When Romanticism Meets Realism

    Before Mr. Keating’s appearance, acting in a play had always been beyond Neil’s wildest dream. To live up to his parents』 hope, Neil was so oppressive that he hid all his dreams deeply in heart. So it is not difficult for us to understand why the heart of this smart but puzzled guy full of eager and excitement when he met Mr. Keating, the special teacher who whispered the words 「carpe diem」 to the students again and again.
   As is said, law, economics and engineering are the things to make a living; poetry, beauty and love are the things we live for. So young we are that we can hardly tell the essence of life. To work out the problem we need two kinds of teachers who can guide us in our growth, one teaches us what realism is and how to make a living; the other one teaches us what romanticism means, how to make self-discovery and the way to appreciate poetry and beauty.
   There’s no doubt that Mr. Keating is one of the teachers of romanticism. Talented as he is, creative as he is, we cannot deny that he is a good teacher in poetry. It is all right for him to tell the guys to seize the day and make lives extraordinary. He is just teaching knowledge and his philosophy.
Neil’s death is a tragedy. Having not found the balance between his dream and the reality, he just ran away. A coward as he always played in his real life, he was used to saying yes or just keeping silent when faced with his father’s scolding and objection. In my opinion, the main reason for his suicide is that he didn』t handle well the relationship of realism and romanticism.
Too young to understand the rules of survival, too innocent to know that dream doesn』t』 mean everything, Neil lost himself in the real world. We live on the earth, not the heaven. Rough as the life road is, we need two teachers. One is romanticism (like Mr. Keating), giving us the reason and desire for going ahead; another is realism, acting as a walking stick, ensuring our safety.
The task remaining for us is vital. Great as the two teachers are, we have to walk all by ourselves. It is true that morals plays an important role in the process of learning, but the ability shows in the practice. Try to find the balance between realism and romanticism, then take actions bravely and consciously, our lives will be extraordinary, I suppose.

(英語作業，寫完順便就發上來吧。。）