1. Aim: How do characters confront their own realities? Do Now: What is Nurse Ratched afraid will be the way the patients will view McMurphy if she punishes him? HW: Read to p. 192 How did Chief Bromden’s past affect his sense of self? Who or what had the biggest influence?

2. “Keep in mind that Mr. McMurphy is committed. The length of time he spends in the hospital is entirely up to us. Now, if there is nothing else…” Why doesn’t Nurse Ratched agree to send McMurphy up to Disturbed? What is she trying to prevent? Why does she think McMurphy will wear himself out? With this line of thinking, how does she see McMurphy? How can characterize this approach?

3. “She walked right on past, ignoring him just like she chose to ignore the way nature had tagged her with outsized badges of femininity, just like she was above him, and sex, and everything else that’s weak and of the flesh.” What reason does Bromden imply for Nurse Ratched’s admonishment of her own sexuality? Why isn’t Nurse Ratched losing control again despite McMurphy’s continuous attempts to mess with her?

4. “The Combine hasn’t got to him in all these years; what makes that nurse think she’s gonna be able to do it in a few weeks?” What exactly is the Combine? How does the Combine work outside the ward? What part does Nurse Ratched play in the Combine? What does Bromden begin to realize is beyond the ward, beyond the Combine?

5. “It don’t seem like I ever been me. How can McMurphy be what he is?” Why is Bromden put at odds by looking at his mirror image? Who are the two Bromdens? Is he able to reconcile the two? Who are you?

6. “I was picked up for drunk and disorderly, and I been here eight years and eight months,” he said. What realization does McMurphy gain from his conversation with the lifeguard? How does this affect his behavior in the ward?

7. Cheswick’s death What changed for Cheswick and the other patients in the ward? Does Cheswick commit suicide? What does Cheswick’s death mean to – McMurphy? – Nurse Ratched? – Chief Bromden?

8. Time to deconstruct… Why does McMurphy break the glass knowing what he has to lose? What is the significance of the line, “That window glass was so spick and span I com- pletely forgot it was there”?