Friday, February 20, 2015

Friday Blog Post 2-20-15

1.) The most influential leader I have had would have to be my mother. She always inspires me to do more with my life, to be something. She is always there for me and is always backing me up in life. She works hard and is good at what she does and it makes me want to do the same and become something. She lets me know it is okay to make mistakes and honestly helps me get through everyday.


2.) I think Mr. Keating means that poetry is the emotional part of life. It is filled with so much passion and emotion and that is what humans stay alive for. Other things such as medicine, law, and business are things that help us get by, but poetry is something that makes us feel alive. I do agree because poetry is something that allows you to release your inner thoughts and feelings. Other professions do not really allow you to express yourself like writing does. I honestly like poetry because it is something beautiful that is different in so many ways. I think we read it as something that we can escape to and relate to as well as enjoy.


3.) I really like the quote because it encourages people to see things differently and not go by the book. It is really uplifting and shows you that there are other opinions on things. I do agree because everyone has a different view on things and we should not be confined to one opinion. One time in art I was told how to draw things differently and at first I did not agree but I started to think about it and took it into consideration.


4.) The verse I would like to contribute to the world would have to be, be happy. I hope to leave behind the impression that you should do whatever you want because you are only given one life and you should not live it doing what others want you to do rather than what you want to do.

Thursday's Blog Dead Poet's Society

1.) I  do think that Neil would have committed suicide if Mr. Keating had never come into his life because his father would still be just as strict about Neil's career path. He would have been just as unhappy about what was going on. He would be just as depressed about not doing what he loved. He felt as if there was no escape and he could only result to that.




2.) I think the bravest of all the Dead Poets Society was Charlie. He was the one who stood up for Mr. Keating when the one kid tried to turn on him, which even resulted in him punching the kid. He believed in standing for what he thought was right, which took a lot of courage. The boy who was a coward was Neil. Instead of him standing up for what he believed, he took the easy way out and killed himself.


3.) I do think that Mr. Keating put the book in Neil's room. When telling the guys about the society, I think he could tell they were curious and that it was going to start up again. Also after Neil committed suicide, he saw the book and looked at it as if he were proud. I think that he did put it there after he said administration would not look favorably on it because he wanted them to go beyond. He wanted them to start to do this to have a passion for poetry and a different view on it. Since the school wanted them to follow the guidelines so much, he wanted to give them the chance to see the different approaches of the poetry.

Thursday, February 19, 2015

Theme (Live life)

The theme of the movie Dead Poets Society would be to live life. Neil was afraid of doing what he loved, acting, because of his father. Instead of living how he wanted and doing what he wanted, he took the easy way out and killed himself. Mr. Keating was the one who tried to encourage this, especially living life seeing others opinions and views. Todd was also another person who ended up living life. At first, he was the one who was very shy and did not want to participate in any of the events, even in the reading in the Dead Poets Society. He eventually started to living life and doing his potential after Mr. Keating taught him to do so. He even stood up for him after he was leaving because of getting fired. In the end, Neil's death started to affect everyone, showing them that life is too short and you never know what is going to happen. Especially that you need to do what you love because otherwise you will end up not fully living life. Knox was the one that who spent his time trying to chase this girl, who he ended up getting. He eventually started to overcome his fear which was not being with the girl, and started taking chances. All of them eventually start to learn from Mr. Keating along with the suicide of Neil.

Wednesday, February 18, 2015

Character Questions Dead Poets Society

1.) The character which transformed the most was Todd. He shows up to the school very quiet and very shy, unlike the other boys who are the very opposite. He is even very nervous to read in front of anyone, like when he requests not to read in the Dead Poets Society. When Mr. Keating has him go in front of the class and spin around and say what comes to mind, he starts to come out of his shell. He really changes towards the end when Mr. Keating is leaving. He stands up on the desk and says O Captain My Captain. He starts to stand up for what he believes and his views.


2.) The first character that is static in nature would have to be Charlie. He is always pretty defiant and is that way until the end of the movie. It starts when Mr. Keating is doing a lesson outside and he is showing them how to stand and walk in the line and he wants to do something completely different. This shows that he has always kind of had that rebel attitude and always wanted to be different. Also, he continues to be a trouble maker when he has the Dead Poets Society put in the newspaper and then admits it in the school meeting with a joke. Another static character would have to be Knox. Throughout the movie, he is just focused on one thing, a girl. He is focused on trying to make her his and eventually does, but goes through some trials.


3.) Mr. Keating is a intelligent teacher who is great at leading. He is very serious about what he does and you can tell that he loves it. He is very great at leading because he tries to show the boys that you should see things in other perspectives besides your own. I do think he was changed by the experience in the film especially after Neil had killed himself. He has always been the type to encourage people to follow their dreams, but after the suicide I think that he is a little less outspoken about things and feels bad because he did take a little part in telling Neil to do acting, which is not what his father wanted. I feel this might change some of his personal opinions on some things and how he handles some situations. The death affected him greatly and he seemed to take a lot of the responsibility for it. In the end, he also seems like he is going to do great things when he leaves and encourage kids to do what they want, but not to the same extent.




4.) Todd has the fear of being outgoing. In the beginning, he is very shy and does not even want to read in front of people. I feel as if he did overcome this fear, especially because of Mr. Keating making him get up in front of the class. He also was the one to stand up for Mr. Keating at the end of the movie when he is leaving. Neil has the fear of his father. His father is very strict about what he wants his son to do and will not let him do anything else besides it. I do not think Neil overcame this fear, because instead of standing up to his dad and explaining how much he loved acting, he killed himself. He took another route that was not the best instead of talking to his dad and trying to get him to see that is what he loved to do. Knox was afraid of losing the girl. He wanted her to be with him so bad, the only problem was she already had a boyfriend. He did a lot of things to get her attention, especially when he went to her school and gave her flowers. She was all he thought about, and he even broke the rules to see her. I think he did overcome the fear because he eventually got the girl and was finally content. Charlie had the fear of being normal. He wanted to stand out and be different from everyone else and was afraid of being like everyone else. I do not think he overcame this fear because he always continued to try to stand out so bad and even went so far as to become expelled over it because he admitted to doing wrong in a immature way.

Monday, February 2, 2015

Mona Lisa Smile Discussion Questions

1. The roles of the women in the 1950's were that they were housewives. They cooked, cleaned, and took care of the children. They did go to high school and college, but they basically went to college to become housewives. They were not encouraged to pursue their dreams and their careers because they knew that their life consisted of being a stay at home mother. Katherine Watson had a different view on things. She thought that women should be able to go to college and get the education they need to be able to become what they wanted to be. She also wanted them to have a mind of their own and not be told that the only thing they are there for is to do house chores and raise children. She did not go by the standards, she wanted them to know that nothing is stopping them from reaching their goals.


2. Betty's reaction to Joan's application to Yale was tremendous because she thought she was crazy. During that time women were to get married and raise children, that's it. To go to college to become a lawyer was something that did not happen for a woman. I personally think that if I were to be in that time period, I would have the same reaction just because of what I was raised to think and told to think.