I think The Dead Poets Society's central theme is "carpe diem." It's what Mr. Keating tells his English students when he takes them to look at photos of long dead alumni from the school. He wants them to make their lives extraordinary, to do some different or bold, to follow their dreams. The inspiration for Mr. Keating and for his students is poetry and writing. The boys are inspired by Mr. Keating to restart the Dead Poets Society to, in my opinion, live more intently and with grace and elegance through the means of reading poetry of well-known and respected poets. It’s possible that the central theme of carpe diem is the main factor that inspires Neil to follow his passion for theatre, Knox to peruse the girl he loves, and for the shy Todd to eventually learn to be bold enough to speak up. In conclusion, the movie is about seizing the day - making the most of your time before you die - and about being unique and following your passions and being unafraid to stand up for those things.

Follow Up Character Questions

1. Although all the characters transformed in some form, I think the character that transformed the most was Todd. Todd was shy throughout the whole movie but he opened up and in the end became the only one in the classroom who actually said something when Mr. Keating came to class to get the rest of his things. He was the first to stand up on his desk when Mr. Keating started to walk out. Not only did he transform as a character but he went through self-realization. He became a leader when before he was just a bystander. That's why I think Todd transformed the most in the movie. 

2. I think Neil is a static character because he doesn't undergo a change in his character at any time during the movie. Just because he died at the end doesn't necessarily mean that he changed. His life was an act. He acted for his father, Mr. Keating and even to himself. But when he wasn't acting, he thought he had nothing else to contribute. He is a static character because his personality, way of thinking (for the most part) all stays the same.

3. I think Mr. Keating is a static character, maybe even more so than Neil. Keating is a romantic character from start to end, making him static. I think he's a main character just because of how much of an influence he has throughout the movie. His romanticism leads to his downfall, but in the events that would lead up to that, he led Neil, Nwanda, and Knox into extreme romanticism which led to their downfalls as well. 

4. Mr. Keating is the new teacher and was a previous student at Welton. He inspires the boys to 'seize the day' and restart his old club, the Dead Poets Society. Neil Perry is a student at Welton along with Knox, Todd and Charlie. He decides to restart the dead poets society. Neil also has a passion for acting and a restricting relationship with his father who disproves of his acting. He has a fear of being accepted and never does overcome that fear, it instead overcomes him. Todd starts out as the most timid of the poets, but gains confidence thanks to Keating and Neil's encouragement. Todd overcomes the fear of public opinion. Charlie is the most rebellious member of the Dead Poets Society and fears not living life to the fullest. I think he overcomes that fear by being humbled by Mr. Keating's expulsion. Charlie spends most of the movie attempting to win the love of a girl named Chris. He fears not being able to win her love but overcomes it by showing his love for her and her going to the play with him. 

1. Discuss the roles of women in the 1950s as portrayed in the movie. How were they different from the view of Katherine Watson?

The role of women in the 1950's was repressive and constrictive in many ways. Women in the 1950's defined the role of being a wife and a mother. Society placed high importance and a lot of expectations on behavior for women at home and in public.  The "perfect mother" was supposed to stay at home and nurture and take care of her husband's and kid's needs. This can be seen in the movie, "The Mona Lisa Smile." Katherine Watson had an alternative view on the way women should live. She was concerned with individual goals, happiness, and overall well-being. She stressed being independent from societal oppression and independent from a man's constrictive suppositions. She was against being forced into the traditional life of getting married young and supporting and raising a family to find happiness. Instead, she pursued education, which was uncommon for women to do in the 1950's. 

2. Katherine Watson's teaching style was labeled as "unorthodox." Explain and cite examples from the movie. 

Katherine Watson stayed away from teaching by the common/traditional methods. She didn't go by a syllabus, she taught with visual representations of the material, she connected to students personally, and took her teaching outside of the classroom. She got in trouble for not following a strict outline for the class and was even given instructions by the Dean of the university to stop the unorthodox way of teaching and to teach more traditionally. Katherine felt it was important to know her students personally so she could reach them at a different level. At one point, she brought in an abstract painting by Jackson Pollock to show her students different styles of art. She stressed individuality within education as well as in her student's lives.  

The style of teaching from the art professor in The Mona Lisa Smile, Ms. Watson, and the style of teaching proposed in the extract are very different. Ms. Watson's method of teaching reached a deeper level of understanding because it drew in not only factual information, but a personal connection with the material at hand. She wanted her students to grasp the big idea, not just the facts. The author from the extract implies that creativity is useless and of no value in the classroom. He states that facts should be the only thing planted in the mind's of the students, and to root everything else out. In theory, this sounds like a great idea. It leaves room for interpretation, it makes one draw one's own opinion without a skewed bias from the teacher, and it has the potential to make the student dig for more information about a subject if only facts were presented. However, if practiced, the academic success of the students would not be present because of various factors. The "progressive" way of teaching has evolved from the professional/traditional methods that were typically used in past education systems. The progressive style encourages individuality and creativity. It has shown to be very successful and effective in classrooms, even in Ms. Watson's. 

I liked the movie a lot. It's one of my favorite movies because I like everything about it. One of the main themes of the movie is individuality. It could be confused with feminism, but I think individuality is deeper than feminism throughout the movie. One of my favorite parts was when the class studied a painting by Jackson Pollock. He's one of my favorite artists. And I liked the relationship between Connie and the guy with the glasses because he's cute and I'm glad they ended up together. I liked the time period the movie was set in because of the style and class that women had back then. Also, Kirsten Dunst is one of my favorite actresses. Rachel Mcadams would have been a good actress too. Overall I liked the movie a lot. 

The Mona Lisa Smile

I think the movie is about how a new art professor at a university has to over come challenges with her students. She will have to change how things are usually done in art classes. The students at first will probably be reluctant to the changes and not want to be involved with it. However, they will start listening to her and what she has to say eventually. By the end of the movie, I think the students will be transformed by the art professor. Not only will they learn about modern art, they will learn life lessons along the way.

I think the exams in high school are by far way easier than college exams. In high school the teacher almost always gives a review sheet before the test. Studying is then easier because you know what exactly to study for. In college, however, the professor does not give review sheets before the test. You have to look over all of your notes and be familiar with just about everything written down because there's a possibility that any of the material in your notes could be on the test. Another difference is that tests are given more frequently in high school. In college, tests are given once a month or once every other month. So if you do bad on an exam in college, there's not much to help that grade out like in high school. For example, you could do bad on one test in high school, but make all 100's on your other tests and the bad grade then does not hurt you as bad. College tests forces you to be on top of your work and notes. It also forces you to be more responsible because you payed a lot of money and you want to make good grades for the money you had to pay. For these reasons, college exams are harder than high school exams.