Find an interesting site--one that enlightens your understanding/thinking of Cuckoo's Nest--and post its address here. You could search using the book's title, a character's name, an aspect of the movie, anything related. Your site link may not be the same as another student's. In 100+ words, explain why the site you found is enlightening. Plus, in 100+ words, speculate about this book's popularity. Why is this book so colossal in American literary and actual history? What makes it better than others? Do you like it? This exercise is due on Tuesday, November 4, at 10:00 p.m. and is worth 20 points. (I took this image from www.thedock.ie)
100 comments:
http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/cuckoo/
It may be unoriginal, but I believe this site is extremely helpful and insightful. This site lists all different topics and categories that you may want to discover about the book. It helps you with the characters, themes, symbols, plot, context, and many other aspects of the book. I think it points out certain things in the book, that I would have never considered. For example, it points out in the 'themes' category why certain people were placed in certain positions in the book. It discusses why a woman [Nurse Ratched] has all the power and control in the book. It talks about why the black boys have control over a mainly white community within the ward. Also, why the main character was chosen to be an Indian. It also discusses more in depth issues such as sexuality, false insanity, and natural impulses. Without understanding why these themes are important to the book, I don't think you could fully understand the value of the book to literature or history. I think this website breaks the book down in a wonderful way to make it easier to understand, and points out certain devices and themes that not everyone may have picked up on. Following, I think that the more you learn about the book, and the more is pointed out or you discover, the more you will care and enjoy it as you read. If you do not pick up on the themes and symbolism, the book would appear stale and boring, but with the help of a site like this, it is easier to recognize the significance of some events in the book and enjoy it more easily.
I believe this book is so popular because of several different things, all of which Kesey was able to create. I think his writing was amazing. When searching for the literary devices I realized how good of a writer he actually is. I found that you could make almost any sentence into some type of literary device. There was nearly a simile in every other sentence. Therefore, I think that Kesey's writing ability is one of the main reasons for this book's popularity. Also, I think a major reason this book is so popular is because of the flipped and opposite stereotypes placed on the characters. Kesey was able to take a negative stereotype that is normally placed on an ethnicity, sex, or age, and flip it (i.e. the black boys, Nurse Ratched, Harding, Chief, the doctor). He put women in power, the gay man had the beautiful wife, the Indian was smart and educated although he was not treated so, the black boys had more power than the white men, and the Nurse was more powerful than the doctor. I think this forced his readers to look at people in different ways. It forced the readers to feel and sympathsize with those who they may normally not. Finally, I believe his knowledge and outlook on life added the final touch. He gave every character the perfect characteristics, and had just the write amount of struggles and triumphs to force the reader to connect with the characters. I think his years that he worked in the ward, along with many other personal experiences he had, helped him to develop this book into such a famous piece of work.
I enjoyed reading this book, and thought the ending 'made' the book. I know what happened between McMurphy and Chief was sad but absolutely necessary at the same time. I don't think the book could have ended in a different way for many reasons. McMurphy had to stay oppressed, because otherwise that would signify the Nurse giving up, and that was not in her character. And, the Chief absolutely had to do what he did to his friend. He was being more of a friend doing that than not doing it. There was so much symbolism throughout the book, and it is awesome when you are able to connect the many symbols together and understand what Kesey is trying to say.
Pd. 3
http://www.gradesaver.com/classicnotes/titles/cuckoosnest/
I chose this website because I found it to be very useful when I was having trouble understanding or knowing what was going on while I was reading the book. This website really helped me keep the characters straight early in the book. It also has a glossary of terms and analyzes the different parts of the book. That really helped understand what was happening when Chief was having his memories of when he was a kid. You can also make sure you are understanding everything correctly by taking one of the four short quizes. I just really thought this was a helpful website for me to understand the book better.
I think this book is one of the most popular books ever in our society because it is so different from any other literature out there. This book really makes you think deeper than you ever have before. It has so much symbolism and deeper meaning than just what is written. It gets to the emotions of the reader by making the characters relatable to things in their own life. At first I was very frustrated with this book because it was so confusing for about the first forty pages. Once McMurphy came though, I became much more interested and actually started to casually read rather than just doing it to finish the assignment. This is definitely one of the best books I have ever read and I plan on reading it a few more times in my life time.
This site is very helpful in the fact that it gives character overviews and information about each one, it also tells about the author. It also gives historical background and topics to consider when reading it, to further your understanding of the book. The website gives books and other websites to go to in order to find out more about the time, and different aspects of Kesey and his inspiration. This site gives a good overview of Kesey and his reasons for writing this book and what influenced him to do so. The character synopses are quite adequate and very helpful in understanding the characters and knowing more about them.
This book is so wildly popular because of its content; it brings to the surface an issue we all ignore. Mental institutions are often ignored willingly; we choose to ignore what is considered taboo or what we do not understand. Kesey uncovers a topic that hits home for many people of his novel. The way he writes about it is not repulsing as one may think when hearing someone has written about a mental institution. He chooses to subtly bring out his points in a way that is tasteful and in a way that makes us want to read more of this book. The conflicts hit home for many of us and we can emotionally invest ourselves into the novel. It is much better then your average book, it is fiction but it is pretty realistic, I can imagine what a ward would be like and this seems accurate in many ways, it can also be pretty outlandish. Overall it seems to be accurate in the way everything is scheduled and set up.
