Dead Poets Society Conformity Post

It is and always has been human nature to seek acceptance from one’s peers and to fear loneliness. The desire to fit in usually overwhelms people’s desire to always be independent and be themselves. This is especially true among teenagers. In a school environment, a student’s worst fear is to be taken as strange or weird, and be shunned by his fellow students. In order to feel socially acceptable, students constantly feel the need to conform and try to behave, think, and look similar to those around them. Dead Poets Society is about a group of students living in this environment at a very esteemed boarding school called Welton Academy. With the teachers and professors of Welton Academy encouraging this behavior, as well as most of the student’s parents, the majority of the students at Welton found little opportunity to stay true to themselves and follow what they believed in. Everyone around them, their parents, their teachers, and unknowingly their friends, constantly influenced them to conform. The method of education that Welton utilized went completely against that idea that every child has a right to express them self however they want, and should choose their own future.

            At the beginning of Dead Poets Society, a new professor is being introduced to the students and staff, Mr. Keating. Mr. Keating is the new poetry teacher for the group of students who make up the movie’s main characters. Mr. Keating uses an extremely unorthodox method of teaching, one that most if not all of his fellow teachers and professors disapprove of. Because of his strange teaching strategy and refusal to conform to the ways of his peers, Mr. Keating quickly earned the dislike of the dean of the school. Indeed, he was blamed for some horrible events that transpired towards the end of the story. Mr. Keating’s lessons about how everyone should choose their own future and not let anyone tell them who they should be gave many of his students the courage to speak out against the school and their parents. Some of them were inspired to be themselves and follow their passions despite severe consequences that occurred later on in the story. Every student who stuck out and attempted to be a non-conformist for a while quickly faced severe punishment from either the school or their parents. One student went against the wishes of his extremely controlling father and followed his passion for acting without his father’s consent. His father became infuriated, so furious that he pulled his son out of Welton and enrolled him in military school. The student soon committed suicide rather than live with a father who wouldn’t let his son do what actually made him happy. Because of the overpowering tradition of conformity and discipline that was enforced at Welton, the school was essentially a place where all the professors, who were practically clones, could mold the students into exactly who their parents wanted them to be. When Mr. Keating arrived and attempted to change some of the student’s way of thinking, the academy quickly rejected his ideas and promised punishment or expulsion for any who would not continue to conform.

Modern Day Transcendentalism Post

A good example of a modern day transcendentalist would be the lead singer of the band Slipknot, Corey Taylor. The nature and genre of this band somewhat defies categorization, because their music is fairly unique, but heavy metal is one thing that many people describe them as. The band was composed of nine members, until the recent death of their bass player, and they often referred to themselves as the nine. Corey and the rest of his band are extremely non conformist, and go to great lengths to display their uniqueness. For every album, they each wear a new grotesquely designed mask that they always wear at performances and on their music videos. Much of their music is about them expressing their hatred for what they believe to be an extremely corrupt society that we currently live in. They are anti government, anti religion, and basically anti anything that they don’t agree with. Although for the most part the whole band agrees with these beliefs, it is Corey that comes up with most of the songs and themes and writes most of their lyrics. 

http://www.songonlyrics.com/slipknot-biography

Slipknot is a pretty popular band, and their fans have taken to calling themselves maggots, after the release of a song Named Pulse of the Maggots. The song is essentially about how he and his band are going to support each other and their fans, and stay the way they are and deny anyone’s attempt to change them. One song that is an even better example of Corey’s transcendentalist beliefs is My Plague. It is about Corey’s utter contempt for anyone who tries to be someone they’re not just to change what people will think of them. The song expresses Corey’s belief that people should be themselves, and how anyone who doesn’t do so he considers to be his “plague”. The song The Heretic Anthem describes how Corey believes in standing your ground and not following or taking orders from anyone. Corey Taylor is an extremely unique human being, and he and his band are at least as independent and strange as Lady Gaga.

Modern Day Transcendentalism Post

A good example of a modern day transcendentalist would be the lead singer of the band Slipknot, Corey Taylor. The nature and genre of this band somewhat defies categorization, because their music is fairly unique, but heavy metal is one thing that many people describe them as. The band was composed of nine members, until the recent death of their bass player, and they often referred to themselves as the nine. Corey and the rest of his band are extremely non conformist, and go to great lengths to display their uniqueness. For every album, they each wear a new grotesquely designed mask that they always wear at performances and on their music videos. Much of their music is about them expressing their hatred for what they believe to be an extremely corrupt society that we currently live in. They are anti government, anti religion, and basically anti anything that they don’t agree with. Although for the most part the whole band agrees with these beliefs, it is Corey that comes up with most of the songs and themes and writes most of their lyrics. 

