Wordlist for Dead Poets Society

Dead poets society
We have seen the award winning movie,” Dead poets society”, in English class and now follows an
oral examination. Prepare the examination at home by thinking through the questions, you are not
allowed to bring any notes to the examination.
Choose the person you found the most interesting in the movie, describe the person’s looks,
personality and why you found the character so interesting!
Choose a scene in the movie that made an impression on you, describe the scene, where it is set,
who is in it, what happens and why it made an impression on you!
What does the cave mean to the boys?
It’s pretty obvious where Mr Keating stands in the movie, what things he appreciates in life and how
he thinks you should lead your life, what things are important to you in your life?
Mr Nolan (the headmaster) and Neil’s father (Mr Perry) value other things in their lives, what are
those things? Where do you think these values come from?
Is Mr Keating responsible for Neil’s death? Does Mr Keating “destroy” his pupils?
Being a teenager means growing up, becoming independent and finding yourself. This period in life
involves conflicts at home with your parents and sometimes also in school, why is it so?
What do you think of Mr Keating’s teaching methods? Good things and bad things! How does he
motivate his pupils? Is he a good teacher according to you, motivate your answer!
How should a good teacher be in your opinion?
Would you rather be a pupil at Welton Academy with its four pillars; honour, tradition, discipline and
excellence or at Gärdesskolan? What is a good school to you?

What should be taught in school, what is really a school’s assignment?
What is the theme of the movie according to you, motivate!
“Make you lives extraordinary!” is something said by Mr Keating, what do you think he means by
that? Why are we sometimes prevented from making our lives extraordinary?
Choose a quote or a poem and discuss the meaning;
“Gather the rosebuds while ye may,
Old Time is still a-flying;
And this same flower that smiles today,
To-morrow will be dying.” Robert Herrick
“We do not live in order to work, we work in order live.”
“Sucking the marrow out of life doesn’t mean getting a bone stuck in your throat,
Charles…There is a place for daring and a place for caution as well, and a wise person
understands which one is called for. Getting expelled from this school is not an act of
wisdom. It’s far from perfect, but there are still opportunities to be had here.”
Mr Keating
“Lads, there is a great need in all of us to be accepted. However, that need can be like a nasty
current, whisking us away unless we’re strong and determined swimmers. Don’t insist on the
separate path simply to be different or contrary, but trust what is unique about yourselves
even if it’s odd or unpopular.” Mr Keating
Bring one question to the examination that you want to discuss!

Big shoes to fill – so your brother was that
Andersson – you have some big shoes to
fill – du har mycket att leva upp till/höga
förväntningar på dig
Ivy League – Harvard and Yale are two
Ivy league universities – några av de äldsta
och bäst ansedda universiteten i östra USA
Valedictorian – he was the valedictorian
of that year – toppstudent, den som rankas
högst av de som slutar utbildningen
Extracurriculum – they offered Spanish
as an extracurriculum – en frivillig extra
kurs som man kan läsa utöver sina
ordinarie ämnen
Chiming- the clock chimed twelve – ringa,
klinga
Tolling – Big Ben tolled five – ringa,
klämta med långsamma slag
Peruse – please, peruse the report for
tomorrow – läsa igenom något väldigt
noga
Invincible – the team was invincible for
many years - oövervinnligt
Legacy - I want to learn more about my
own legacy so I’m going to study my family
tree – arv, bakgrund
Hash – they served hash in the school
canteen today – ungefär som pyttipanna,
(hackad lök, potatis, kött)
Marrow – she desperately needed a bone
marrow transplantation – märg, en mjuk
massa inuti benet
Swoon – the girls swooned over Justin
Bieber – svimma/nästan svimma
Wordlist for Dead Poets Society
Racket- stop that racket immediately –
oväsen, stoj
Minutes (not time) – I want to learn how
to take minutes – anteckningar/skriva
protokoll
Cesspool – poor man, he fell into a
cesspool – avloppsbrunn/dypöl
Undaunted – undaunted, they continued
the journey – orädda, modigt
Scaffold – because of the heavy storms the
scaffoldings fell down - byggnadsställning
On behalf of my son – I’m writing to you
on behalf of my son – å min sons vägnar,
för min sons skull
J/Gibberish – that’s just gibberish –
rapparkalja, struntprat
Wail – the wailing just went on and on –
gnäll/a, högljutt klaga
At stake – there is a lot at stake right now
– stå på spel
Smirk – he had a constant smirk upon his
face – hånflin/a, le självbelåtet
Collect call – this is a collect call, will you
accept it – mottagaren betalar
Deliberately – they did it deliberately –
avsiktligt - med flit
Barge in – they just barged in on our
dinner – klampa in, tränga sig på