I personally loved this book. It was one of the best book’s I have ever read. It kept me reeling for answers, wanting and needing to flip more and more pages until I finished it. It was by far one of the hardest books to set down when I was forced to set it down for a time being. I was emotionally invested into this book. The plot kept me on my toes and kept me digging for answers and wanting to know more. If there was a sequel I would be one of the first to read it!
period 1
3
http://www.cliffsnotes.com/WileyCDA/LitNote/One-Flew-Over-the-Cuckoo-s-Nest.id-136.html
I found this website very helpful to me in understanding the book plus furthing my deeper knowledge of the book. This site gives you summaries over every chapter in the book which helped me out when I got lost. Also it gives you a list of all the characters and which are the Acutes and which are the Chronics which helped me keep them straight because it was hard to tell which was which throughout the book. It also gives a brief description of each character telling which character has which disease and where they stand in the book. This site points out some of the deeper meanings and the many symbolism meanings in the book also. Prior to reading the book, this site gives you a brief description of the book and this helped me understand what I was going to expect. This site is easy to use, and made me understand the book a lot more.
This book is so popular throughout history because it addresses a mental persons point of view of being in a mental hospital which is hard to find. It gives you a first hand expierence of what you would expect in a mental institute 30 years ago. Also it is hard to understand because it has so much symbolism, and that's why people like it so much. People like reading about how bad things were in the mental hospitals because it makes them change their point of view on some circumstances. I really enjoyed this book because it made you think and interpret meanings. It got kind of tough trying to follow Chief when he would talk about the fog, but as you read on it got easier to understand. Also I liked how Chief would explain in such great detail. The ending of this book caught me off guard which is why I liked it so much. This book is one of the better books I've read, and I'd suggest that everyone should read it.
period 3
http://kclibrary.lonestar.edu/kesey.html
This website about Ken Kesey really helped me understand the book in many ways. The inspiration of the book is amazing in the fact that Kesey was more like one of the nurses that everyone in the book does not like compared to being a patient himself. But, he realized while working in a mental ward that most of the patients were not crazy they were just more individualized than society was willing to accept. Because this book’s setting is in the 1950’s when conformity was being challenged Nurse Ratched’s character symbolizes the government and their control over what everyone felt and thought. The lengths that Ken Kesey went to write one book are unbelievable. Ken would work the night shift just to observe the patients, which the characters in the book are based on real people. Also, Ken subjected himself to actual shock treatment just so he could actually explain in great detail of what it was like.
Ken Kesey used real life people and real life events and made them clash. Kids at the time were starting to question authority, forming the counterculture. The kids were looking for the meaning of peace love and the search of the beauty of life. This reminds me of Randal P. McMurphy entering the ward and as the book progresses all the men bond, laugh, and connect with each other like brothers. Randal didn’t need to show them how he just needed to remind them of what it was like to love, stand up for what you believe in, and have a god time.
This website also gives you topics to consider which help me too look more in depth about the book and not just it be a book to me. For example, Human Freedom vs. Control. The men know they are free; most are not there because they have to be but because they fit in. But, Nurse Ratched makes them feel like they are forced to stay in the ward and tells them they do not belong in the real world. This really helps me think more in depth about the story.
3
http://www.geocities.com/stuartfernie/nest.htm
The way McMurphy is described on this page helped everything fall together for me. He is a determined genuine man, it is just that simple. Those two traits allow him to stand up tall against great odds. I didn’t realize that this book can be interpreted to be a challenge to what society considers normal. These men may not be perfect in the head, but they shouldn’t be locked away in an ice box. Unless, they are a possible danger to themselves or others. They have just succumbed to the pressure of everyday life, and who is to say we are immune to such problems. Also, this article is written by someone who was part of the society when the story was released. As a result, this article helps provide insight. Unlike other sites, this article is written by just one person, instead of a team. This allows more individualism and different opinions.
Turmoil is popular. This book has turmoil from a very controversial time in American society. Other books have been written about this time, but I don’t know of any books written from the prospective of a schizophrenic man. When the book first premiered many people where probably experiencing something similar to Kesey’s Acid Test. They could probably relate very well to delusional fantasies and the need to challenge authority. The relations to delusions are probably not a prevalent today, but the need to challenge authority will endure forever. This struggle with power makes the book relatable for the foreseeable future. As you can tell, I like the book because it is unlike anything other book I have ever read. It teaches lessons, and isn’t a bad read if you take it slow.
What address, Brittany?
Pd. 3
http://schol.wordpress.com/2007/11/15/chief-bromden-as-a-narrator/
This website was my inspiration for my essay. This is actually another blog site, and reading what other people think about the book and how they analyze what happened really widened my range for what I will write about. On this specific blog, ncowie (thats the bloggers name) emphasizes how significant Kesey's decision was to have Chief Bromden be the narrator. That is specifically what my essay is going to be over. The first website that I came over was: http://wordpress.com/tag/one-flew-over-the-cuckoos-nest/ which led me to the website that will help me write my essay.
