AP Literature and Composition 9/24

15 minutes Sustained Silent Reading Homework was to read up to pg. 26 To ensure that you are ready for a discussion over the chapters, please read and make note of the following. What do you notice about the language/diction of the novel? From what perspective is the story being told? What is the tone/mood of the piece? Note questions you find yourself asking or important questions that the narrator is asking. Notice important vocabulary & look up the meanings.

Introduction to Novel The overall theme of One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest is that of a man’s right to be an individual versus society’s need to make him conform. This theme is reflective of the social climate of the 1960’s. Some of the language and content in this novel may be offensive; however, it was written in 1962, when the civil rights movement and the women’s movement were in their infancy. Other ideas to note throughout the novel: what is sanity? how authority cripples people? is the natural man better off free? can the simple force of one’s personality overcome the repression of society? While the story is rooted in the ideals and cultures of the 1960’s, many of the concerns are as relevant today as they were then.

Author Ken Kesey The 1960’s was a decade of social rebellion including the Civil Rights Movement, the beginnings of the women’s movement, and the protest against the Vietnam war. Many people sought their individuality through free love, drug experimentation, or through organized rebellions such as sit-ins. After attending the University of Oregon and Stanford, Kesey joined this rebellious generation by volunteering for drug experiments at a mental hospital. He used these experiences as the basis for his first novel, One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest, published in 1962. Later, Kesey traveled the country in a wildly painted bus, taking drugs, and rebelling against authority. He spent five months in prison for possession of marijuana before returning to his farm in Oregon.

Terms to note Unreliable Narrator - a narrator who may not be telling the truth or who may be telling only part-truths. Reasons for false storytelling are varied; narrators may be sick, ill informed, deliberately or innocently misleading, or incapable of understanding what is happening. Example: Chief Bromden, the narrator of One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, is delusional and in a mental institution; therefore, the reader must question whether what he says is true. Black Humor - grotesque subjects like death, disease, war, insanity, etc. are presented humorously in order to point out their absurdity. Example: Kurt Vonnegut’s Slaughterhouse Five.

Synopsis Randle Patrick McMurphy opts to serve his time for “repeated outbreaks of passion that suggest the possible diagnosis of psychopath,” at the Oregon State Mental Institution instead of prison because he believes it will be an easier sentence. It only takes a couple of hours on Nurse Ratched’s ward for McMurphy to realize his mistake.

Significance of the Title The play’s title was derived from a familiar, tongue- twisting Mother Goose children’s nursery rhyme called Vintery, Mintery, Cutery, Corn. Vintery, mintery, cutery, corn, Apple seed and apple thorn; Write, briar, limber lock, Three geese in a flock. One flew east, And one flew west, And one flew over the cuckoo’s nest.

Significance of the Title Explained The ones that fly east and west are diametrically opposed to each other. They represent the two combatants in the story. The mental hospital is filled with “cuckoo” patients.

Get into groups of 4 or five Chapter 1 Move the desks so that you are sitting in an apparent group. (Circle) Discuss the notes that you took from your silent reading this morning. Why do the black hospital workers not “…bother not talking out loud about their hate secrets when.” the Chief is around? In what ways does being half-Indian help the Chief? What does the following description of Nurse Ratched suggest to the reader about her character? Speculate on the significance of the fog in this story. What do you think it may symbolize? How do flashbacks of the Chief’s childhood help him find his way out of the fog?

Chapter 2 How does the Chief know the new Admission is “no ordinary Admission”? What evidence is there in this section of patient abuse? Briefly describe R. P. McMurphy. What does the description of McMurphy’s hands suggest to the reader about his character? Why is the Chief impressed with McMurphy’s laugh? Define “psychopath.” Why is McMurphy in the hospital?

Chapter 3 Briefly identify Ellis and Ruckly. Why do you think the author includes so many details about these two minor characters? Describe Harding. Why do you think Billy identifies Harding as the “bull goose loony”? What do Harding’s hands reveal about his character?