Dead Poets Society Notes- Part 2

Amanda Rogers
10/31/13

Dead Poets Society Notes- Part 2

·         Knox shows up to large house party where Kris is

·         Knoxs drinking, boys mention Knoxs brother, says he doesn’t know him

·         We see Charles making up poems to say to Gloria and Tina (girls he brought to cave)

·         Knoxs awkwardly sitting at party, drinking

·         Kris is laying down next to him, sleeping. Knox kisses her forehead, gets caught

·         Chet and Knox start fighting. “Next time I see you, you die”- Chet

·         Shows students drinking/smoking in cave, talking about school, college, girls

·         Charlie puts an article in school paper in the name of “DPS”, Neil is upset, wants to keep club a secret/exclusive

·         At assembly, school officials walk in angry

·         Talk about “profane and unauthorized article”

·         “Whoever the guilty persons are, this is your only chance to avoid expulsion of this school” – Mr. Nolan

·         Charles Dalton makes joke about girl being allowed at school, gets in trouble

·         Mr. Nolan hits him with a paddle

·         Mr. Nolan questioning him about DPS

·         Charles walks through the hallway, students starring at him

·         Chalres- “I have to turn everybody in and apologize to the school.” Insist that Neil calls him by his other name.

·         Mr. Nolan confronts Mr Keating

·          “I always though the purpose of education was to learn to think for yourself.” – Mr Keating

·         “Prepare them for education.”-Nolan

·         “There is a time for daring and a time for caution, a wise man knows which is called for” –Mr Keating

·         We see neil walk into the theater when they play rehearsal is

·         Neil running through the hallway, excited, happy

·         Walks into dorm room, his father is there

·         “don’t you dare talk back to me” “you wasted your time with this absured acting busness “ “you decived me” –Neils dad

·         Neils father tells him to quit play, will not take no for an answer

·          “I made many sacrifices to get you hear Neil, you will not let me down.” – Neils dad

·         Neil goes into mr keatings room, asks to talk to him

·         “I love teaching, I don’t want to be anywhere else.”- Mr K

·         Neil explains his father is making him quit play “acting is everything to me, he doesn’t know me” “he’s planning my life for me, he’s never asked me what I want” – Neil

·         Mr keating tells Neil he has to tell his father how he really feels “your being an actor for you father, playing the role of the perfect son.”

·         “Im Trapped.” -Neill

·         Knox shows up to school with flowers for Kris, wrote her a poem

·         Knox tell her he loves her, she rejects the flowers and says “just forget it”

·         Knox follows her into class, reads her love poem

·         Neil tells mr Keating that his father is going to let him stay in the play, he says he told his father what he told mr keating

·         “I think he’ll let me stay with it.” – Neil

·         Kris shows up at dorm to talk to knox

·         “you made a fool out of me.” – Kris

·         “you have got to stop this stuff.” –Kris

·         “it just so happens I could care less about you.” –Kris “Then you wouldn’t be here warning me about chet.”- Knox

·         Talks kris into going to the play with him, she agrees

·         We see Neil acting on stage, clearly enjoying himself, happy, passionate

·         Neil sees his father walk into theater

·         Knox reaches over to hold kris’s hand

·         We see neil on stage again, his father watching, neil appears confidents

·         Play ends, neils smiles, appears very happy

·         Neils father is furious, “you stay away from my son.” –neils dad to mr keating

·         Neils partents decide to take him out of welton, going to enroll him in military school

·         Neil try’s to stand up to his father, cannot do it

·         “I was good, I was really good.” – Neil out loud

·         We see neil standing at window, he closes his eyes, wearing his hat from play

·         Neil unlocks a drawer, pulls out gun wrapped in cloth

·         Neil has shot himself. Parents distraught “oh my son, my poor son.”- father

·         We see students finding out about neils death. They inform Todd “Neil’s dead”

·         Todd collapses, crying. Boys try to comfort him, he runs away from them

·         Mr keating in classroom. Crying, going through neils desk, finds book

·         Shows boys singing at funeral, crying

·         “Neil was a fine student, one of Weltons best, he will be missed.”

·         “we are the victims, us and Neil.”