I think this book is popular because like chad said, its from a different point of view: a schizophrenic Indian. This reminds me of the movie School of Rock. I just watched it the other day, and realized that the principle of the school in that movie is a lot like Nurse Ratched, very robotic and (trying to be) in control. I think so many people liked the book because it was a change of pace from other books. It was a different point of view, different writing style, and a much different setting than most books at the time were written in. I thought this book was ten times better than Mango Street. One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest actually made me analyze and dissect every aspect of what was written, and now I analyze everything. Tracy and I were talking the other night about how we can't stop analyzing things like commercials and advertisments.
http://kclibrary.lonestar.edu/kesey.html
I found this site enlightening becaue It explained the book in a summed up version. It told the main events that happen in the book, which helped me understand better if I didn't originally understand it. I also liked how it gave a list of different things to consider when you are reading the book. The list made me think even deeper than I already have about the book, and it also made me think from some different points of view than I never had even thought of. The website also offers some other books to read that will better explain the time period that "Cuckoo's Nest" takes place.
I think that this book is so popular because it is a "thinker." and by that I mean that it causes you to put yourself into the shoes of a schizophrenic person. You have to actually think and analyze the book in order to understand what is happening. You can't just read the book and immediately know what is going on. I do really like the book. I like always digging deeper and finding new meanings to every little thing. In this book there is always another meaning to anything and I love that because it leaves it open to interpretation for the reader to interpret.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/One_Flew_Over_the_Cuckoo's_Nest_(novel)
This website is very interesting and useful because it gives a excellent and detailed description of all of the characters and how they make the plot thicken. It lists the character and some information about each one. The description tells how they contributed to the novel and their relations and interactions to the other characters. It also gives a brief analysis of their activities. In the sites’ description of Chief Bromden I found information that I didn't quite understand in the book. Such as that he was a football star, and college student. This website also gives good information about some of the main themes in the novel. The themes include the combine, Nurse Rached, and the degrading of men. The website also gave a detailed description of the plot. It was a quick way to review what happened. This site was enlightening because it was a good review to help me understand the plot better. The character descriptions helped me understand who was who and review on how they added to the novel. Background information on Ken Kesey can also be attained here. I also had access to information about the movie made in 1975. The site also told about the play made after the novel was written. This website is really easy to access, navigate, and find other links that will help you understand what the novel is talking about.
I didn’t like this novel at first. It was really hard to follow and it seemed like I was just reading it but not remembering what it was about. I didn’t understand how any of the people or events had significance. It appeared to have no plot. Then towards the end I started to enjoy it. The pieces started to fall into place. This book touches many touchy subjects, sex, mental institutions, prostitutes, swearing, homosexuality and discrimination. The book was put down because people were afraid to answer and address some of these issues. As time went on people started to accept that these things were happening and this book became a turning point in history. This book helped the moving along of acceptance towards some topics. And helped the nation grow and see what was happening. It put a new twist on things that people had never seen before. I now like the book and would recommend that people keep pushing through the boring parts, because the book really does have something to teach us about ourselves, our country, and history of the human race. This book is better than others because it addresses real issues in a allegorical way. People will pay attention to a story if it seems to have nothing to do with them. When people start to say “hey! That’s unfair!” and then realize that is what is happening in their own lives. They start to change things to make them better.
pd. 7
5
http://www.univie.ac.at/Anglistik/easyrider/data/KeseyPrs.htm
This website talkes about how Kesey went against the norm and wrote something that people didnt expect. The wesite talks more about Kesey bus trip with the pranksters. It also talks about how different this group of people were compared to what was called "normal". They took an old school bus and but in couches and spray painted it all sorts of ways. Some people could look down at them and think they are just a mockery. I think that they did this to express themselves and show that everyone is different and not too just go along with everyone else.
The group got caught up in LSD. It tells how Kesey volunteered at Menlo Park VA Hospital in a government-sponsored program, and how he conducted to study hallucinogenics effects and how they worked. He found "the best LSD he ever had...sponsored by the government". Because it was a government sponsored program and legal for awhile its ironic how its illegal now. This website just give us a little more detail about the writer of Cuckoos Nest and how him wanting to be different changed some people lives.
period 3
http://www.bookrags.com/studyguide-cuckoosnest/char.html
I found this sight and found it to be very useful because it just gave the general ideas (not to general) of each part of the book. It goes into details about the author, the plot, each characters, each seperate part of the book, the themes, and just a general overview. On this website there was one page i found it was on individual vs. society. It talks about the main action of the book, how McMurphy struggles against Nurse Ratched rules. Her ward being the soceity part. McMurphy being the individual. The whole book consits of McMurphy challenging all the rules of the ward. One of the other pages goes into details about the characters which is very useful to know. Another page on this website has Kesey's style of writing. Kesey puts in the book a few flashbacks. Also, Chief is a schizophrenic so it makes the reader sometimes not know what to believe is true or if chief is just having another hallucination. This site helped put everything together for me.
This book is so popular because it is written from a mental persons point of view. The book was written in the late 1950s, people that were different from everyone else were often viewed with suspicion. The 'cold war' was happening at this time so everyone and everything was tense. This book is better then others because Kesey is just a GREAT! writer. Each sentence you could pick out some kind of literacy. He had so many similes throughout his whole book which made it way more interesting. Kesey had a great idea in mind when he had the idea of writting this book. The beginning when McMurphy came to the ward till the time he was killed at the end of the book, everything had a great purpose as to being in the book. I loved this book. When we first started reading this in class, i was so lost and confused. I thought this was goign to be so bad and my grade was going to drop and keep dropping. As the book went on, it get very intense, about to the point i didnt want to stop reading it.
