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Help with a Dead Poet's Society essay

post #1 of 8
1/12/10 at 3:19am
Thread Starter 
I'm writing an essay for my english class and the question is
Quote:
Mr. Keating's favourite type of poetry is romantic poetry. How does romantic poetry demonstrate Mr. Keating's ideal of Carpe Diem (Seize the day)?
I've kinda reached a writer's block whereas I can't think of anything. Seems like I would find the most people who've watched the film here so if someone could give me a nudge as to where to go from here it would be greatly appreciated. I've only written a bit of my intro and could use some guidance on a thesis.

I can't help but think that I completely misunderstood the question so far.
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post #2 of 8
1/12/10 at 3:22am
you know what i may have to write pages and pages of rubbish about kant and rousseau but i am damn glad i didn't take english or literature or whatever youre studying
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post #3 of 8
1/12/10 at 3:22am
this sounds like it could be high school though
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post #4 of 8
1/12/10 at 3:24am
Thread Starter 
It's high school yeah.
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post #5 of 8
1/12/10 at 3:31am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Psyren View Post
I'm writing an essay for my english class and the question is

I've kinda reached a writer's block whereas I can't think of anything. Seems like I would find the most people who've watched the film here so if someone could give me a nudge as to where to go from here it would be greatly appreciated. I've only written a bit of my intro and could use some guidance on a thesis.

I can't help but think that I completely misunderstood the question so far.

How can you misunderstand the question?

1. research what romantic poetry is, not just nominally, but as a genre (it doesn't have to be heavy research)
2. Pay attention to what romantic poetry he cites in the movie, and what he says about the genre in general
3. Figure out what he means by carpe diem
4. connect the two together

I think your teacher has set up the assignment to be pretty straight forward.
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post #6 of 8
1/12/10 at 3:36am
here's what i would have done in high school: 1) gone home 2) smoked a blunt 3) churned out some crap 4) got a B- but hey who cares? instead, you: 1) asked a forum 2) ???
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post #7 of 8
1/12/10 at 3:39am
-Self Reliance of Emerson is catalyst that leads to call for individualistic undertakings in expansion of mind and peronsal liberties to experience transcendent existential awareness. -Walden and Civil Disobedience from Thoreau provides necessary precedent for social isolationism and sedition in which Keating can defy and resist cultural, educational, and institutional structures to create more idealistic learning environment. This is alluded to in the scenes where the boys (and previously Keating) escaped to the cave to read poetry for their own personal enjoyment. -Poetry as a literary art form is the least burdened to follow structural conventions and allows the least interference between internal emotions and external expressions because of the lack of those structural conventions (grammatical, plots, etc.) Naturally this becomes the ideal medium for Keating and Romantic movement in general. -Add a reference to Walt Whitman's "When I heard the Learn'd Astronomer" to convey value of education outside of institutional bondage. bla bla bla. something like that.
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post #8 of 8
1/12/10 at 3:42am
Thread Starter 
edit : nvm, essay finished. Thanks to those who helped.
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