Kleinbaum, N.H.: Dead Poets Society

Refeat2 für Englisch:

Dead Poets Society

Dead Poets Society is a novel written by N.H.Kleinbaum. This book tells a story about young boys and their new English teacher at Welton Academy,

a private school situated in the remote hills of Vermont.

In the chapel of the school the headmaster Gale Nolan, a husky man in his early sixties, who was representing the system and the four banner carriers

of Welton Academy, welcomed the students and their parents to the new school year. After Mr. Nolan´s speech the pupils went into their rooms.

Neil´s father followed his son a little bit later and told him that he had decided that Neil was taking too many extracurricular activities and that he had

spoken to Mr. Nolan about it who had agreed to let him work on the school annual the following year. Then Mr. Perry went out of the room

immediately without having even recognised that his son was shouting after him trying to explain that he couldn`t do that because he was the assistant

editor.

The first day in school dawned bright and clear. After the bell had rung, the new english teacher Mr. J. Keating entered the room. He was wearing a

shirt and a tie, but no jacket. He looked around in the classroom and suddenly jumped onto the desk. He shouted :"O Captain, my Captain !" Mr.

Keating hopped from the table and asked :"Who knows from which poet these words are ?" Nobody said a word. Mr. Keating explained to the pupils

that they were from a poem written by Walt whitman talking about Abraham Lincoln. Unluckily the bell interrupted Mr. Keating´s speech.

The next day J. Keating was sitting on a chair beside his desk. Then he said that the boys should open their books. While Mr. Keating was speaking to

Mc. Allister, Neil opened the annual and read :" `Captain of the soccer team, editor of the annual, Cambridge-bound, Man most likely to do anything,

Thigh man, Dead Poets Society.` " After their lesson Neil, Charlie, Meeks, Pitts, Cameron and Todd spotted Mr. Keating and asked him what the `Dead

Poets Society` was ? Then Mr. Keating told them that it had been a secret society dedicated to sucking the morrow out of life. " A small group of us

met at the old cave," he said " and we took turns reading Shelley, Whitman and our own verse. " Keating`s eyes glowed, recalling the experience.

Inspired by their teacher the boys decided to found a society like that.

Before the teenagers had to go to bed Neil opened an old, well-worn poetry anthology. Inside, on the first page, he could read the name `J.Keating`

and under it the words `Dead Poets`. Neil was reading for an hour. During the night, when everybody was sleeping a few boys met at the old maple

tree. They fled from the campus and moved through the wood looking for the cave. Having found it, they began to read out poems. When the fire

went out, they twisted through the woods to a clearing that led back to the Welton campus.

From this night on they met more often at the old cave. Even two girls Gloria and Tina joined them when they read out a lot of poems of the old

anthology. After a period of time Mr. Nolan got wind of the boy`s adventures. So he ordered Charlie into his office and wanted him to reveal the

members of `Dead Poets Society`. But Charlie only replied: "It`s only me!" Then he stumbled out of Mr. Nolan`s office.

The following day Mr. Perry visited his son, because he didn`t want him to waste a lot of time with the acting business. So he forbade his son to play

at the school theatre in future. Late in the evening Neil met Mr. Keating, who wanted to know what Neil`s father, Mr. Perry, had said. The

seventeen-year-old boy told him that his father had forbidden him to act. While Neil was speaking to his English teacher, the other boys headed out to

the cave in order to read out poems. The next day the theatre group performed the great play marvellously. Neil stood on the stage and played his

part. After the play Neil saw his parents at the small, stuffy study. His mum was weeping and his dad said: "Son, I`m trying very hard to understand

why you insist on defying us, but whatever the reason, I`m not going to ruin your life. Tomorrow I`m withdrawing you from Welton and enrolling you

in Braden Military School. . You are going to Harvard and you are going to be a doctor."

Neil was sad and wanted to speak to his father, but his parents left the room without listening to him.

During the following night Neil shot himself. The Dead Poets were depressed and convinced that Mr. Perry was quilty. As a consequence of these

events Mr. Keating was sent from school. Before he left he visited his pupils during their English lesson with their new teacher Mr. Nolan. The boys

were full of emotions. Just as Keating reached the door in order to leave finally, Todd jumped up and interrupted Camerons`s reading. Mr. Nolan

ordered Keating to leave but Todd shouted: "O Captain, my Captain!" Then all the other pupils stood up, climbed on their desks and saluted to Mr.

Keating. In the end Keating thanked the boys and left the room while they were still standing on their desks.

( by Aichinger Joachim