Prd.3
http://www.lakelandschools.us/blogs/serichsen/?page_id=36
This website is similar to the one we are blogging on right now. It is a blog site for 12th grade students at Lakeland High School to talk about One Flew Over the Cuckoo's nest. Just like us they discuss the different aspects of the book. It appears that they too are graded on their bloggings. The students have a really good blog about the different themes exhibited in the book and bring up valid points for each case. The different themes shown were conformity, sacrifice, freedom vs. control, self-reliance, role of women, and so on. I thought it was kind of cool to find other students who blog about this book because I could easily relate to what they were saying in their blogs.
P. 1
http://www.bookrags.com/notes/ofc
I found this website to be helpful while reading One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest because some nights that I had to work, I would come home and be to tired to read, and the website summarized what happened in the chapters I was supposed to have read the previous night, that way I wouldn’t have gotten stuck so far behind. It was also helpful because it organized the book by chapter or even by different topics, like power and control, humor, and the role that women played in One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest. It also provided a plot summary and quotes from the book.
The book could have been so popular in America because people were finally being showed what goes on in (some) mental institutions, and because of the point of view that it was written in. I haven’t heard of any other book told from this perspective that was as detailed and moving and powerful as the perspective from Chief. At first I thought it was an interesting book, than I thought it was getting boring, and than I found it interesting again after more exciting things started to happen, but to each his own. Not everyone liked the book. Some people could have even been offended by the book, I took no offence because nothing that was said or done in the book was said directly to or about me. People need to ease up. It’s a great book and it didn’t do anyone any personal harm. People who get upset about it are people who don’t like themselves even, and want an excuse to do something stupid. So they claim the book brought them down and bam, suddenly one of the greatest novels (in my opinion) is a “bad book”, but as I said, to each his own.
Pd. 1
http://brothersjudd.com/index.cfm/fuseaction/reviews.detail/book_id/183
The site I came across was a review of Ken Kessey’s book, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, and it was a part of The Hungry Mind Review’s 100 Best 20th Century Books. The website gives background information on where the book took place, what year it was published, and information on Ken Kessey as to why he wrote about a hospital for the mentally ill. On this site, it takes a deeper look into the book and offers an analysis on a few of the characters. It also states that regardless of Kessey’s intentions, the book can be understood or taken in many different interpretations. This site displays the book as an icon of counterculture. It mainly deciphers the metaphorical elements of the novel by looking at the book through one perspective.
One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest is such a major part of American literature because there are many different interpretations of it. The book can be seen as an icon of counterculture, as the website, or as an enjoyable, hysterical novel or any other idea someone could interpret. Also, the book is full of literary devises! The imagery and metaphorical phrases make the book seem symbolic. The book can also be relatable by coming from a first person perspective. The perspective is also very unique by being viewed through the eyes of a raging schizophrenic who pretends to be deaf and dumb. Not only is the perspective unique, but the book it’s self as a whole is also very unique. Most people are drawn in to the unusual and the unknown. Most of us have not experienced this mental illness or have been a part of a hospital for the mentally ill, which is why we’re curious to read about it. The book is so layered that if you reread it your entire perspective of it may be different from the first time. I will admit though that I was very confused when we first began the book, but eventually the understanding of the book came to me as it became more relatable. Eventually I began to create feelings for the characters the closer I became to them. Any book that has the ability it accomplish this is one I highly would recommend.
period 5!
http://www.novelguide.com/OneFlewOver/novelsummary.html
I chose this sight because i found it very helpful in going over the book in an understandable yet scholarly way. It guides you through the novel summary, character profiles, metaphor analyss,theme analysis, and has the top ten quotes from the book which i found to be very interesting. Reading over the characte profies i found out somethings about characters that i hadn't known before such as Ellis is the way he is because he has received so much electric shock treatments. I had always thought that that was just how Ellis was since he is an acute patient there at the ward. I now know that he is the way he is because of miss ratched's doings.
This book is obviously very popular and is one of the greatest written in American Literature. I now see why so many classrooms are readng this book all over the country. It gives students a whole different perceptive on life. It shows us what is (or isn't) going on in these mental institutes. We can no longer just assume these people are mindless, emotionless, heartless creatures. We come to realize they are great people with personalities and feelings just like the rest of us. I absolutely loved the personalities of some of the characters in the book. They really came to life and i felt as if i were actually there with them, witnessing what is going on in the ward. I have to admit that at first i did not like this book what so ever! I think alot of the reason for this was because i was very confused by it. But once we startd to talk it over in class and get farther along in the book it came more clearer to me. After starting to understand what it was that was going on i loved it! I think Kesey did an outstanding job and writing this and i would most definetly recommend it to anyone looking for a good read.
3rd period
http://www.mentalhelp.net/poc/view_doc.php?id=3459&type=book&cn=144
3rd period
http://www.mentalhelp.net/poc/view_doc.php?id=3459&type=book&cn=144
I chose this site because I found it helpful for my need and understanding of things I didn't yet understand. This site tells me how Kesey sees McMurphy as a hero for his kindness and bravery instead of a villain like Nurse Ratched and other conformist Combine runners see him. I agree with what this site says about the book. It says that Kesey made Chief Bromden the main character for specific reasons and that's why he never saw the movie; because he knew that the message of the movie was slightly different than the message he sent in this outstanding book.
