Phrase for Journaling:    Fall   

Any meaning of the word you wish

...Begin writing a poem or song.

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Overall I think there is a juxtaposition between Mr. Keating's Romantic beliefs and teachings and the conservative ways of the school. In the school they have something called the four pillars which consist of things like discipline and excellence. The school believes that if you follow the rules you will succeed, however this contrasts the way Mr. Keating teaches. 

We see a juxtaposition between Romanticism and conservative thinking was when Mr. Mcallister criticized Mr. Keating's teaching style because it was going against the typical way of the school. Mr. Keating liked teaching the boys that it was good to come up with ideas on your own about literature and to form your own opinions. On the contrary, the other teachers had the boys memorizing facts and not thinking for themselves just taking in the knowledge.

One scene where I noticed Romantic ideas being conveyed was the first lesson Keating ever taught. He proved the idea that "words and ideas can change the world" by instructing the boys to rip their textbooks. Keating and his students discussed love, not facts. Keating brings up the point that love is "what we stay alive for" and this focuses on the Romantic idea of expressing emotion. Many of the boys kept to themselves about personal information and focused on school. But now that they were in touch with a more emotional side, they were fascinated. They were ripping the logical and calculated way of looking at poetry and they were left with the art that is poetry. By doing this they were exposed to the beauty of poetry and came to certain conclusions about themselves and their futures. When posed with the question, "What will your verse be?" the boys are introduced to a whole new way of thinking, similar to the way of thinking with Romantic ideas. Instead of planning study groups and reading textbooks, they are experiencing life and living by the important phrase in this movie, "Carpe diem". By learning from Keating, the students are learning about life through the eyes of a Romantic, changing their perspectives as well.

In one of Mr. Keating's English classes, the students read a section of their textbook which states that one can calculate the greatness of a poem by plotting points on a graph and then finding the area of that graph. This example demonstrates conservative ideals, due to the systematic nature of following a formula to measure a poem's value. Shortly after this, Mr. Keating expresses his distaste for this section and demands that his students tear that page (as well as the whole introduction) out of their textbooks. He does this to encourage his students to pursue free thinking, which is a very Romantic ideal. This juxtaposition demonstrates the outlandishness of Mr. Keating's Romantic teaching within a very structured, conservative school system.

Romanticism can be seen all around the school. For instance, the school itself is placed surrounded by nature. There are many trees, fields and a body of water that surround the school. Nature is a big Romantic idea. Inside the school, Mr. Keating demonstrates romanticism inside his classroom. Instead of having his students use a "poetic formula" to rate poetry, he has his students think more freely about poetry. The students are then asked to rip out the first chapter of pages. Free-thinking is another big part of romanticism. By having the boys rip out the pages, Mr. Keating is showing the boys that they have freedom in doing so.

Homework: Read Chapter Six of Into The Wild