Dead Poets Society

Dead Poets Society

“Oh Captain, my captain, who know where that comes from?” asked Mr. Keating, the new English teacher in a school named Pelton. Todd, who is a very prudent student, looks up as if he knows the answer, but says nothing. “Not a clue? It’s from a poem by Walt Whitman about Mr. Abraham Lincoln. Now, in this class you can call me Mr. Keating. Or if you are slightly more daring, Oh captain, my captain.” Mr. Keating or Captain continued’.  The students laugh slightly. Everybody showed interest to Mr. Keating because the teachers in ‘Pelton’ are extremely strict; the students secretly call the school, ‘The Hell-ton’

         Day by day, Mr. Keating’s English class became appealing to everyone. But one day, Mr. Nolan the principle of Pelton saw Mr. Keating’s class ripping their poetry book. This was how it had happened. Mr. Keating asked a student named Neil to read a page that was entitled ‘Understanding poetry.’ After Neil had finished reading, Mr. Keating said, “I mean how can you describe poetry like American Bandstand? I like Bryon, I give him a forty-two, but I can’t dance to it.” Students suddenly appeared to show interest in the class. “Now I want you to rip out the page” voiced Mr. Keating. Everybody looked up at Mr. Keating just as if he was a mad man. “Go on, rip out the entire page. You heard me, rip it out. Rip it out” Charlie who wasn’t paying attention looks around the class than his own notes (which consist a drawing of a naked woman) and slovenly tears the entire page out. From outside the classroom, Mr. Nolan sees all the students ripping out their book and he bursts in to the room. “What the hell is going around here?” he exclaimed. “I don’t hear enough ripping” said Mr. Keating without noticing Mr. Nolan. “I, I, I didn’t know you were here” said Mr. Nolan. “Well, yes I am here” answered Mr. Keating with serene. This was the start of everything.

             One day, the students found an old annual of Mr. Keating. To write a depict about the photo, there was a black inked word written, ‘The Dead Poets Society’ at the bottom right corner, under a photo of someone. He replied to their question about what is the ‘Dead Poets Society’, “The Dead Poets were dedicated to sucking the marrow out of life. That's a phrase from Thoreau that we'd invoke at the beginning of each meeting. You see we'd gather at the old Indian cave and take turns reading from Thoreau, Whitman, Shelley; the biggies. Even some of our own verse. And in the enchantment of the moment we'd let poetry work it’s magic” “You mean it was bunch of guys sitting around reading poetry?” Knox asked. “No Mr. Overstreet, it wasn't just "guys", we weren't a Greek organization, we were romantics. We didn't just read poetry; we let it drip from our tongues like honey. Spirits soared, women swooned, and gods were created, gentlemen, not a bad way to spend an evening eh? Thank you Mr. Perry for this trip down amnesia lane. Burn that, especially my picture.” He said. After Mr. Keating had left, Neil said, “I say we go tonight” Most of the students seemed to nod except for Meek who had a lackadaisical. Todd was planning to not attempt the group but Neil entreated him to come so Todd decides to go.

            “Welton chapter. The meetings will be conducted by myself and the other new initiates now present. Todd Anderson,            because he prefers not to read, will keep minutes of the meetings. I'll now read the traditional opening message by society member Henry David Thoreau. "I went to the woods because I wanted to live deliberately. I wanted to live deep and suck out all the marrow of life." Neil voiced. “"To put to rout all those was not life, and not, when I had come to die, discover that I had not lived.” Neil started off his poem. And several boys whistled softly in reaction of Neil’s poem. The other boys start their poem even though it’s pointless or a joke. They seem to enjoying the group, ‘Dead Poets Society’ but on the other hand they were also very conscientious.

      The next day, Mr. Keating suddenly steps on his desk and ask the students, “Why do I stand up here? Anybody?” “To feel taller” said Charlie very playfully. “No! Thank you for playing Mr. Dalton I stand upon my desk to remind myself that we must constantly look at things in a different way.” said Mr. Keating. And he lets every student to stand up on his desk. And also he gave them an assignment to write their own poem and they have to read it out front of their class. Todd seemed to look very worried and wraps his poem that he wrote at the moment when Neil enters his room. Neil said that he will go to an audition to be in a play of Shakespeare’s ‘A Midnight Summer’s Dream’. Todd continued to say what if your father doesn’t let you? Or What if your father finds out? And Todd’s worries were quite rankled Neil. He got furious at Todd but soon became calm.