All great books need to have conflict and drama, and Cuckoo's Nest certainly has its fair share of each. This novel is the best one that I have ever read. This book really serves a purpose and sends a message unlike some other books. I think the book is popular because everyone sees it a different way. Kesey knew what he was doing when he wrote this novel. There is tons of imagery, so it feels like I’m right there at the ward with Chief. Kesey wrote this book when these horrible thins that went on inside the ward were considered normal. I imagine that this book caught the intention of anyone who read it.
Period 7
http://www.redhousebooks.com/galleries/cuckoo.htm
I personally found this site interesting because I had found out that the book was changed when it was already sent to press. It was changed because one of the characters supposedly was too much like one of the nurses in the hospital that Kesey worked in. When Kesey had to change his book he had to leave out a few things but the book was still able to get what Kesey wanted from it. Nothing major was changed just a name. Instead of the Public Relations man we as readers know it as now, in the first copies this man was really a women, a Red Cross women. I would highly recommend anyone to read what use to be there to get more out of the book.
Also this book I believe to be so popular because it can relate to so many different people because no one is really “normal” in a sense. We are able to take from the book what we want to see in it. We are able to learn and think our own opinion on the matters and not have the same view as everyone else. I personally like the book because it opens up the mind to things that I might not have necessarily seen at first. It also helps to see things from other student’s views of the book making the reading even more enjoyable and interesting because of the many different interpretations.
period 5
http://kclibrary.lonestar.edu/kesey.html
The Ken Kesey library site itself is interesting just because it relates to him as much as a site can. Ken Kesey as we all know is one of the best authors that ended up being a hippie, the sites wallpaper is filled with tie dye colors that he probably wore himself at least one part in his life. Besides the colors though this site talks not just about Cuckoo’s Nest but Ken Kesey himself; what was his life like before he was a hippie, how many kids does he have, what were his previous jobs this site covers that. The thing that really caught my attention though was when they mentioned that he did drugs which we all knew but how he than did drugs to work at a hospital ward which then gives him ideas on about his book. So in a way the site basically tells us that if Ken Kesey never became a hippie than he would’ve never wrote Cuckoo’s Nest which is a great book that America needs.
One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest is a type of book that has never been discussed before, and that is life inside an institution. Keep in mind this is back in the fifties or sixties when it was ok to basically do drugs, have sex with everyone, and take no responsibilities whatsoever. Showed us how an outsider such as McMurphy would react in this environment where everyone is calm and stable, while McMurphy is wild and causes a raucous everywhere he goes. This book also gives us an in-depth look on how a tall powerful Native American has been shrunken to the size of a baby and is quiet as dust. This book at the time before it was published was taboo no one wanted to talk about what goes on in the ward, and how people were treated if they went to Disturbed. So Kesey took a risk and told us what happened, how it happened, and why it happened and that’s why I think this book is so popular.
period 3
http://modern-american-fiction.suite101.com/article.cfm/one_flew_over_the_cuckoos_nest
This website is enlightning because it explains Chief and the combine. Before reading this website, i didn't fully understand what the combine symbolized. There are at least 2 paragraphs that helped me figure out what Kesey was trying to say. Also in another section of the site, it explains that the patients at the ward are content with their structered lives. The difference between the structured lives of hte patients and McMurphy are well defined on this website. While reading the page it explained different demensions of the combine that i havn't thought of before.
When I heard that I would be reading this book, I grew excited. Many people mentioned this book before and said it was really good. I love reading books that are different and this one is beyond anything i have ever read. I believe it's so colossal in our American lives because it shows what was going on in mental wards nearly 40 years ago. From a perspective of a schizo, it captures many people's intrest. The many allegories in cuckoo's nest meet many different personalities and ways of thinking in a population. I really enjoyed reading this book and might read it again in the future to get all the things i missed in the first run through.
3rd period
http://www.trinity.wa.edu.au/plduffyrc/subjects/english/fiction/kesey.htm
This site is very helpful because it leads you to different sites about the book, the movie, the background, also to information about Ken Kesey. It helps you to understand thing in more detail than you may have thought of before. It also talks about the number of problems with the book that make it inappropriate for high schools, which I dont agree with, but others might. Their is also a site that shows how the book was revised because their was a woman who sued Kesey, because she saw herself as Nurse Ratched, and it shows the differences in the original and revised novel. Also it shows events from Keseys life and the effects of drugs. It is a very good site if you dont completely understand every aspect of the book.
It is an american classic because people like to see the real side of things, not always the "pleasantville" type of story. The novel has its fair share of struggles and conflicts, which appeals to real people, because everyone has their own personal struggles in real life. Also it is in a way an anti-government type of story. It shows Ken Keseys feelings about labotomys, his views towards women, african americans and indians, and also the effects of drugs. The book also is very descriptive and has tons of imagery, which makes it a well written novel. So their are many different reasons why you might like the book, or despise it, but no matter what it is a book that will go down in history.
Oops I accidentally put period 3 instead of 5, sorry.
