walk in the same cadence and join clapping because “there is a great need in all of us to be accepted.” He wants to stress that one should be strong and determined enough to “insist on the separate path” and do not be afraid of being different or contrary to others. He tries to tell the boys that one should trust what is unique about himself even if it’s odd or unpopular. As he mentions, this idea is the one expressed by Mr. Robert Frost, who once said, “Two roads diverged in a wood, and I... I took the one less traveled by. And that has made all the difference.”

15. How does the school authority respond to Mr. Keating’s way of teaching?

What does the school master suggest him to do? What is Mr. Keating’s argument?

The school authority is rather uneasy about Keating’s way of teaching because it thinks this kind of progressive teaching is beyond the boys’ age and can be so misleading that the boys may feel encouraged to challenge the set rules of the school. The schoolmaster suggests Keating follow the set curriculum in the school because it’s proven that the traditional way of teaching can help the boys enter good universities and make no trouble for the school. He emphasizes that boys at such an age cannot make their own judgments and thus must follow tradition and discipline. However, Mr. Keating believes that students should learn to think for themselves.

16. Todd is a quiet and shy boy. How does Mr. Keating stimulate him to

contribute his own verse in the classroom?

First, Mr. Keating writes down a line from a poem written by Walt Whitman, “I sound my barbaric yawp over the rooftops of the world.” Then he asks Todd to give the class a demonstration of a barbaric yawp. With his encouragement, Todd becomes less frightened and more at ease expressing himself in front of others. After showing Todd there is something barbaric inside himself, Keating asks Todd to describe his impression of the picture of Walt Whitman. He pushes the boy to speak out quickly and spontaneously. Meanwhile, he suggests the boy close his eyes and concentrate on nothing but his impression of the picture while giving him some encouragement and guidance at some critical moments. The boy is for the first time encouraged to face his intuition and speak out immediately what he has in his mind without being afraid of becoming others’ laughing stock.

17. Why do Todd’s parents send their son a study board as the birthday

gift, the same birthday gift as last year? Why does he feel so depressed about it? What does he do with the study board at last? What does that indicate?

The parents seem to use the gift to remind the boy that he should always try to study hard to improve himself and meet their expectations. They

never know that Todd does not like the gift at all. This makes Todd very depressed because he feels his parents never care about his interests and feelings. The boy is terribly burdened by his parents’ expectation, and thus becomes very unconfident and behaves even worse in class. Finally, with Neil’s encouragement, Todd throws away the study board, which indicates that he will try to get rid of such a burden and be himself.

18. Why is Neil so excited about being able to play a role in the play?

Does he worry about his father’s certain objection?

Neil takes it as a grand opportunity to have a good start in his pursuit of an acting career. The boy loves acting because this will allow him to express himself openly and experience different kinds of lives. He knows that his father will not allow him to take acting as a career, so he decides not to tell his father about it. He feels this is the first time for him to make his own decision.

19. Does Neil’s father find out about his son’s decision later? What

does Neil’s father force him to do?

Yes. The father becomes furious on finding out about his son playing the role. He believes it is bad enough that the son has wasted his time with this acting thing, and it’s even more unacceptable that his son deliberately deceives him. Though the play will be on show next day, he still forces his son to quit the play.

20. Why does Neil go to Mr. Keating’s room the night before the play?

What does Mr. Keating suggest Neil to do? Does Neil act on the teacher’s suggestion? Why or why not?

Neil goes to Mr. Keating to ask for advice. Mr. Keating suggests Neil go to talk with his father, showing his father with his passion and commitment that acting is what he really wants to do. The teacher tells Neil that if that doesn’t work, at least by the age of 18, which is two years later, he’ll be able to do what he wants. However, Neil doesn’t take Mr. Keating’s advice because he has no courage and confidence to talk with his father, who always gives orders and never allows the son to talk with him as an equal. Neil feels sure that he cannot win his father’s support, and he cannot wait for another two years to start a try on acting. Instead of facing the trouble, Neil chooses to bypass it. He knows his father will be out of town by the time, so he hopes that he can do the acting without being discovered by his father.

