Dead Poets Society
Romanticism originated in Europe around 1750 with celebrated authors including: John Keating, William Wordsworth, and Percy Shelly. This literary trend soon after crossed the Atlantic appearing in the works of poets such as: Walt Whitman, Henry Thoreau, and Ralf Emerson. This period emphasizes "natural objects, intimate self-revelation . . . , and direct expression of strong, personal emotion" (Perkins 9). Because of the Industrial Revolution, individuals, often economically forced, moved from the country to underdeveloped towns (Perkins 6). As towns grew more populated, life "was grim and often vicious" (Perkins 6). Urbanization gave city dwellers a nostalgic realization that nature was missing and caused an individualistic backlash. Individualism "put an immensely higher estimate on human potentialities and powers" (Abrams 10). This higher measure of self worth placed man on the level of nature. Through introspection and contemplation, an individual could become one with nature, and with the world
Whereas nature greatly influences the romantic temperament, Welton Academy's newest English teacher, John Keating influences most greatly Neil Perry, Knox Overstreet, and Nuanda. We see the use of Romantic irony in that the name John Keating alludes to the great Romantic poet, John Keats. Whereas Keats fostered nature and individualism in Romanticism, Keating installed these same notions in his students. Although Welton Academy, the school at which Keating taught, was austere and discouraged individuality, he overcame conformity and introduced a "carpe diem" mindset. On the first day of class Keating reminds his students of their own mortality and the fragility of life by leading them past photographs of once great but now deceased Welton Academy athletic stars. He proceeds to inform them that the individuals in the pictures are now food for worms and that if these deceased stars were alive they would whisper, "seize the day". This demonstration throws the class into an eye-opening upheavel and comple
Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 682
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)
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