Pd 7
http://www.the-leaky-cauldron.org/blogs/Candace/banned-books-one-flew-over-the-cuckoo-s-nest
When looking for a website I found a lot of ones about the movie with just simple summaries over the main happenings in the book. There were a few with people’s reactions to the film but I wanted to find one about the actual book. This website was a blog and the topic was why people are trying to ban this book and not let their children read it. Candace was the author of the main one I read and she made some very good points I thought. She talks about how this book shows that you can imprison a man and try to take away everything he has but you still can’t take away his will and that power is can be found anywhere. She thinks parents will think that their children will want to rebel like McMurphy but I think that is horrible reasoning on the parents’ part. I feel children should read this book because it relates to a teens’ life by showing that you shouldn’t let others get you down and true friendship is important.
This book is important to American Literature because it can affect every American I think. It put a perspective on a lot of issues that not too many people like to talk about normally. Issues like mental patients, rebellion, suicide, and racism are all brought up in this and people like to hear about it but never really expand or give their thoughts to it out loud. I loved this book because I loved McMurphy and how he always challenged the system, that’s definitely needed all the time in everything back then and today. Nurse was the one holding all the men back from getting better and McMurphy is the one pushing them forward to get better. I think that’s what a lot of people are afraid of, the moving forward, not knowing what will happen next in their life. If they keep doing the same thing nothing will change so it will all stay the way they know it. This book shows change and rebellion against the old system is good which attracts readers I think because then they can ponder about, “what if that was me?”, as they sit in the own boring life.
http://www.enotes.com/one-flew
pd. 5
I find this site very interesting and very helpful with understanding the book. This site gives a very descriptive summary to the story. It has a specific area for anyone to ask any questions and they will be answered by anyone else who have read the book. Somewhat like a blog. This site also has full study guides for you if you would like to help understand the novel better. There are links that also tell you about the theme, historical content, character analysis and the biography of Ken Kesey. At the bottom of the site it has an area for you to join a group and you can talk together about the novel.
I believe this novel is very popular becasue it gives people perspective of those in a mental hospital. The author purposely makes the narrator someone who is a patient in the hospital to help give those people perspective. You get to see inside the head of a mental patient. This book is interesting because they bring in a very dominant character and his name is R.P. McMurphy. He brings interest to the story because he is unexpected and really brings the patients together and they all become really close. It is important because it shows how some people are just very independent. McMurphy was independent because he was always the one to not follow directions and go against everything the nurse said. This, for many people really caught their attention and made this book really interesting for them so it became popular.
Period 1
http://www.amazon.ca/One-Flew-Over-Cuckoos-Nest/dp/0451163966
I found this website interesting because i could read all of the customer reviews.The reviews are very insightful. Mostly all of them loved the book and the film. In the reviews they talk about how unique and powerful the book really is. Some of the points that they make in their reviews, make me think deeper and give me ideas on the paper i am writing. They talk about how the book has created an emotional connection to them and makes me think of how i am emotionally connected to the book also.
I personally found the book completely fascinating. Kesey's characters drew me in. The book was kind of an emotional roller coaster, at times it was sad and sometimes it was funny. It was really hard to put the book down and i was eager to see what would happen next as the plot was unfolding. I think this book so far has been more interesting than the other books we have read in class. I think the book's popularity has something to do with how kesey draw's you in with it's setting, which takes place in a mental institute and how everyone can relate to his characters. It is a phenomenal book.
p.1
http://www.geocities.com/stuartfernie/nest.htm
I found that this site to explain Miss Ratched and R.P. McMurphy very well. It shows how McMurphy cures the people in the hospital, by giving them confidence, unlike the Combine. It's pretty ironic that the hospital is actually hurting the patients, and McMurphy is the one helping them. The site also points out that these people are not crazy, they just need help with the problems they have thrown at them in life. The site makes another good point by explaining how the patients in the book take life too seriously, and they need to go and see what's out there.
I thought the book "one flew over the cukoo's nest" was better because this book had a lot of conflicts and action in it, unlike the other books we have read. The book actually made people think about what is going on in the "hospitals", since it was based off of real people and such. It ended up that things would change in these facilities, for example the EST was eliminated. The book in my mind makes you look at life differently, by letting you know that you need know what is good, or what is bad for you. Overall I really enjoyed the book and hopefully we can read more like it.
pd 3
http://www.nvcc.edu/home/bpool/dogwood/case/cuckoo.html
This website is intriguing because it explains things to you that make you comprehend the book more completely and can give you a different perspective towards the book, other than one you may or may not already have. It analyzes the book in great detail and explains most, if not all of the symbolism presented in the novel. If you do not quite fully understand the novel and all of the things that are presented than you should definitely go to find what you are looking for.
