Preview

To Sir with Love (Review)

Satisfactory Essays
Open Document
Open Document
361 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
To Sir with Love (Review)
Irina Starodubtseva, group 305 a
To Sir with Love
Review

The film "To Sir with Love" directed by James Clavell is a drama. It portrays the relationships of an unexperienced teacher Mark Thackeray (Sidney Poitier) and his class of cynical teenagers at the North Quay Secondary School in the East End of London. In a nutshell, the film deals with problems of growing up and teenager angst. What is more, it touches upon racial issues. Thackeray finds himself in the situation, when everyone mocks the culture or, better to say, when both the class and the teachers forgot the benefit of being cultural. It seems to them like an excess for the poor, who have to struggle to survive. There is no way back for the teacher and he chooses the only right position in his situation. Thackeyay tells the pupils of his own background. It turned out that he was poor too and had to work as a washer (or something like that) to enable himself education. «But you talk porsh! » , - exclaims Potter. It seems like a discovery for them that mere determination and craving for knowledge are able to change a man a lot. They are used to see thr teachers just like theit gym teacher Mr. Bell or head Evans. Possibly these people are quite decent, but they are apt to play teachers and seem tired of their occupation. Mr. Thackeray has a kind of inner power which helps him to act according to his principles. But he does it not because of pride, but owing to love of people. They feel and appreciate it. To conclude, the film "To Sir with Love", in my view, is a touching and truthworthy drama, which is a must for us as intending teachers. In Russia we have a film "Bolshaya Peremena" (by Al. Corneev, 1972). It has «an inspirational teacher drama theme as well. The main character of it Nestor Petrovich Severov (M. Kononov) – a young teacher of history is trying to find common language with his diverse puplis. This film became classics of Russian cinema, just like "To Sir with Love" became classics of

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    Throughout the film you get a sense of realism from the movie, while watching the film you feel that you have been placed in the shoes of Tom as he goes through the ups and downs trying to make sense of his complicated fling. In the beginning of the film the narrator states that this “is a boy meets girl story. Not a love story”, but the audience is so focused on the ideas of what a romantic comedy is. A Classical romantic comedy has a humorous storyline with multiple obstacles that pushes their love to the brink, eventually they…

    • 853 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    It shows how the teachers interact with students, and how students react with the teachers. In that meager setting at Oakcity High School with Mr. Bartlett, he doesn’t cater to students needs. He does things in a strict basic formatted setting because “...on any job they get outside of school, there’s going to be a certain formats they must follow to be successful on the job. McDonald’s, there’s a certain way of frying French fries. There’s a certain was of customer service. They have to learn that format”.(pg. 661) He feels as though his students are unable to comprehend those in depth discussions. He teaches basic ideals and principals, then tests students on them. He also feels that all of his students are “somewhat on the same level”(pg. 661). His basic teaching format of “read a section, complete the section handout, take section quiz, repeat daily for five days, take chapter test Friday”(pg. 662) is completely unacceptable and demoralizes students. One student, Monique says “I want to go to college, but... if this is boring here I’m going to be bored in college”. This apathy towards students highly affects them…

    • 702 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    “The History Teacher” has the ironic and sarcastic tone that shows the teacher’s lack of an actual lesson. Each lesson the teacher gives, he wants to “protect his students’ innocence”. The lessons, which are presented as metaphors, contribute to the ironic and sarcastic due to the fact that the serious lessons are compared to trivial things that in no way relate to the actual topic. Even the teacher is affected by the irony and sarcasm as he walks home and sees the “flower beds and white picket fences” as confirmation that everything is perfect in the world. Again, the teacher compares something small to something bigger that he assumes.…