The day after, which was a day they had to present their story, someone’s poem was about love and someone was “A cat sat on the mat” (but Mr. KeatingKeating turns Todd around and points at a picture on the wall.

 “Say the first thing that pops into your head, even if it's total gibberish. Go on, go on.” Said Mr. Keating

 “Uh, uh, a sweaty-toothed madman.” Answered Todd.

“Good God, boy, there's a poet in you, after all. There, close your eyes. Close your eyes. Close 'em. Now, describe what you see.”(Keating puts his hands over Todd's eyes and they begin to slowly spin around.)

“The sweaty toothed madman whose stare pounds my brain.”

“Yes! Excellent.”

“And all the while he's mumbling.”

“ What's he mumbling?”

"Truth. Truth is like, like a blanket that always leaves your feet cold."

“ Forget them. Stay with the blanket. Tell me about that blanket.”

"Y-y-y-you push it, stretch it. It'll never be enough. You kick at it, beat it. It'll never cover any of us. From the moment we enter crying to the moment we leave dying, it will just cover your face as you wail and cry and scream."

The class applauds at Todd.

“Don’t you forget this” whispered Mr. Keating

But this happiness didn’t last long. It started from Neil. His dad realized that he’s doing the play but Neil begs to continue being the on the play. But after the play when Neil arrived home, his father told Neil that you have to be a doctor and graduate Harvard. Neil tried to say something but gives up. And that night, he gets a gun from his father’s drawer and decides to suicide. Every one was shocked and especially Todd which was Neil’s roommate. The school tries hard to find out the reason and they found the “Dead Poets Society’ group and Meek had already told Mr. Nolan and let them sign a scripture that Mr. Keating had avoid Neil, to death.

Mr. Keating had entered the class to get his personal stuffs when Mr. Nolan made one student to read out loud, “Understanding poetry’. There was a smile on Mr. Keating’s face. When he opens the door to leave, Todd stands up on his table and say, “Oh Captain!My Captain!” Mr. Nolan yells to him to sit down but at that moment, “Oh Captain! My Captain!” exclaimed Knox. And one by one, few students stood up their table. Mr. Keating stand in the doorway, staring up at the boys with wonder and a smile comes to his face. “Thank you boys, thank you” It was his last words.

http://middlemindz.blogspot.com/2011/12/wordly-wise-wednesday.html#links

A book Ms.Rees recommended

Book Ms. Rees Recommended

Every Fridays Ms.Rees' 'Reading for Pleasure' group goes to the Media Center and browses books and also recommend it to a friend. At that time, I had already finished my book which was 'Shug' and I have a lack of deciding which book I should read now. So I moved my eyes to Prashansa and asked, "Do you know any books that I would like?" "You should read the Harry Potter!" She answered very rapidly with excitement in her voice.

“Okay, I will.”

             I actually didn’t like the Harry Potter book (this is also another confession). It was all fantasy, and I lied to her that I enjoyed reading it but I told her later that I didn’t like the book (she didn’t have an emotional change.) I asked Ms. Rees, “Could you help me find a book so I can read?” “What type of books do you enjoy reading?” She answered. “Um... A book about someone’s life” I said. She told me to wait until she will find a book. While I was browsing a book named ‘The White Darkness’ I heard Ms. Rees’s foot steps coming toward me. I turned back and I saw a book named ‘TheIsland of the Blue Dolphins’ and ‘Kissing Doorknobs’ in her hand. “You will like this book” she said.

I really really am regretting what I said which was: “I’m enjoying this book!” because after than I always had to lie that I was enjoying it. And I really disliked the book but I didn’t want to hurt her feelings because she liked reading it. To add on in Reading for Pleasure class, we always talk about what book their reading, and soon it was my turn to tell about it. “I’m reading The Blue Island of the Dolphins.”I murmured. “Ah, that book is so bad” “Tat book is so boring!” When I hear all these comments about the book I was reading, I said, “But I like it” although it totally was not. I could realize that Ms. Rees was staring at me (Maybe it’s not true, but I felt it like that) so I kept saying the fake good things about the book. At that moment Ms. Rees said “Eunbin, there’s a movie of The Island of the Blue Dolphins if you want to watch it” Please no… even though my mind was trying to say something totally in a different way, I answered, “Really?” Ah.. and I also asked her if she liked it and she said, “Yes, I really liked it.” (I don’t get the good thing about this book but she seemed to know the entire good thing about the book and the movie)

