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Study Hall -Dead Poets Society
The students are all seated at their desks in silence. Everyone looks
as the door opens. They quickly stand as Mr. Nolan enters the room.
MR. NOLAN
Sit.
The students sit once again as Mr. Nolan walks to the front of the room.
MR. NOLAN
I'll be teaching this class through
exams. We'll find a permanent English
teacher during the break. Who will tell
me where you are in the Pritchard
textbook?
MR. NOLAN
Mr. Anderson?
TODD
Uh, in the, in the Pr-
MR. NOLAN
I can't hear you, Mr. Anderson.
TODD
In the, in the, in the Pritchard?
MR. NOLAN
Kindly inform me, Mr. Cameron.
CAMERON
We skipped around a lot, sir. We covered
the Romantics and some of the chapters
on Post Civil War literature.
MR. NOLAN
What about the Realists?
CAMERON
I believe we skipped most of that, sir.
MR. NOLAN
All right, then, we'll start over. What
is poetry?
There is a knock at the classroom door.
MR. NOLAN
Come.
The students look back as the door opens. They quickly turn
away when hey see it is Keating.
KEATING
Excuse me. I came for my personals.
Should I come back after class?
MR. NOLAN
Get them now, Mr. Keating.
MR. NOLAN
Gentlemen, turn to page 21 of the
introduction. Mr. Cameron, read aloud
the excellent essay by Dr. Pritchard on
"Understanding Poetry."
Todd slowly closes his book. Keating opens the door to the tiny
room off the classroom.
CAMERON
That page has been ripped out, sir.
MR. NOLAN
Well, borrow somebody else's book.
CAMERON
They're all ripped out, sir.
MR. NOLAN
What do you mean, they're all ripped
out?
CAMERON
Sir, we, uh-
MR. NOLAN
Never mind.
Mr. Nolan takes his own book over to Cameron's desk and then
slaps the open page.
MR. NOLAN
Read!
As Cameron begins to read, Keating looks out at Todd as he puts
his scarf on. Todd looks at him for a moment and then glances away.
CAMERON
"Understanding Poetry by Dr. J Evans
Pritchard, Ph.D. To fully understand
poetry, we must first be fluent with its
meter, rhyme and figures of speech, then
ask two questions: 1) How artfully has
the objective of the poem been rendered
and 2)..."
The door squeaks as Keating shuts it behind him. Cameron pauses.
CAMERON
"... How important is that objective?
Question 1 rates the poem's perfection;
question 2 rates its importance. And
once these questions have been answered,
determining the poem's greatness becomes
a relatively simple matter. If the
poem's score for perfection is plotted
on the horizontal of a graph--"
Keating passes by Todd and the others and gets to the back of the
classroom before Todd leaps up from his seat and turns to face him.
TODD
Mr. Keating! They made everybody sign
it.
Mr. Nolan gets up from his desk and approaches Todd.
MR. NOLAN
Quiet, Mr. Anderson.
TODD
You gotta believe me. It's true.
KEATING
I do believe you, Todd.
MR. NOLAN
Leave, Mr. Keating.
TODD
But it wasn't his fault!
MR. NOLAN
Sit down, Mr. Anderson!
Todd reluctantly returns to his seat.
MR. NOLAN
One more outburst from you or anyone
else, and you're out of this school!
Leave, Mr. Keating.
Keating hesitates at the back of the classroom.
MR. NOLAN
I said leave, Mr. Keating.
Keating slowly turns and heads to the door. As he opens
it, Todd, stands upon his desk and turns to Keating.
TODD
O Captain! My Captain!
MR. NOLAN
Sit down, Mr. Anderson!
Keating pauses at the door and looks back at Todd on his desk.
MR. NOLAN
Do you hear me? Sit down! Sit down! This
is your final warning, Anderson. How
dare you? Do you hear me?
After a moment of indecision, Knox climbs up onto his desk.
KNOX
O Captain! My Captain!
MR. NOLAN
Mr. Overstreet, I warn you! Sit down!
Pitts climbs up onto his desk, followed by several others,
including Meeks.
MR. NOLAN
Sit down! Sit down. All of you. I want
you seated. Sit down. Leave, Mr.
Keating.
More students stand on their desks until half the class is standing.
MR. NOLAN
All of you, down. I want you seated. Do
you hear me?
MR. NOLAN
Sit down!
Keating stands in the doorway, staring up at the boys in wonder. A
smile comes to his face.
KEATING
Thank you, boys. Thank you.
Comments for "Study Hall -Dead Poets Society"
License details for "Study Hall -Dead Poets Society"
Creative Commons Sampling Plus 1.0 License.
- British Library reading room by bulldozia from http://freesound.org +)
- fountain pen by Desiree +)
- don't defy me by jim henson and david bowie +)
- book turning by king Loki +)
- Fireplace by Nick Turner, Watercolour Music +)
- door opening and closing by SamKolber from http://www.freesound.org/ +)
- Footsteps - Pan Left by Soundjay +)
- Small Group Whispering by speedy gonzo +)
Image from: Giffoni_Experience