This is a clip from the movie Dead Poets Society starring Robin Williams, Robert Sean Leonard, and Ethan Hawke, directed by Peter Wier. The movie is about a group of teenage boys, influenced by their teacher John Keatings (Robin Williams), who form a group called the Dead Poets Society. The Dead Poets Society gets together to read poetry, discuss life, and whatnot. These young men are so inspired to change their lives because of their teacher and his unconventional ways. This movie reminds me of the poem we read today in class, On Reading Poems to a Senior Class at South High by D.C Berry. The poem talks about how a teacher is so inspired and excited because of his students’ participation in the discussion of poetry his classroom. This scene starts off with the Mr. Keating telling his bored students to rip out the first page of their poetry book. The kids are totally confused like “frozen fish” but then when they finally start to rip the book, our ears are flooded with the sound of shredding paper, like “water began to fill the room”. The tearing continues until another teacher comes in and scolds the students for being disrespectful, which I connected to Queen Elizabeth the cat, who “licked my fins till they were hands again”. This is such a wonderful movie and I highly recommend it!
-Amanda
