An introduction should
- Introduce the topic, theme or book/film
- Re-phrase the question
- State your contention
- Sign post the three main ideas you will speak about
A conclusion should
- Stress the importance of the contention,
- Give the essay a sense of completeness, and
- Leave a final impression on the reader.
- Synthesize, don’t summarize
- Don’t simply repeat things that were in your essay. I have read it. Show me how the points you made and the evidence you used fit together.
- Create a new meaning
- You don’t have to give new information to create a new meaning; by demonstrating how your ideas work together, you can create new meaning. Often the sum of the paper is worth more than its parts.
Introduction
Dead Poets Society (Peter Weir, 1989) is an emotional story about one teacher’s inspiring effect on a group of young private school boys, and the unique way in which he teaches them to ‘seize the day’ and question tradition. There are positive and negative consequences of the way in which Mr. Keating changes his students view on the world. At the end of the film the main character Neil Perry commits suicide and it is claimed, by the principal of the school, that Mr Keating was responsible for the tragedy. By looking at how Mr Keating inspires Neil to become an actor yet advises him to speak to his father about his feelings, it will be demonstrated how Mr Keating was not responsible for Neil death.
Conclusion
There is a clear message from Peter Weir that people should ‘seize the day’ and live a life full of passion; however, there is also a message that sometimes there are negative consequences if rules are broken in the process. Mr. Keating’s lessons were designed to make his students see the world in a different way but the wise advice he gave them about not ‘choking on the bone’ wasn’t understood and instead some of his students seized the day with out taking responsibility for their actions. This results in Neil committing suicide and ‘Nuwanda’ being expelled. Mr. Keating inspired his students to take charge of their lives, but ultimately they made the decisions that end in tragedy. Perhaps Peter Weir wants his audience to understand that we must ‘seize the day’ but also that we must think before we act.