    • 513 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    During the early to mid 1900’s, the author was able to illustrate the life of this society from childhood all the way to adulthood. This story was written in a particular language which was relative to the environment of these children and the neighborhood they were being raised in. The children in “The Lesson” were a definite product of their society. The spoke, walked and conduct themselves according to the way they were raised and taught. The actions and conduct of the adults could be observed within the actions and conduct of the children. The author in this story used a college educated black woman, who took specific interest in helping to develop the young children in her neighborhood. She wanted to teach them that education was important and that they could achieve anything they set their minds to achieve. Miss Moore would take the children uptown to where the upper-class society lived, shopped, and frequent to show the children what other people had. She wanted the children to see that where they were from is who they are, but she also wanted them to understand it did not have to be that way (DiYanni, 2007). She also attempted to stress to the children that poor people had to demand their share of what society had (DiYanni,…

    • 2384 Words
    • 10 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Book Review a Love Affair

    • 902 Words
    • 4 Pages

    A Slobbering Love Affair addresses the lack of objectivity surrounding the 2009 presidential election. This book is very witty and brings about many unanswered questions. Bernard Goldberg points out many obvious truths that are avoided by the mass media outlets. Goldberg was spot on with all of the facts, which brought the reader to think on a different level. Goldberg stayed on subject throughout the entire book with many different aspects of information proving his point. He goes over many of the clever things that the liberal media used to downplay the negative questions that were posed toward the Obama campaign.…

    • 902 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    1) How do the reasons for the main character to become a teacher influence his attitude to works teaching?…

    • 831 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Hello

    • 759 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Harry Berger is a 10-year old boy who comes from an all-Deaf family. He was sent away to a deaf school in Philadelphia by his father because his father didn’t want him to reside on the apple farm and become a farmer like him. His father wanted him to get the opportunity of an education that he wasn’t able to get when he was younger. Once he got to the school, Harry was upset, angry and homesick. He missed his brother, Ray and his sisters’, Veve and Anna. He felt alone and out of place until he meets a boy from the school, Landis, and immediately become good friends. One of the main aims of the school is to teach the children a trade. When Harry's interest and talent in drawing is made evident to the Headmaster, Mr. Bertie, he gets moved from the print shop to tailoring.…

    • 759 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Superman and Me

    • 360 Words
    • 2 Pages

    He recognizes that reading is non-discriminative. Everything contains words that can form ideas, sentences, opinions, and etc. It was a relief from understanding that words can be a source of pleasure and an escape from hatred. He determines that the love of literature had a purpose on his life, to try to save his life. He paints a picture of himself speaking to kids who remind him of the struggle to be Indian in the non-Indian environment. He points out the different peers of that class that strive for distinction or fade into the shadows that culture created for them.…

    • 360 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Women have been viewed as the inferior sex in the domestic sphere for ages and the protagonists in Kate Chopin's “The Story of an Hour” and Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s “The Yellow Wallpaper” are both examples of women suffering in their own marriages. Both protagonists of the stories have their lives ruined through the confinement that they feel. In “The Yellow Wallpaper,” the narrator listens to her husband’s suggestions as she is expected to do, which slowly makes her insane. While in “The Story of an Hour,” the return of the confinement in Mrs. Mallard's life literally kills her. While it is easy to blame the overpowering image of the men in both of these stories for the oppression the protagonists faced, the authors make it clear through…

    • 776 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Rather than studying one or two genuine passions, students are trained to attempt to learn them all even if they don’t care for the subject. Next, Mr. Gatto teaches the lesson of class position. Rather than attempting to move up or down to an easier or harder class, the student must learn that they are in that class for a reason and they must like that position. Gatto explains that, “[his] job is to make students like being locked together with children who bear numbers like their own”(1). He claims that he never lies to students outright, but has come to learn that truth and teaching are incompatible. The third lesson taught is indifference. Instead of caring about anything too much, Gatto emphasizes that “nothing important is ever finished in my class”(Gatto 2). Students are taught that nothing really matters. Students in his class must drop everything they are doing once the bell rings, no matter the importance. Pupils live life on the installment plan and must learn to turn on and off like switches. The fourth and fifth lessons taught are emotional and intellectual dependency. Instead of thinking and acting on their own, students are drilled to believe that what they think…

