Within the movie Dead Poets Society, there is the ongoing tension between expecting to conform and going against those expectations. At Welton, the private, all male, conservative boarding school is the definitive place of conformity. The faculty look and dress exactly alike, talk alike, and teach alike. Although there are many different subjects offered, all classes are similar with their textbook-exact learning. The fact that everything is the same shows the reputation it tries to uphold as a preparatory school. All students have expectations-from parents, teachers, administrators, and other students-ones that can either motivate or crush the student. They include participating in activities only others approve of, getting superb grades, going on to pursue education at only certain, usually Ivy League schools, and becoming only an approved profession. With the rigorous expectations, being oneself is the hardest trait one could obtain at this school. Going against the conformity of the school poses various dangers toward the student, including reprimanding from parents and staff, the threat of expulsion, and the reputation they hold at the school.
When the new English teacher, Mr. Keating, is hired for Welton, he brings an entire new element to the school. He encourages the boys to "Carpe Diem" and to uphold their beliefs, no matter what anyone says or thinks. His ideas of non-conformity teach valuable life lessons and later encourage the boys to be themselves in certain situations. Unfortunately, this encouraged behavior launched him and the students into disaster. One of the boys pursues his love for acting, but he is forced by his father to quit and do what the father expects. The intense amount of pressure put on the boy for not conforming to his father's beliefs led him to commit suicide. Additionally, certain boys were reprimanded for going out and creating their "Dead Poets Society." Later on, Mr. Keating is forced to resign for his teaching methods and what he taught his students. The fact the school was so unwilling to accept nonconformity and threatened students who embraced it shows the anti-transcendentalist mindset of the school, and how it endangered anyone who wished to be their self.
Sunday, November 20, 2011
Sunday, November 13, 2011
Transcendentalism Post
Transcendentalists can be described in several different ways. Whether it is unique, different, special, or weird, they do what they think is right for themselves. They ignore the comments from others and live their life in their own mindset. Above all else, they look to themselves, and it will either inspire or disgust others. In the world of modern-day pop culture, Nicole Polizzi, otherwise known as Snooki, is the type of transcendentalist who makes her own decisions and completely disregards others’ responses.
Snooki, who is most known for being on Jersey Shore, can be described as anything but a conformist. Her unique sense of style and behavior has led her to be perceived in many different ways, whether good or bad. Her many different personalities have led her to be a successful TV star, author, and entrepreneur, despite harsh criticism and comments.
Snooki, now age 23, was born in Chile, but then adopted by an Italian family from Marlboro, New York. The influences from her close-knit Italian family led her to be the way she is—a girl with two different sides, one a wild and crazy guidette, the other a shy and fun-loving girl. Her experiences in high school, which included being bullied, inspired her to be who she is today, the girl who does and says what she wants and does not let anything bring her down. Although she is seen by many as the wild, inappropriate star of Jersey Shore, she has disregarded the comments, knowing her lifestyle on the show is not always the life she lives.
“I still get bullied by tabloids calling me “gross”…at this point I’m just like ‘whatever hater.’ It just gives me more motivation to succeed and prove everyone wrong. I never care what other people, the haters, think. I never let it get the best of me, and I think it’s a great quality every girl should have.”
The success of the star’s life has let her be the strong personality she is today. She claims, “Nobody can get to me at this point.” She also believes that inspiring others to be who they want is the best there is. “You can be any nationality. You have to have that attitude, be strong, independent, and go about your life like it’s your own world.”
Sunday, November 6, 2011
Walden Essay
Two years. Two months. Two days. Simple and to-the-point, Thoreau’s depiction of Walden Pond and the time he spent there illustrate a completely new aspect of life. Stressing the issues of simplicity and solitude brings a new and conservative form of life to the people of his day. Many people during his time were mesmerized over the boom of industrialism, growing cities, and technology, and he was trying to diverge from the traditional path. Although pressured to live the busy life of a common male, Thoreau continually lived the life he wanted to. Through his beneficial experiences and events at Walden Pond, Henry David Thoreau produced new, unique ideas that stressed the individual and pushed for a different, simple life.
An important factor to Thoreau’s stay at Walden Pond was his emerging views of a simplistic lifestyle. Thoreau believed that the necessities of life contained only four things: food, water, shelter, and fuel. Besides these necessities, Walden believed almost everything else was unnecessary. Through his stay he gained greater knowledge of living simply in solitude and sustaining only himself. “I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived” (Thoreau 490). Leaving his life to live in a small cabin by himself forced him to live in a simple, meager way, showing him what he believed in the best way possible. His living this way led him to gaining greater knowledge of his lifestyle, beliefs, and reality as a whole. With all of the craziness of the time, Thoreau’s ideas which emerged provided a new alternative to living how everyone else did.
Another aspect to Thoreau’s writings and lessons is transcendentalism. Thoreau, considered a transcendentalist himself, firmly believed in being who one wants to be and resisting the pressure to be like the common people. Through staying at Walden Pond, he was able to adapt to his own beliefs without the influence of anyone else. He produced a series of beliefs that were new and alien to the time, but became the foundation of originality and uniqueness in America. “It is something to be able to paint a particular picture, or carve a statue, and so to make a few objects beautiful; but it is far more glorious to carve and paint the very atmosphere and medium through which we look, which morally we can do” (490). Seeing the population adapt to and transform into whatever the surroundings are inspired Thoreau to promote the individual. His time spent alone added to his success with these beliefs and going against traditional views.
Henry David Thoreau’s time spent at Walden Pond—two years, two months, and two days to be exact—was beneficial in several ways towards society. Although not appreciated until later, people realized of the many common choices and lives they decided to fulfill, taking away from the purpose of the individual. Without Thoreau’s ideas, life in America could have developed in a completely different way; a society more generic compared to others. Whether viewed good or bad, Thoreau’s time spent learning from experience at Walden Pond opened America to new and interesting views.
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