Antigone & Dead Poet’s Society Critical Lens

Your Task: Write a critical essay in which you discuss Antigone and The Dead Poet’s Society from the particular perspective of ONE of the statements that provided for you. In your essay, provide a valid interpretation of the statement and apply it to the works as you have interpreted it, and support your opinion using specific references to appropriate literary elements from the play.

Critical Lens Bank (CHOOSE ONE):

1. In Antigone, Tieresias says, “Think: all men make mistakes, but a good man yields when he knows his course is wrong and repairs the evil. The only crime is pride” (lines 32-35).
2. “I am the master of my fate; I am the captain of my soul.” – poet William Ernest Henley from the poem, “Invictus”
3. “The greatest griefs are those we cause ourselves.” –Sophocles
4. “The keenest sorrow is to recognize ourselves as the sole cause of all our adversities.” –Sophocles
5. “No matter what anybody tells you, words and ideas can change the world.” (Keating, Dead Poet’s Society
6. "Show me the heart unfettered by foolish dreams and I'll show you a happy man."
7. “But only in their dreams can men be truly free It was always thus and always thus will be.” – Keating, Dead Poet’s Society
8. “In a time of universal deceit, telling the truth becomes a revolutionary act.” –George Orwell
9. Carpe Diem! Seize the day. Make your lives extraordinary.” – Keating, Dead Poet’s Society
10. “What is a rebel? A man who says no” –Albert Camus
11. “Disobedience, in the eyes of anyone who has read history, is man's original virtue. It is through disobedience that progress has been made, through disobedience and through rebellion.” – Oscar Wilde
12. The only way to deal with an unfree world is to become so absolutely free that your very existence is an act of rebellion.” – Albert Camus
13. “Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind.”—Dr. Seuss
14. Find a lens/quote of your choice/quote from one of the works/ that applies to both works.

Guidelines:

Be sure to

· Provide a valid interpretation of the critical lens you chose that clearly establishes the criteria for analysis; apply this interpretation to the play and the film in an interesting thesis statement

· Use the criteria suggested by the critical lens to analyze both the play and the film

· Avoid plot summary. Instead, use specific references to appropriate literary elements (for example: theme, characterization, conflict, irony, setting, imagery, etc.) to develop your analysis; when appropriate, incorporate the terms you learned from ancient Greek theater this unit: tragedy, tragic hero, hamartia, hubris, dramatic irony, etc.

· Create an outline to hand in

· Organize your ideas in a unified and coherent manner

· Specify the titles and authors

· Follow the conventions of standard written English

· Your essay should be approximately 1000 words