Mr Keating's Influence On Transcendentalism

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During the 1820s and 1830s, a key group of independent thinkers promoted an idea called transcendentalism. It was a literary movement that focused on ideas such as self reliance, being yourself rather than trying to impress others, and human reason. (Barcelo). Various icons such as Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry Thoreau, expressed their ideas of the movement of independent thinking in essays such as “Walden”, “Civil Disobedience”, and “ Self Reliance”. In addition, movies such as “Dead Poet’s Society” also reflect the ideas of transcendentalism. Specifically, Mr. Keating and his obscure teaching style influence a group of young boys to change their way of thinking. Various actions that Mr. Keating participated in were greatly inspired by the movement of transcendentalism.
From the start of his employment, Mr. Keating had a different approach on teaching. He had first begun his class by having the
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The young boys who were influenced by the transcendentalism had protested Mr. Keating’s termination by standing on the desks while Mr. Keating had walked into the class to grab his belongings. Henry David Thoreau also displays this act of protest in the essay “Civil Disobedience”, when Thoreau is describing his immediate protest to the poll taxes of Massachusetts that go to support the movement of slavery. Thoreau thoroughly explains his thought process my saying, “I do not hesitate to say, that those who call themselves abolitionists should at once effectually withdraw their support, both in person and property, from the government of Massachusetts, and not wait till they constitute a majority of one,” (Thoreau 231). Thoreau is a true advocate of abolition and that is vividly expressed in his essay and even further displayed by young boys. Standing up against the administration to protect their teacher was a selfless move very similar to what Thoreau had done by not paying his

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