I am not suprised that One Flew Over the Cuckoo's nest is one of the great American novels because of the way that Kesey brings up the conflicts in the book, he does so in such a unique style that you can't help but get sucked into the novel and want to keep reading more and more, one instance of this is he has the narrarator be a deaf, mute (for most of the book) 6'8 tall Native American, this is very unique because if someone is mute, they dont know how to communicate to others, so you dont always know if the information that you as a reader are receiving is credible or not.
pd. 3
http://search.barnesandnoble.com/One-Flew-over-the-Cuckoos-Nest/Ken-Kesey/e/9780451163967
This website enlightened me because of the many reviews of the novel. Book reviews in this website point out important parts and good adjectives describing the characters in their point of view. One man that gave a review even points out that he thought the novel would be too confusing for his taste. I believed that too when i began reading it. Another review says Kesey took some LSD to think of the characer Chief Broom. Comments are honest and interesting in this website and helped me gain a better understanding of the rattling, yet sometimes confusing book. Recommendations are mentioned in this book also. In addition, there is a section of this website that includes ratings on a scale of five stars. Describing words such as emotional, edgy, finding yourself and others are rated according to how the book made people feel after reading it. This website was very informative.
Sometimes I wonder how this book came to be so popular. To me, it all goes back to Kesey's writing style. He is exceptional at comparing objects and other things to his characters, that he gives us a keen sense to how they develop and are portrayed. His literary devices are so well put so he is able to appeal to large audiences. I wonder if his usage of drugs while creating this book have anything to do with it. Who knows?? I've never read a book from a disabled persons point of view like this one. That's what sets it apart. What a better way to explain a mental hospital than to have a mental patient telling it? It's genious. I did like the book although it was confusing and I would get flustered at times. Still, it was interesting and the ending was unexpected which was cool to find out
Pd.7
http://pinkmonkey.com/booknotes/monkeynotes/pmCuckoo02.asp
This site really helped enhance my understanding of the book. It showed many parts of what the book was trying to portray. From the characters it said what the role was for them in the book and told you more insight about the kind of personality they had. It describes the kind of direction Ken Kesey takes with the themes that he uses and sets the mood. It describes how the mood was very gloomy and how McMurphy tries to break the gloominess with trying to get the patients to laugh. This part helped me to try and figure out if this is what McMurphy means by the fog. Also it gives a summary of each part to clarify anything you may have missed. After the summary it helps you understand what each part is saying by giving notes. The notes really helped me understand any confusion I may have had and clarified parts. In all this site really helped me understand the book better if I was having a hard time or even to just clear things up.
This book is so popular in American literature because it examines the part of society not many people talk about. Talking about the mental institution is a different thing so it draws people in to check it out. The way Ken Kesey changes things up and uses so much symbolism is what makes it better than others. With the characters having specific names to how the women controlled the men. The black boys picked on the white boys when it was vice versa in American history. I thought overall this book was pretty good and it was interesting reading about the perspective that Chief had throughout the book.
pd 7
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electroconvulsive_therapy
I found this site very helpful because it gave me a TON of information about electrochock therapy. I didn't really understand what went on with EST until i read this. I didn't realize that it was an actual treatment. I thought it was just a cruel form of punishment used by Nurse Ratchet to control the patients when in reality it was a treatment to help depression or bipolar disorder. it induces a seizure (aren't doctors spose to stop these from happening?).
I think that this book sold so well because of its realness. It has every detail that they could possibly cram into it. It is kinda like reading 5 hundred pages cramed down to 270. There are so many details that i have to re read pages, and if it wasn't a good book why would I waste my time to re read a page that i already read? It is very much like how (most of the time) a R rated movie will sell more tickets than a PG. It is because it is real, and people like real no matter how disturbing it is.
Kelli Hoff
Period 1
http://www.gradesaver.com/classicnotes/titles/cuckoosnest/about.html
I found this site to be helpful because it explained in greater detail what the book was about and how Kesey got the idea of writing a book like One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. Kesey put various parts of his thinking together to put this book together like he did. He not only did LSD's himself but also talked with patients where he was working about the effects of LSD's. He got the idea for Chief Bromden by a Indian he had seen mopping the floors at the Palo Alto Menlo Park Veterans's Hospital where he was employed. Although this was only part of the reason he started writing this book it included some very important details to the book.
After publishing this novel Kesey had a tremendous amount of success but got sued by one person for making her the nurse. The book came with a changing attitude to form a bridge between the bohemian beatnik movements of the 1950's and the counterculture movements of the 1960's. It showed the notions of freedom from repressive authority and a more liberated view of sexuality. The book became so successful that they decided to make a film out of it too. At the beginning of filming Kesey helped for about two weeks and then left once he disagreed to dropping the narration of the movie to Chief Bromden because he disagreed to the lead role that was given. To continue with the movie they paid him $20,000 for the film rights. Kesey never did end up seeing the film himself because he disagreed to not having it in Chief Bromden's narration but he supported the film and pleased that it had been made.
P.3
www.scholarlynx.blogspot.com
This site is enlighting to me because I get to read other students opinions and from those opinions, I am able to consider things that I hadn't considered before. I learn a lot from others peoples ideas more than I can learn from reading a text book or something like that. When everyone puts down what he/she thinks, they also help other people who are reading it. So if I'm reading the part in "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" about Chief's thoughts when he goes through EST, or any other part in the book that is tough to understand, I can just come here and read what other people's thoughts are and get a better understanding of the book just by how they interpret it. Everyone thinks differently and have different opinions on the same book and together everyone can make more sense of it by telling each other what their thoughts are.