One day I told Prashansa that I really don’t like the book and she tried to tell Ms. Rees and I tried my best to stop her (which was successful). Maybe because I didn’t wanted her to know that I lied to her, but now I confess that I hated ‘The Island of the Blue Dolphins’ (And I hope no one tells her about it and I really hope with all my heart that she won’t read this confession.

http://middlemindz.blogspot.com/2011/12/confession-tuesday.html

It's the Small Things That Matters

                                            It's the Small Things That Matters

I always thought that I have nothing special. But after talking with my friend at Korea, I changed my mind. I don’t remember the exact date but I remember that I called her at midnight. Her voice tone was very low and also very husky. I actually didn’t matter if she was sleeping or not because I knew that she won’t matter. She asked me if I was fine in Panama. I said “I think I am”. She was worried about my answer and kept asking me various question like: “Is the food okay there?” all these pointless questions. She kept convincing me to tell her so she can help me.

 

I asked her, “Do you think I am good at something?” She started to think that made me think, “Oh, I really don’t?” But soon she said all the small things like nail art, designing, and being a part of ‘Sharing love together(sarangbat)’ that I thought it actually doesn’t matter. She continued, “You might think that they are really small and no one would actually care but it isn’t.” After she continued her very long speech about the ‘small things’, to tell the truth I actually didn’t pay attention to what she was saying because her voice was much more worse than just husky it was little hard to listen what she was saying and also my phone got really hot which made my ears hurt so I moved my phone from my left eat to my right ear so I wasn’t able to listen to her words.

 

I tried to sleep but my eyes wouldn’t close. “You might think that they are really small and no one would actually care but it isn’t.” At that moment, in my head, I heard my friend’s husky voice saying that. I tried to think positive that small things are sometimes important. I had difficulties concentrating to think positive but I eyes were slowly closing and I don’t remember from then.

 

Few weeks later, in my English class, Mrs. Meadows gave us an assignment to write a six word memoir that shows who I am. I was stuck with the six word memoir so I asked Prashansa to give me some examples. She answered “Likes, drawing, nail art, designing and what else do you like?” “But those are like tiny little things” I said. Suddenly, Sammy who was sitting next to me said “It’s the small things that matters.” “Oh! That’s six words! It’s the small things that matters!” Prashansa said it with excitement. I was surprised at Sammy for saying that without thinking and more surprised at Prashansa at catching that. And I thought again, maybe really small things matters. If I don’t do nail art my friends will be unhappy, if I don’t design clothes for my dream, I certainly would feel terrible and who knows? Maybe in the future someone would be wearing a cloth that I designed! And for the last if I’m not a part of the ‘Sharing love together’ one child should have suffered from hunger.

Your Choice to Read it or Not -Cathcher in the Rye

Your Choice to Read it or Not

The book ‘Catcher in the Rye’ written by J.D. Salinger is an issue started from the time 1960s until now a days. The reason why so many people are keep talking about this book is because this book is about a teenager’s life but in a different type from the other coming of age books. A teenage boy drinking alcohol, girls, sex and withdrawal from the school. It doesn’t sound good just reading the theme but this is the magnetism of this book. No one had tried to write a coming age story with a main character being different, to say it in a disrespect way, being mad. Still, I would suggest the peoples to read this book and I will try to change their mind which is full of prejudice.

             The first major reason I would suggest to read this book is because, while you are reading this book, you will have an indirect experience of all the happenings that the main character is suffering. In my opinion it was very weird to read a madman’s thoughts and actions. And I realized that human can have a big difference from what they say or look in the outside and the inside. To add on in Holden’s (main character) life, there are various kinds of happenings and it is very rare to experience what Holden went through. Such as getting kicked out of school, lost one brother from leukemia, and having a mental problem.

Second reason why I would like to offer this book to the others is because you have to think about why Holden said this. For an example once he said that he will hide his children and never let them go to school. I couldn’t think of the reason why. But I realized that the chapter before was a story of Holden trying to meet his sister in her school (she goes to an elementary school) and he saw a scribble on the wall written, “Fuck you”. So he wanted to protect his children from a mature or dangerous world from hiding them and not letting them go to school. This is why I liked this book. You really have to think the reason. And the more you think about the book, the more you get in to the book.

