Synopsis: Robin Williams stars as Mr. Keating, an English teacher at an elite, all-boys' prep school, where the emphasis is on tradition rather than free-thinking. Keating tries -- through exposure to the canon of Western "dead poets" -- to give the future lawyers, bankers, and doctors an appreciation of life, love, and beauty. In the process, however, he arouses the suspicion of the school's administration for his unorthodox methods and chumminess with the starved-for-enlightenment students. Keating is a tragic hero because, as he innocently attempts to open the lads' eyes to individuality and passion, he is unconscious of how impressionable they really are. Conflict enters the story when the boys resurrect a secret poetry-reading society at the school. Infected with grandiose concepts -- but without Keating's guidance -- the students interpret Horace's "carpe diem" and Thoreau's advice to "live deliberately" and "suck the marrow from the bones of life" as an invitation to......
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Approximate Word Count: 796
Approximate Pages: 4 (260 words per double-spaced page) |