm beneath your head! It is some dream that on the deck, You've fallen cold and dead.
My Captain does not answer, his lips are pale and still, My father does not feel my arm, he has no pulse nor will, The ship is anchor'd safe and sound, its voyage closed and done From fearful trip the victor ship comes in with object won; Exult O shores, and ring O bells! But I with mournful tread, Walk the deck my Captain lies, Fallen cold and dead.
Vocabulary : sought: to look for port: a place where a ship rests exulting: rejoicing keel: the front part of a ship grim: stern, serious deck: the top of a ship flung: thrown open bugle: a military horn trills: plays music quickly bouquets: bunches of flowers mass: large group of people pale: white pulse: heartbeat victor: winner mournful: extremely sad tread: footsteps
Section 4 Time: Summary: Knox has dinner with friends of his parents and develops a crush on their daughter, Chris. Mr. Keating uses various dramatic techniques to build enthusiasm for poetry. The other teachers don't approve, but the boys like it. The boys discover a yearbook from when Keating was a student, and it identifies him as head of the Dead Poets Society. He tells them about the group and they decide to revive it without his knowledge. The section ends as they run back into the classroom.
Vocabulary:
spitting image: the exact copy (slang)
like father, like son: the son is a copy of his father
engaged: promised to be married to someone
jerk: (slang) rude person
misguided: believing false ideas
cynic: someone who believes there is no good
realist: someone who believes that you should admit the good and bad
hell-raiser: a wild person who causes trouble
amnesia: a mental disease causing loss of memory
marrow: the material inside the bones
demerits: official punishments, usually in the military
swoon: lose consciousness (usually used of women, especially in the 18th and 19th centuries)
Questions:
Why is Knox upset after meeting Chris? What does he plan to do about it?
According to Mr. Keating, what is the difference between good and bad poetry?
What is the Dead Poets Society?
Why is Knox upset after meeting Chris? What does he plan to do about it?
In your contry, what could a man do if he was in Knox's situation?
Why does Mr. Keating tell the boys to rip the pages out of the book? What does he want to teach them?
How do the students respond to Keating's teaching style?
How do the other teachers respond to Keating's teaching style?
What is the Dead Poets Society?
Why does Keating say that the school administration would not approve of the Society? Why would they object?
Do groups like the Dead Poets Society exist in your country? If not, why not? If so, how are they treated by the school system? Why?
For Further Discussion: Many students have reacted very negatively to Keating's flippancy and pride in disregarding tradition. If students disapprove, encourage a discussion among the students but be careful to avoid taking sides. The goal is to get the students to talk, not to get them to challenge their country's educational system or values.
Possible Discussion Questions: (Note that short clips that pertain to these questions are available on YouTube) What does “Seize the Day” mean to you? What does it take to “Make your lives extraordinary”? Does it take courage to see things from another’s point of view? When we consider things from a different viewpoint, we can sometimes see that we were wrong. Does it take courage to apologise? When asked by his students what the Dead Poets Society was about, Keating responds that the "The Dead Poets Society was dedicated to sucking the marrow out of life.” What is meant by this phrase? Does it take courage to “suck the marrow out of life?”