21. Is Neil’s performance a success? How is he welcomed and appreciated

by the peer performers and the audience? How does his father feel instead? What does he say to Neil?

Neil’s performance is a great success and he is hailed as a big star, and even a hero by his peers and the audience. However, his father

remains untouched and insists his love for acting is ruining his life. So, Neil’s father demands he to drop the idea of acting business, leave Welton and goes to another school where he can be more concentrated on his study and prepare for entering the medical school of Harvard, and only after college graduation, he can make his own decisions.

22. Why does Neil commit suicide? Who should be blamed, his father, Mr.

Keating, the school, or Neil himself? Please comment on it.

Neil feels he has totally lost the control of his own life. He’s forced to leave Welton and stay away from his beloved acting business, and concentrate on study for the medical school that he has no desire to enter.

Answers to the second question may vary.

23. What happens to Mr. Keating after the incident? Should the school

authority put the blame on Mr. Keating? Why or why not?

The school holds Mr. Keating responsible for Neil’s death and thus expels him.

Answers to the last two questions may vary.

24. How does Todd show his protest of Mr. Keating’s dismissal? Do the

other boys follow suit? What gives them the courage to do so?

In the English class given by the headmaster, Todd stands up to speak for Mr. Keating, who then comes to fetch his personal things. When Mr. Keating is leaving the classroom, Todd stands on the desk to show his understanding, support and appreciation of Keating’s teaching and inspiration. Despite the headmaster’s threats, more boys follow suit. Though Keating has finally been expelled, his teaching has already made a change in the boys’ view of life, stirred both their hearts and minds, and thus given them the courage to do so. 25. What is the essence of Mr. Keating’s teaching? Do the boys seize

it?

Answers to these questions may vary. V. Research Activities

Four basic aspects of the movie

Background: historical background, social background, the novel on

which the movie is based, the author of the novel, production of the movie, etc. Themes: the main ideas that the movie intends to convey to the

audience. Conflicts: conflicts within oneself, conflicts with others,

conflicts with the society, conflicts between events, conflicts of ideas, etc. Performances: actor, actress, director, playwright, song, music,

Academy Awards, etc.

These four aspects, however, can never be clear-cut; they are often interrelated. The information provided below serves as some supplementary material only. The students are free to present any material relevant to the four aspects. Their presentations should include both factual information and their own opinions or comments.

Background:

a. This movie is set during a period of romanticism in the first half of the 20th century. Romanticism was an artistic and intellectual movement that originated in the late 18th century and stressed strong emotion, imagination, freedom from classical correctness in art forms, and rebellion against social conventions. Romanticism emphasized the individual, the subjective, the irrational, the imaginative, the personal, the spontaneous, the emotional, the visionary, and the transcendental. It was marked by emphasis on originality and individuality, personal emotional expression, and freedom and experimentation of form. Still, in common usage, Romanticism is often understood as a set of new cultural and aesthetic values. It might be taken to include the rise of individuality; a new emphasis on common language and the depiction of apparently everyday experiences; and experimentation with new, non-conforming forms. b. Elementary education in America used to be rigid and backward to some extent. America used to despise its teachers and, as a consequence, it has been granted the teachers it deserves. The quality prep education is noted for the excellence of its public schools and the teachers’ dogged conscientiousness could not be found fault with. The principal had read all the right pedagogic books, and was ready to quote these in the footnotes to his circular exhortations to parents. The teachers worked rigidly from the approved rigidly programmed primers, ensuring that school textbook publication remains the big business. But there seems to be no spark, no daring, no madness, no readiness to engage in the individual child’s mind with novel ideas. The fear of being nonconforming is rooted in the American teacher’s soul: He or she can be fired for treading the path of experimental enterprise. c. The setting is Welton Academy, Vermont—the “best prep school in America.” Welton Academy is founded on tradition and excellence and is bent on providing strict structured lessons prescribed by the realist, anti-youth administration. With the dawning of each new semester, hundreds of parents abandon their sons, leaving them in the tried hands of Welton staff in hopes that they will raise doctors and lawyers. When a replacement English teacher arrives, who happens to be a Welton alumnus, he brings with him a passion for teaching romanticism, thus