    • 600 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Hidden Intellectualism

    • 615 Words
    • 3 Pages

    In this essay, the author points out that there is a huge gap between the unreal and pale world of school books and teachings (146) and the real events of life. He goes into depth about his own life and how he grew up. He states that he was more interested in sports than Shakespeare (143). He talks about how he wanted to fit in with the "hoods" (144) and also try to be smart, but not show it too much, for fear of being beat up. These are excellent examples of how schools should try to tap into these hidden intellectualisms.…

    • 615 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Within the movie, the school is a prestigious school in the 1950s, the way that they teach their students are all from the books. Within the first few scenes of the movie we can see that the students just listen to what the teacher says, absorb the information, and nothing else. Everything they’ve learnt is straight from the books. Their school life passes by like this everyday. This way of teaching is very different from the normal way of teaching we have in nowadays. In today’s world, the way that schools teaching their students is by leading and influencing them to think creatively. This difference in teaching style generates a gap between the audience and the movie in which makes the audience unable to truly feel the effect of the change of the creative thinking style Mr. Keating is introducing to the school.…

    • 607 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    He is a round character since psychological aspect is the most obvious thing wherever and wherever he is. Mr. Hector is a sixtysomething eccentric and poetry-loving teacher who inspires his students with the glory of English poetry and the joy of learning. He is lovable and appreciated by his students for his cultural enthusiasm and pure love towards literature. In the history class which only consists of eight brilliant students, he teaches General Studies. But somehow he doesn’t believe that there is such general knowledge. He believes that knowledge is specific and unique like what A. E. Housman said which he quotes, “All knowledge is precious, whether or not it serves the slightest human use." No one denies that he is a great and brilliant man.…

    • 1925 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    I Just Wanna Be Average

    • 396 Words
    • 2 Pages

    This essay tries to show that students are not alone. Whenever they are frustrated, there are teachers to help them. Maybe, this might be true, but I think about how many students really depend on teachers when they feel frustrated. I don’t want to be negative, but, though teachers are always sitting in their office, there are just a few students who look for them to talk about something. This is the reality, so I feel like this story is just about a utopia that we have ever dreamed. For me, teachers are still on a top of line and they are the people who I can’t approach easily because of their status. This is the reason that I was mad a little bit because the reality that I live is not in the same situation like the story.…

    • 396 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Why Teacher Fails

    • 1173 Words
    • 5 Pages

    For ancient time, teachers have played an important role in society. Behind every successful person, there is a teacher. Nowadays, both parents are too busy earning money because of the high living expenses, so the teacher is expected to build a strong moral character and provide emotional support for the students. To achieve this, by the definition of John Lembo who is the author of “Why Teachers Fail,” has four qualities: (1) “he can engage students in an open and trusting relationship by his capacity to listen and accept; (2) he is skilled in the use of different diagnostic, planning, facilitative and evaluative procedure and is knowledgeable about their limitations; (3) he is experimental in his general attitude toward identifying and providing appropriate learning conditions; and (4) he can look at his own beliefs, feeling and behavior openly and can find ways to make them more constructive to himself and others.”(Lembo) Dewey Finn is a substitute teacher after he gets fired from his own band in School of Rock. At the beginning, he accepts the job by pretending to be his best friend Ned Schneebly who is supposed to be the substitute teacher of the prestigious prep school, Horace Green. Finn eventually turns the outstanding students from Horace Green to a group of rockers. The process is adventurous, meaningful and touching. However, He meets the four qualities of a competent teacher which are definite by Lembo. He promises a trustful relationship with his students; he finds out what his students’ talent and does not waste it; he brings rock to the class and teaches his students what they cannot find in a proper pre-school; and he is awareness of his own mistake.…

    • 1173 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Powerful Essays

Related Topics