·         They are after mr keating, trying to blame him for neils death

·         Charlie punches Cameron because cameron blames Mr. Keating

·         We learn Charlie got expelled

·         Todds parents are in mr Nolans office, they are questioning him about DPS, Mr Keating, try to force todd to sign paper agreeing neils death is Mr. Keating’s fault

·         Mr keating walks into classroom while students are being taught by sub

·         We see mr keating about to walk out of classroom, todd is ashamed he signed the paper, trys to explain this to mr keating

·         Todd stands on desk “oh captain my captain.”

·         Other students follow

·         Mr keating smiles, proud

·         Teacher yelling for students to sit down

·         All of DPS standing on desks

·         “Thank you Boys, thank you.” Mr keating

How Mr. Escalante and Mr. Keating are different/similar

When it comes to Mr. Escalante and Mr. Keating, the similarities mostly outweigh the differences. Both teachers use unique teaching styles to capture the attention of their students. For example, in one of his first lessons Mr. Keating has one student recite a passage from a book called “understanding poetry”. He fools the students into thinking they should be paying close attention by intensely drawing graphs and models on the blackboard while the passage is being read. He then tells the students that he strongly disagrees with everything the book said and instructed his students to rip up the pages. When the students hesitated, He exclaimed “It’s not the bible, you’re not going to go to hell for this! Rip it out!” Similarly, Mr. Escalante caught his students off guard when we showed up to class in the apron and chef’s hat. By cutting up the apple to explain fractions, he got a rise out of his students and grasped their attention.

Both Mr. Escalante and Mr. Keating taught their students on a more personal level. During one scene in Dead Poets Society, Mr. Keating was giving a lesson. He got down on one knee in the middle of the classroom and told the students to “huddle up”. This made everyone in the class feel included. Similarly, Mr. Escalante constantly walked around his classroom asking each individual students questions. He made sure everyone was included and nobody got left behind.

The most significant similarity to me was how inspiring both teachers were. Mr. Escalante sparked a fire inside of his un-motivated students by pushing them to the fullest extent. He expressed the importance of education, and most importantly, he never stopped believing in his students. Mr. Keating was inspiring the way that he had such a strong passion for poetry, and therefore would stop at nothing for his students to share that passion. He used visual examples to convey his insights, such as the scene where he jumped up on the desk and said “I stand upon my desk to remind myself that we must constantly look at things in a different way.” In both movies, the teachers manage to fully engage the students in learning. I believe that is something only great teachers can accomplish.

Welton Academy vs. Garfield High School

Garfield High School from “Stand and Deliver” and Welton Academy from “Dead Poets Society” have a broad range of differences between them. Garfield HS is a public school in the heart of East Los Angeles. Teachers and faculty at Garfield do not expect much from the students.  Welton Academy for Boys is a private high school occupied by promising young men. Unlike Garfield HS, Parents and faculty at Welton have extremely high expectations for the students and expect them to earn excellent grades, and eventually peruse higher education after they graduate.  The majority of students at Garfield HS are Hispanic, different from Welton Academy where most of the students are Caucasian. 

 It is obvious that the boys from Welton and the students from Garfield grew up very differently. In Stand and Deliver, we saw poverty stricken families, who were struggling to make ends-meat. In most cases, the students had to work in order to help support their families. Whereas in Dead Poets Society, the families of the boys were well-to-do. They were able to afford to send their child to private school, and strived for their children to become successful like them. 

One of the main differences between Welton Academy and Garfield HS was the students will to learn. Right away, we see the young men at Welton organizing study groups, working on projects, and talking about assignments. At Garfield, it wasn’t until the students found motivation in Mr. Escalante that they started to become eager to learn. These differences are what makes each school unique. 