Slipknot is a pretty popular band, and their fans have taken to calling themselves maggots, after the release of a song Named Pulse of the Maggots. The song is essentially about how he and his band are going to support each other and their fans, and stay the way they are and deny anyone’s attempt to change them. One song that is an even better example of Corey’s transcendentalist beliefs is My Plague. It is about Corey’s utter contempt for anyone who tries to be someone they’re not just to change what people will think of them. The song expresses Corey’s belief that people should be themselves, and how anyone who doesn’t do so he considers to be his “plague”. The song The Heretic Anthem describes how Corey believes in standing your ground and not following or taking orders from anyone. Corey Taylor is an extremely unique human being, and he and his band are at least as independent and strange as Lady Gaga.

Walden Essay Final Copy

            In this modern age, everyday life has complicated itself beyond the bounds of anything the writer and philosopher Henry Thoreau could have ever imagined. An advocate for the beauty of nature and simplicity, Thoreau spent over two years of his life living alone in the wild forest, writing down his thoughts and ideas about the beauty around him as they came to mind. Today, it is extremely difficult for people to simplify their lives to the extent that Thoreau did. Few would be willing to take his same extreme measures and isolate themselves in the wilderness for years on end. With all the modern technology, life is more complicated than ever before. People find it necessary to process ridiculous amounts of information on a minute to minute basis, and are usually in nearly constant communication with other members of society. It is exceedingly difficult for people to just detach themselves from the complex, intense reality that they live in and appreciate the simpler things that life has to offer. Many of the things that Thoreau was incessantly expressing his love for through his writing and journal are the things that people casually take for granted today. Appreciation of nature and how its peacefulness and simple harmony affect our lives is usually far from the minds of the people living in today’s world.

http://www.flickzzz.com/2009/02/beauty-of-nature-18.html

            Looking at the state of the world today, we can confirm that Thoreau did indeed seem to have some insight as to what the future would be like. His visions of cities and farmland taking over the forests turned out to be quite accurate. The former sprawling forests of our continent have indeed been greatly reduced. The majority of the population lives either in densely populated cites or in vast suburban areas. The closest thing that many people experience involving nature on a daily basis is a few trees and squirrels one might spot while walking down the block. Most people’s thought process mainly revolves around their social life, or making enough money in their chosen career to stay afloat, nothing close to what Thoreau most valued in his life. While Henry sought isolation and simplicity, most people today greatly fear being alone and uninvolved with the wider world.  

http://www.nasa.gov/vision/earth/lookingatearth/NIGHTLIGHTS.html

                                                                                           

Because of how much people use their technology to always keep them updated on what’s happening in their world, it is hard for people to set aside a few moments every now and then to just sit down, relax, and think.  With things like facebook and cell phones constantly being used for people to always stay in touch, some people can very rarely find themselves a few moments of complete solitude for some quiet contemplation. Very few people today can say that they have experienced life’s, and nature’s, simpler beauties the way that Henry did.

http://louisa-catherall-art.blogspot.com/2009/11/city-stress.html

            Many people living here in the modern day could benefit much from reading the work of Henry Thoreau. Though many people of his time thought him to be a complete fool, it is clear to us today that the man certainly did learn some important, if somewhat odd, lessons and values during his time spent alone in the woods. He gained a deeper insight into the simpler beauties of life and nature, and people would do well to appreciate and perhaps try to learn from his philosophies. 

Walden Rough Draft Post

                In this modern age, it is much more difficult for people to simplify their lives. I’m sure that few would be willing to take the same extreme measures that Thoreau did and isolate themselves in the wilderness for years on end. With all the modern technology, everyday life is more complicated than ever before, with ridiculous amounts of information having to be processed on a minute to minute basis, and people being in nearly constant communication. It is very hard for people to escape the complex, intense reality that they currently live in and appreciate the simpler things that life has to offer. Most of the things that Thoreau was constantly expressing his love for are things that people casually take for granted today. Appreciation of nature and how its peacefulness and simplicity affect our lives is not something that most people of the 2000’s often think about.

            Thoreau’s vision of the future turned out to be somewhat true. There are indeed many, many more cities in North America than there were in Thoreau’s time, and the former sprawling forests of our country have been greatly reduced. Most of the population lives either in densely populated cities or sprawling suburban areas. The closest thing that many experience involving nature on a daily basis is a few trees and squirrels while walking down the block. Most people’s thoughts and attentions are mainly focused on their social life and their chosen career, nothing close to what Thoreau valued in his life. While Henry sought isolation and simplicity, most people today greatly fear being alone and uninvolved with the wider world.

Because of how much people use their technology to keep them informed of what’s happening in their world, it is very difficult for most people to detach themselves from what is constantly happening with other individuals around them and just take a few moments to themselves to relax. With things like facebook and cell phones constantly being used for people to constantly keep in touch, it is not very often that people can find themselves a few moments of solitude for quiet contemplation. Not very many people today ever come close to Henry’s experience with the simpler joys of life, involving nature and solitude.

            Many people today could benefit much from reading the work of Henry Thoreau. Although many people of his time thought him a fool, it is obvious today that the man truly did learn much from his time spent alone in the woods. He gained an appreciation for nature and the simple things in life that many people today would do well to try themselves.