On the other hand, most of the people had many dissatisfaction of this book. Like, the American Library Association (ALA) says on its website that “In 1960, a teacher in Tulsa, Okla.was fired for assigning the book to an eleventh grade English class. The teacher appealed and was reinstated by the school board, but the book was removed from use in the school. In 1963, a delegation of parents of high school students in Columbus, Ohio, asked the school board to ban the novel for being ‘anti-white’ and ‘obscene’. And also Adam Gopnik writes about a man in his 40s who loved the book Catcher in the Rye but feared that his own son would find the environment too distant to connect.

Although Catcher in the Rye has many issues I think that people should allow this book to the students. Because it is a life of someone and someone around the world could have a similar situation or a milieu with Holden. And to them, it might mean that  their life is so bad that the student may not know about their life. And I don’t think that there’s such a big problem about this book that the schools rebuffed this book. So I would like to recommend this book to the people to read it. I hope my two reasons to read the ‘Catcher in the Rye’ had convinced the people who had a strong prejudice.

            

Memoir book review

Chinese Cinderella

Chinese Cinderella, as the name Chinese, the back ground of this memoir is placed on China, Tianjin. The story is about a little girl who was only aged seven, and she was hurt by all of her family members. They might not act very cruel all the times to her but their words hurt her heart many times than they can ever imagine. The last paragraph in the first chapter, aunt Baba said, “Mama died giving birth to you. If you had not been born, Mama would still be alive. She died because of you. You are bad luck.” She didn’t seem to be shocked. She just accepted the situation. Another reason why she was not gruesome at all would be because every day, her family talks about their mom and point finger to her. 

Getting those bad visions from her family certainly would have felt the pain of her heart breaking into pieces even though she was a child. One of her hard parts that made a crack on her heart is when her grandmother, Nai Nai passed. She had died from a massive stroke. Nai Nai wasn’t very lovable to her but she was the one who cared about her the most in her family. But since she had passed and aunt Baba was not available to take care all of the children, she took big sister, big and second brother and her to meet her father which seemed to be a very wealthy guy. When they entered his gigantic house, which was located at Shanghai, one young looking woman was standing and saying that she is their step mother from now. They had a very brief greetings and she rapidly introduces the house and tells them what not to do. She seems to be very mean only to her step children.

             In her first day of school, she had to walk all the way to her school because her step mother doesn’t let them ride a fancy car nor transportation like a bus. She complained about it but she didn’t. She was too complained about it but she didn’t. She was too young to realize all the fact that her step mother hated. But the stepmother acts very kindly and lovely to her own children.

             While her heart was getting cold because of no interest and love from her family, she got a very good grade on her school grade. And her dad complemented her with an eye that she never felt before. She naturally felt that studying is the only way to get attention from her dad. And also her grade she was getting from the school was getting higher and higher. She couldn’t wait going to her school, because although she gets all the pain and no love from her family at her house, at the school, every one treats her equally and many complements from her friends and teachers about her writing skills. Her writing skills got better as the time kept passing by and her dream grew bigger to be an author but her dad didn’t allow that. But as a result she became a writer.

              My favorite quote or line in this memoir is “Wisdom comes from suffering.” This quote really touched my heart and it made me think again about my suffering. But I guess I’m too young to realize the true meaning of the quote. Besides Yen Mah she proved the quote in her life and showed people that she can be happy even though she doesn’t have a good child hood. She made her dream become true and that’s a lot to learn from her.

The memoir about her childhood is a lot like the Cinderella story who Charle perrautlt is the author. The parts that were similar were: which her siblings didn’t like her and also her step mother hated her step children but she loved her own children and she gives everything that her child wants to have or eat. To add on, the part when her step mother treats her as a maid was very similar. This why the title is named the ‘Chinese Cinderella’ and when someone reads it, they will feel very familiar to the story but written in an oriental way.

             When I finished the book, I thought that I’m a lucky girl who has a family who loves and care about me. I had some cultural common with the author especially the background of the story. Like the traditions and also cultural foods such as mandoo. To keep writing what I thought, was that she might be a bad luck but at the end (not the end of the book), she have her children and her dream of being an author came true. So I think that she is a winner at the end and also very sure about what she is doing and to make it become true like her dream, which was being an author which her father really didn’t like it and preferred to be a doctor or a pharmacist.

             I think that Adeline Yen Mah learned that no one had the right to conquer her, and to stop her from following her dreams. I think she realized that she could be whatever she wanted to be if she only had the confidence and the strength and believed in herself. I think she also learned that as long she's happy, it doesn’t matter what her family thinks of her, because they were always unsupportive of her dreams.