Dead Poets Society- Part 1 Notes

Amanda Rogers
10/29/13
Dead Poets Society- Notes

• CHARACTERS- Dr Nolan, Neil Perry, Tom (Neils father), Todd Anderson (Neil's roommate) ,Jeff Anderson (Todd brother, scholar), Cameron, Steven meeks, Mr keating-(robin Williams, teacher), Dr. Hager, Knox, Danberries, Chet Danberry, Kris (girl), Mr mcallister, Charlie (saxophone player)
• Shows male students from preparatory school in a church ceremony 
• "honor, discipline, excellence"
• High expectations of students "most students onto an ivy league"
• Shows young boy crying "I don't want to go here"
• Neil's Father wants son to drop extra classes. 
• Neil's father wants him to finish medical school, says until then Neil has to do what he says
• Busy school, lots of students
• Shows teachers being strict/stern, assigning large workload "if you fail to do homework you will be penalized one point, don't test me on this one" - teacher
•  Mr Keating making students laugh. Tells them he used to be a weakling when he attended school
• Introduces himself to students with a Poem. Recites poetry to students
• makes students look at old pictures of former students, compares them to the students. explains that they are no longer alive, "Carpe diam, seize the day. make you lives extraordinary"
• Cameron, Neil, students thought lecture was "creepy"
• Students motivated to study. "Who's up for a study group tonight?"
• Shows Todd studying, stressed, lots of school books
• Mr Keating has students reading poetry in class "understanding poetry"
• Mr keating draws a graph on blackboard to explain what is being read
• Mr keating stated he doesn't agree with what was read "Rip out the page, go on rip it out!" 
• "Be gone jay evens pritchard! It’s not the bible you're not going to go to hell for this."
• Students ripping up books
• Mr Keating- "You will learn to savor words and language." "we dont read and write poetry because we think it’s cute. We read and write poetry because we are members of the human race and the human race is filled with passion." 
• Has students "huddle up" to talk to them
• Explaining to students they can do great things "what will your verse be?"
• Mr Mcallister"You take a big risk encouraging them to become artists" Mr Keating-  "Tot artist, freethinkers"
• Students ask about the dead poets society.
• Mr keating tells them about a "cave" where people read poetry, students decide to go find it
• Neil finds a book -"Five Centuries of Verse" to be read at DPS
• Boys start reading poetry, having fun with it
• Mr Keating stands on desk "I stand on my desk to remind myself we must think of things in a different way."
• "Just when you think you know something you have to look at it in a different way."
• Assigns students to write a poem of their own
• Neil wants to actor "I've always wanted to be an actor, father wouldn't let me."
• Todd discourages him
• Neil and Todd talk about Todd "not caring about anything Mr. Keating says" 
• "you're the kind of person that talks and people listen, im not." -Todd to Neil
• Mr keating incorporates poetry while students play sports
• Neil gets main part in play, needs letter from Mr Knowlen, and father to approve
• "Mr Hopkins you were laughing, you're up."
• "don't let your poems be ordinary", "poetry can come from simple things."
• "I think you have something inside of you that is worth a great deal" - Mr keating to Todd
• makes Todd "Yawp" in font of the class
• encourages Todd to use his imagination while describing a picture of a man
• Mr keating pushes Todd to keep talking, encourges him to close his eyes and pictures things, keep talking to make a poem
• "Don't you forget this" - Mr Keating
• Knox repeats "carpe diem" when calling Kris
• Mr keating teaches unique lessons, interacts, makes students march around outside. Mkae up there own way to walk
• "we all have a great need for acceptance, we must believe that we are unique."
• Todd birthday- parents gave him the same gift as last year "Maybe they weren't thinking about anything at all."
• Neil makes light of situation, makes todd laugh, todd throws desk set off roof
• students begin grasp the importance of poetry. Enjoy reading it. 
• Students like Mr Keating. Enjoy his lessons

How Mr. Escalante and Mr. MacFarland are similar

Mr. Escalante from “Stand and Deliver”, and Mr. MacFarland from Mike Rose’s “I Just Wanna be Average”, are similar in many ways. Both have a very bold way of teaching. Mr. Escalante shows up to his classroom and immediately puts the student’s minds to work. He was constantly asking students questions during class, and urging them to learn difficult math concepts. Mr. MacFarland also had this approach when it came to teaching. He frequently assigned his students large workloads. “We wrote three or four essays a month. We read a book every two to three weeks” Mike rose said of Mr. MacFarland. Rose also talks about his teacher constantly asking his class questions.  This bold teaching style was effective for both teachers. They both gained the respect of their students and challenged them to do their work. Students gained respect for Mr. E because he wouldn’t let them fail. He would make student look foolish by not answering the questions, mocking them into doing their work. For example, when Lupe states she is not going to take the Quiz, Mr. E makes her sit in a chair in the front of the class and whispers “You’re the show, now.” Macfarland also uses this same technique to gain his students respect. Mike Rose says “If nothing else, we all recognized MacFarland's considerable intelligence and respected the hours he put into his work. It came to this: the troublemaker would look foolish rather than daring.”

