Examples Of Transcendentalism In Dead Poets Society

Race Hudson

English 11A

DPS Synthesis Paper

31 January 2023

Transcendentalism In The Dead Poets Society And Civil Disobedience

“You must trust that your beliefs are unique, your own, even though others may think them good or unpopular” (Dead Poets Society). Transcendentalism is an intellectual movement that emphasized the dignity of the individual and advocates a simple mindful life. A paper written by Henry David Thoreau called “Civil Disobedience” talks about how your thoughts and ideas are stronger than a higher power’s beliefs and that you should follow your thought and ideas instead of following the herd. We, as a society, are still talking about this later on since it is an important belief everyone should consider in their lives since

For example, when Mr. Keating pushed Todd to think freely and for himself. The scene took place during the school year in Mr. Keating’s English class. Todd at the time was shy and stayed away from participation, so Mr. Keating wanted him to read his poem out loud, but Todd didn’t do it. Mr. Keating then made Todd “`yawp” and describe Uncle Walt, a picture on the wall just saying and not thinking. Todd then went on to tell a great poem through Mr. Keating helping Todd find his inner voice, the class cheered, and Mr. Keating told Todd, “Don’t you forget this”. This demonstrates finding truth on your own because Mr. Keating pushed for Todd to think freely and to find his truth through poetry as he described Uncle Walt the way he saw it, not how others saw it, and discovered his truths that way. Another example of this is when Mr. Keating had his English class rip out the introduction to how to appreciate poetry. This happened on the 1st day of school in Mr. Keating’s classroom when he had Niel read the introductory. Once he was done, Mr. Keating had everyone rip it out, and after some hesitation, everyone did what was told. Mr. Keating wanted everyone to do this so his students could learn to think freely again. This demonstrates finding truth on your own since Mr. Keating didn’t want some guy telling his whole class how to appreciate poetry, he wanted them to learn that for themselves. He wants his students to have their own opinions instead of just living under one opinion forever without thinking about it. One final example is when Mr. Keating had his class go to the courtyard to have his students “find their walk”. This happened during the school day when as a class, they all marched to the courtyard. There, Mr. Keating explains that they were there to learn about conformity, not listening to others' beliefs and