Worksheet Dead Poets Society chapter 4

Dead Poets Society

Chapter 4

“If you listen real close, you can hear them whisper their legacy to you. Go on, lean in. Listen, you hear it? ---- Carpe -- hear it? – Carpe, Carpe Diem, seize the day boys, make your lives extraordinary.”

1. What do we learn about the teachers?

Describe:

-        The chemistry teacher (He is balding and he wears glasses (bespectacled). He is strict and he gives a lot of homework for the next day.

-        The Latin teacher (He is called Mr. McAllister. He has a Scottish dialect). He is strict and hardcore. He is going to give the boys a test for tomorrow in Latin words.

-        The Math teacher (He is called Dr. Hager. He is strict too.) If you miss a delivering assignment Dr. Hager will penalize one point off the persons final grade. He is a tough teacher who asks many difficult questions about math. Many rules.

They expect hard work.

2. Describe the English teacher Mr. Keating – how is he different than the other teachers?

Mr. Keating is a funny and different english teacher then the other teachers. He is not tough/strict like the others. His biggest focus is not on the books, but on the thoughts he comes with and the students´. He has an open and relaxed dialog with the students. The other teachers’ dialog with the students are more closed and strict. He is a unorthodocs. He does not follow the rules. Encourages individual thinking. Rebellious. He is charismatic, energetic, interesting, dedicated. The students call him "Captain, my captain".

3. Translate the following words into Danish

English	Dansk
Dismay	Forfærdelses
Recitation	fremsigelse
Blackboard	vægtavle
Strolling	omvandrende
Piercingly	Gennemtrængende
Scholars	Videnskabsmand
Stanza	Vers/strofe
Peruse	gennemlæse
Iota	En smule
Deity	Guddom
Squander	Forspilde
Hesitantly	tøve
Fertilizing	Gødende/befrugte
Daffodil	Påskelilje

4. "To the Virgins, to Make Much of Time" by Robert Herrick (17^th century)

What does the poem on page 25 mean?

“Gather (samle) ye rosebuds (rosenknop) while ye may,

Old Time is still a flying:

And this same flower that smiles today,

Tomorrow will be dying.”

The Poem means that young people should go make their dreams come truth today while they can and not tomorrow because then the opportunity is dying (maybe it is too late to make you dream comes truth). Carpe diem (latin) seize the day = grib dagen.

You can read the poem in its full length here: http://www.poetryfoundation.org/poem/175882

(“Gather Ye Rosebuds While Ye May”, 1909 by John William Waterhouse - inspired by the 17th century poem "To the Virgins, to Make Much of Time" by Robert Herrick).

5. Who was Walt Whitman? Investigate online

Walt Whitman was an American poet, journalist and humanist. He was a famous poet in the USA.

(Walt Whitman, May 31, 1819 – March 26, 1892)

Poem: “O Captain! My Captain”, Walt Whitman: http://www.poetryfoundation.org/poem/174742

What is the poem about and to whom is it written?

The poem is written to Abraham Lincoln.

The poem is about Abraham Lincoln’s life and what he fought for. He fought for the blacks conditions. Make the Black people accepted. Lincoln won the civil war in USA but he died. He was killed because he fought for better condition for the blacks. Walt Whitman had Lincoln as his idol. It was his captain and role model. 

Why do you think Mr. Keating tells the students that they may call him "O Captain! My Captain!" (if they feel daring)?

We think that Mr. Keating tells the students that they may call him “O Captain”, because it shows that he is the students’ idol. Like Walt Whitman´s idol was Abraham Lincoln.

Mr. Keeating can make the boys be individual and follow their own path instead of the parents. He is a guide and if the boys want him to be their guide he will be it.