The most significant similarity between the two teachers was their ability to make the students strive for knowledge. They genuinely wanted to learn. In Stand and Deliver, we see the students being accused of cheating, but even so, they do not give up. They want to succeed just as badly and Mr. E wants them to succeed. In I Just Wanna be Average, Rose states in the last paragraph, “It enabled me to do things in the world” speaking of the knowledge he gained during the time Macfarland was his English teacher. Reward and success came upon both the students and the teachers in both of these incredible stories.  

My recation to part 2 of "Stand and Deliver"

In the first part of Stand and Deliver, we were introduced to several students in a public high school in East Los Angeles. Some teachers would describe these students as “illiterate”.  We watched as those same students were encouraged to push their learning abilities by their new teacher, Mr. Escalante.  With his unique personality and “tough love” teaching style, the students started to grasp the importance of education and genuinely wanted to succeed. The second part of “Stand and Deliver” was inspiring to watch. There were some unexpected twists that made the movie grasp you emotionally.

 We saw many of the students become frustrated with the learning process of calculus. For example, when Pancho is in front of the class doing a problem on the blackboard, he throws down the chalk and says “My mind doesn’t work this way…Everyone knows I’m the dumbest, I can’t handle calculus!” Another time, Claudia, gazing out the window at her friends, decides to get up and leave class. This is followed by a rude remark by Mr. Escalante. “I don’t appreciate you using my person life to entertain this class.” She shouts at him. You started to get the sense that the students were being overworked and becoming discouraged. But they were not the only ones overworking.

Mr. Escalante’s home life was obviously taking a toll because of his multiple teaching jobs and grueling work hours. In one scene at the dinner table, His wife makes some remarks to her sons about her husband never being home. She is clearly frustrated with him. This does not stop him, however. His overwhelming schedule and high stress level eventually lead to him having a heart attack. Even though he was instructed by the doctor to not have any stress for a while, he shows up in the classroom later, ready to teach.

The time finally comes for the students to take the AP Calculus exam. They all pass with high scores; But It wasn’t long before the school board accused them of cheating. They were suspicious because although the students did well, they got many of the same questions wrong. Later, Mr. E suggests that the scores were being questioned because of the race of his students. He says to the school officials “If this was Beverly Hills High School they wouldn’t have sent you into investigate.”  Not giving up, the students and Mr. E decide it best to re-take the test. During a one day long study session, Escalante lifts his student’s spirits by saying “You are true dreamers. And dreams accomplish wonderful things.”

In the end, the students pass the test. As the test scores are being read, we watch as the screen flashes to the different student at the very beginning of the movie. This scene really put everything into prospective. Mr. Escalante took on a challenging group of students who were un-motivated and far from engaged when it came to learning. He took these same students and turned their world around by teaching them the importance of education. More importantly, he taught them that they are capable of doing anything they set their minds to. In the very last scene, we see Mr. Escalante walking away proud as we read of the successful testing rates in the following years at Garfield High School. A touching way to end such an inspiring story!

 

Stand and Deliver notes (part 2) – Group Notes

Stand and Deliver notes (part 2) – Group Notes

·         Encouraging Pancho to keep going after he says “I’m the dumbest in the class”

·         “They’ve lost their confidence in the system they are now qualified to be a part of.” – Mr. E

·         “Regardless if they passed the test or not, they learned.” – Mr. E’s Wife (Fabiola)

·         While studying for the second test, Mr. E says “You are true dreams, dreams accomplish wonderful things.”

·         Sticks up for his students- “If Beverly Hills high school had these scores, they wouldn’t have sent you in to investigate.”

·         Asking another teacher if he think his students are guilty “Mr. Escalante, you put these kids under an awful lot of pressure, they would have gone to any length to please you.”

·         Sense of reward from students and teacher when they passed the test

·         Truly believes in his students- goes above and beyond

Stand and Deliver (Part 2) - My notes

Stand and Deliver notes (Part 2)

·         Some students seem bored, overworked (Claudia, looking out window, left classroom)

·         “I don’t appreciate you using my personal life to entertain this class” –Claudia to Mr. E

·         “I’m in that classroom all day”- Claudia

·         Angel taking care of sick grandmother

·         “If we could pay for it we would go to a regular hospital” – Angel

·         Pancho doing problem on blackboard “My mind doesn’t work this way” “Everyone knows I’m the dumbest, I can’t handle calc.”

