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John Millen

Starring: Robin Williams, Ethan Hawke
Director: Peter Weir
Year of original release: 1989
Genre: School drama
Set-up 
Dead Poets Society is an emotional drama set in Welton Academy, a private preparatory school in the US state of Vermont. Teenage boys from mega-rich families go there to study, hoping to secure a place at an Ivy League university. All aspects of life and study are set in stone at Welton, where traditions rule. 
Then along comes John Keating, a brave new teacher. He challenges his students to see life in a new light. Through poetry and literature, Keating inspires them to re-examine their lives and values. His plea to students - 'Carpe diem. Seize the day, boys. Make your lives extraordinary' - has since become a favourite movie quote.
Plot 
Neil Perry and Todd Anderson are two young men from privileged backgrounds. They study at Welton Academy. The school's motto is 'Tradition, honour, discipline and excellence.' Both teenagers are under pressure from their families to pursue careers in law and medicine. Todd, however, wants to be a writer. 
Their new poetry-spouting teacher, John Keating, encourages the boys and their friends to dare to think differently. The noncomformist teacher whistles the tune from The 1812 Overture and urges students to address him as 'O Captain! My Captain', a line from Walt Whitman's poem. 
Keating's unorthodox teaching methods have a great effect on his students, but parents and school officials begin to take a dim view of his teaching.
Bang the drums! Fire the canon!
The 1812 Overture is a dramatic piece of music. It was written by Russian composer Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky in 1880 to commemorate the defeat of the French Emperor Napoleon during his invasion of Russia in 1812. The overture is famous for its last few tuneful moments when canons are fired, drums are banged and bells are rung. 
By 1812 the mighty Napoleon's plans to conquer most of Europe were well under way. The big prize was Russia. In the autumn of 1812, the French army engaged Russian forces at the Battle of Borodino, near Moscow. The battle ended in a stalemate, but soon the winter cold forced Napoleon's crippled army to withdraw.
For Yourself - Intrinsic Motivation
Why do you study? Do you learn because other people tell you to or because you want to? In Dead Poets Society, John Keating  encourages his students to learn things not just to get better grades but to enrich their lives and thinking. The term 'intrinsic motivation' stands for motivation that comes from within you. A student who is intrinsically motivated enjoys learning for learning's sake.
Of course, wanting a good grade in a subject is a perfectly legitimate goal. Yet, in the end, the strongest motivating factor for students should be their own desire to learn new things. You should use your new-found knowledge to improve yourself.
Whitman and the Captain
Walt Whitman (1819-1892), a great American poet, was devastated by President Abraham Lincoln's assassination in 1865. Whitman was one of Lincoln's greatest supporters as the president had spearheaded the North during the American Civil War in an effort to rid the country of slavery. 
In honour of Lincoln, Whitman wrote what would become one of his most famous poems O Captain! My Captain!, a hymn to the slain leader. In it, Whitman likens Lincoln to a ship's captain who has steered America to safety before meeting his death. Many of Whitman's poems can be hard to understand, but not this one. This short poem packs an emotional punch.
Read O Captain! My Captain! at www.poemhunter.com/poem/o-captain-my-captain.
The Finest and the Best
The Ivy League is a group of eight long-standing universities in the US. They offer the best university education in the country. Their name comes from the ivy that covers many of their old buildings. Earning a degree from the 'Ivies' is a ticket to success. These 'ancient eights' are Brown, Columbia, Cornell, Dartmouth, Harvard, Penn, Princeton and Yale. 
Ivy League universities are highly selective. Only 7 to 18 per cent of applicants manage to get in. Schools like the fictitious Welton Academy serve to prepare their students for successful entry into an Ivy League college. The universities themselves compete very hard to attract the best and the brightest students. Harvard University receives a financial backing of more than US$25 billion, the largest budget of any academic establishment in the world.



Dead Poets Society