·         “Do you want me to do this for you?” – Mr. E.
“Yes”- Pancho
 “You’re supposed to say no!” – Mr. E

·         Escalante’s family feeling left out because he is working so much

·         Angel brings grandmother to Mr. E’s house. “I need calculus to ----a career” –Angel

·         All students got same (wrong) answer on math problem, Mr. E discourages them, insults “I don’t believe it” Leaves classroom
“Finally blew a head gasket” -student

·         Escalante over working himself

·         Has heart attack while teaching night school to adults.

·         “The man brought It on himself, he was asking for trouble” Angel

·         Pancho and Angel fight in class

·         Mr. S – substitute for Mr. E.

·         “I’ve never taught calc., really a music teacher” Mr. S

·         “The doctor says no stress for at least a month” –Son
“Then I want another doctor”  Mr. E

·         Mr. E comes back to class, Students happy to see him

·         “Shouldn’t you be in the hospital?”- Student

“I should be here with you” – Mr. E

·         Pancho answers question correctly

“I told you you could do it!” Mr. E

·         Students take test in library, woman administers it

·         Everyone goes swimming in ocean to celebrate

·         We see Pancho working on car, gets letter in the mail

·         Does not open right away. Tears it open, smiles. Obviously he passed the test

·         Shows parents and teachers in an assembly, awarding students for passing

·         Students award plaque to Mr. Escalante

·         Lupe gets phone call “is this some kind of joke?” – something is wrong

·         Accused to copying each other because they all had same wrong answers

·         “These people are human they can make mistakes too” –Mr. E

·         “These people are calling us cheaters” – Ana

·         Angel flicks cigarette at cop while in car with friend
“What, you can’t affords s knife?” –Cop
“Use a pencil, go to jail.” –Angel

·         Angel walks away from friend after cop incident, doesn’t come back even though friend wants him to.

·         Kids being questioned by school authority about test

·         Asks Ana to tell the truth
“nothing happened”- Ana

·         “If you cheated let us know so you can go home and enjoy the rest of your summer”
-School authority

·         Trying to manipulate student into saying they cheated

·         Angel makes light of situation by falsely admitting to cheating, says he strangled teacher. Class laughs. School authority leaves

·         “do you think the students cheated” Mr E to female teacher
“Mr. E, you put these kids under an awful lot of pressure, they would have gone to any length to please you”- Female teacher

·         “I believe most people who get caught today are guilty, don’t you?” Female teacher to Mr. E

·         Car went missing. Mr. E walks home

·         Mr. E. upset, sitting on bed. Wife comforts him

·         “I may have made a mistake trying to teach them calculus” –Mr. E
“Regardless of whether they passed that test, they learned” –Fabiloa
“They lost their confidence in the system they are finally qualified to be a part of.” –Mr. E

·         Student show up to his house, surprise him with fixed up car

·         Mr. E has meeting with school authority

·         “I feel I have the right to know why you think my students cheated”- Mr. E.
“problem is between ETS and the students”
“I’m their teacher, I know my students.” – Mr. E

·         “They should be rewarded not punished.” (for doing well) – Mr. E

·         “If they don’t (re-test), everyone will assume they cheated” – School authority

Everyone will assume they cheated if they do” – MR e

·         “If this was Beverly Hills high school they wouldn’t have sent you into investigate.”

·         Mr. E believes the school board is racist against his Hispanic students.

·         Students decide to take test again, only have one day to study

·         Mr. E telling the kids not to look suspicious during test “don’t give them any opportunity to call you cheaters.”
 “You are true dreamers, dreams accomplish wonderful things.”

·         “Tomorrows just another day, I’m afraid you guys are going to screw up the rest of your lives” – Mr. E

·         Students re-take test, school authority administers it

·         Shows students working intensely on test

·         Ana can’t finish test, has an apt at USC for scholarship

·         Shows Mr. Escalante nervous, anxiously awaiting test scores

·         Learns the all students get incredibly high scores on test, Angel gets 5

·         Mr. E walks away proud

·         Garfield high school has successful testing rates in the following years

My thoughts about Mr. Escalante

I believe Mr. Escalante from "Stand and Deliver" is an acceptional teacher. He shows a true passion for teaching, and genuinely takes interest in each of his students. Mr. Escalante shows up to school on the first day to find that his new students are far from "engaged" when it comes to learning. Even so, however, he doesn’t give up on them. He uses encouraging and fun techniques to capture the interest of his students. For example, He catches everyone’s attention when he shows up to school on the second day in a chef’s hat and apron. He chops up an apple with a large knife and hands the pieces to several students. This was his way of explaining fractions. In another incident, Angel, a rebellious student who doesn’t seem to care much when it comes to school, was asked to answer a math question. He didn’t know the answer but Mr. Escalante kept pushing him and saying "You can do it". Angel answered the question correctly. After that, he was eager to learn more. Mr. Escalante is so dedicated to his student’s success that he even connects with his students outside of the classroom. One promising student, Ana, tells her teacher that she is quitting school. Mr. E took matters into his own hands by going to Ana’s father’s restaurant and convincing him to let his daughter stay in school, expressing to him that she has the academic capability of going to college one day. Another time, a student explains to Mr. Escalante that he would rather work than go to school. He is excited about the money he will make with this new job that his uncle offered him. Mr. Escalante hops into the driver’s seat of his student’s car and takes the boy for a drive. He asks "Wouldn’t you rather be designing these things than repairing them?" Mr. E then puts the student on the spot and asks him to make a sudden decision to turn right or left. In a panic, the boy screams "Go Right!" They end up at a dead end. He says to his student, "You only see the turn, not the road ahead".

Mr. Escalante was not just a teacher. In a sense, he was a student himself in the way he learned to adapt his teaching style to his students as individuals. Mr. Escalante knew that by relating to his student on a more personal level, he would gain their attention and respect as a teacher. He does not let his students negative attitudes get to him, but instead pushes them to go beyond what they think they can do. In a poverty stricken community where his student’s home lives involve taking care of kids and their own parents and grandparents, Mr. Escalante gives them hope that they can do bigger and better things. He never stops fighting for his students, and that makes him a true educator.

"Stand and Deliver" Movie (Pt. 1) - My Notes

Amanda Rogers
10/22/13
English 101
Stand and Deliver notes:

·        Observes Hispanic community driving to school

·         School lacks funding for computers/proper equipment

·         Students not engaged. Do not care to learn

·         Car broken into

·         States “I want to teach”

·         Catches student’s attention by dressing up, chopping an apple.

·         Connects with students on their level, makes them laugh

·         Fight breaks out in school, stops rebellious student from being involved.

·         Uses real life example to teach math to students, interacts while teaching

·         Good attitude with students, funny

·         Encourages rebellious student to answer math question. Says “you can do it”

·         Get all students to engage in learning by asking them to repeat after him several times

·         School lacks resources for students

·         Other teachers in school obviously unmotivated to teach “illiterate students”

·         “Students will rise to the level of expectations you give them”

·         “There are people in this world who will assume that you know less than you do because of your name and completion” - Mr. Escalante

·         Lou diamond Philips expresses to teacher he wants to “get straight” after leaving class.

·         Shows students talking about the test, weighing the pros and cons of taking it and not taking it

·         We see student’s home lives. Students taking care of kids/parents, poverty.

·         Girls mothers does not encourage her to keep studying, asks her to turn off light.

·         Lou diamond Philips walks in late, teacher sends him to councilor. Expresses he wants to stay in class, teacher lets him

·         Expresses interest in the girl who is quitting school. “She should make her own choices”

·         Parents would rather have her work

·         Shows students enjoying being in class

·         Using “boyfriend girlfriend” example word problems

·          “Our kids can’t handle calculus, we don’t even have the books” – other teacher says. “If they try and don’t succeed, they’ll shadow what little self-confidence they have”

·         Teaches summer school so the students can get ahead

·         Stars teaching calculus “Pass the AP exam and get college credit.”

·         “I’m doing this so I don’t have to depend of some young guy the rest of my life”- females student to mother

·         “you love scaring us into doing stuff, gets old” - student

·         Genuinely cares and takes interest in students. – gives each students same amount of attention

·         Doesn’t let the students attitudes get to him, pushed students to go beyond what they think they can do