I think that this book is so popular because nobody has ever read a book like this one. It's not very easy and it's written in a way that people aren't used to. In most books that people read, it's really easy to follow without thinking too much and the plot makes sense. But in this book, you have to think on a higher level and you have to "be" apart of the book to understand it. You just can't sit back and read it. You have to put yourself in Chief's shoes and try to figure out what's going on. Because this book is like this, I really like this book. I like reading hard books that make you think a lot. And I also like it because it gives great messages for life throughout it.
Period 7
http://www.shvoong.com/social-sciences/psychology/1772291-critical-analysis-one-flew-cuckoo/
This website gives the helps by giving the reader an outline/summary of what happened in the book. It also gives the reader other angles to view certain situations in the book by. This website also has links to other sites that might have useful information about Ken Kesey and Cuckoo's Next on them. The website also has a related text search function. So if you want to find other things on their site about, asylums or Nurse Ratched, all you have to do is click on the word and you'll have a list of review on that subject.
I believe that One Flew over the Cuckoo's Next such a glorified book because of the mysteries and questions that people have regarding mental illness and asylums. The book is also written from an interesting viewpoint because what goes on in the inside of a schizophrenics' head is not known to anyone but themselves. The book also takes many turns, like McMurphy going from peaceful and wanting to get out as quickly as possible to suddenly breaking glass and getting into the fight again, which keep the reader on the edge of their chair in anticipation.
p.3
http://www.bookrags.com/notes/ofc/CHR.htm
I chose this website because it was great at breaking down the book into the main points. The website split the book into chapters and sections which then put a excerpt and a summary form the chapters. It helped to review the book without having to read it again. The website also gave me a better understanding of each individual character in the book. I liked how the main quotes from the book were on the website. It was a great way to show the many lessons from the book. I also liked how it broke into how women are portrayed in the book and where in the book does power and control shown. The website also showed where humor was in the book which helped to remember the some of the best parts of the great novel.
This book is one of the greatest books i have ever read. I think why this is such a great book to me and to literature is that it makes us question the things in life that are so hard to understand. The book helped to understand aspects of society that people chose to ignore because they think it is so different and complicated. The book shows everyone, how whether you are "sane" or "insane" we all go through the same struggles. It showed us how well we can relate to each other and just how alike everyone is. The book makes us question how we portray people and shows us to get to know people before we judge them. It also showed us that one person in this world can make a difference in lives of others.
pd. 3
http://books.google.com/books
This site helped me understand this book more because it breaks down the book into different sections. It takes a look at the plot, the characters and other elements. Some of the other elements it looks at are the setting, the themes of the book, the style, the point of view, and the form and structure of the book. In the character section it gave me a new outlook of McMurphy. It says "He doesn't seem crazy: with his tales of fighting, gambling, and love-making..." This helped me realize that he was actually a crazy man. This site is very thought out and I would recommend checking it out.
I believe this book is so colossal in American literary and actual history because it is from a totally different perspective than most books. The narrator is a schizophrenic who pretends to be deaf and dumb, what a perfect perspective! He must've heard everything. I also believe it is so colossal because it shows how the true world really is. I enjoyed reading this book so much, it was an interesting book that made you think. I love being challenged to think for myself, so I loved that I couldn't just skim through this book like I could with a Dr. Seuss book. I also enjoyed this book because I am very interested in psychology. I liked how this book made you think if the Chief was telling the truth, or if it was an exaggeration. I would love to someday read this book again and dig in even deeper to what Kesey meant by this book.
period 7
www.the-leaky-cauldron.org
On this sight, the writer choose to talk about why this book shouldn't be banned from reading in highschool. I found this enlightening, because it gave me the chance to see what other people think of this book. Also it talked about maturity. How if a highschooler can drive a car a sixteen, they can't choose what books to read? I thought this was a good point. When your if you dont pay attention when you drive you can hurt yourself and/or other people. If you do the same with a book, the worst that happens is you don't like it and you learn nothing.
There are many reasons why this book is so popular. One could be that we all understand it. We can empathize with the characters in this book. They grow on us. We can vividly picture these people as if they were real. The story is full of drama and irony. It can hold the interst for any kind of reader. This story has it all-violence, sex, torture, heros villians, you name it and its there.
Period 3.
http://education.yahoo.com/homework_help/cliffsnotes/one_flew_over_the_cuckoos_nest/
This website is excellent because it introduces and describes each character physically and mentally. It gives a very detailed summery about the main points in each part. To me the ending was very confusing. This website however explained it very clearly and in different perspectives. It also gives explanations of confusing words that Kesey uses, i.e. "the fog as used by Chief Bromden indicates his paranoid perception that the Combine emits a thick cloud when it needs to subdue and control the patients." Anyone who is confused are lost in this book should check this site because it offers many perspective and gives great understanding detail.
I think this book is so popular because it was written during an important time period. During this time people were questioning conformity and this book is definitely against conformity. When this book was first published it was very contraversial because of all the sex acts and other things. But after time this book became widely known and very popular. The interesting thing about this book is that the characters are based on real life people. Kesey worked with these kind of patients and wrote about them. I like that this novel is from Chief's perspective. We know from what Chief says how life is in the asylum. We learn about Chief's fears to the combine and Nurse Ratched. Eventhough this book was confusing and tiresome, I realized it had true meaning and I grew to like it as I learned more about it. In my opinion this is a novel that will never be forgotten.
Period 5
http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/84159/book_review_one_flew_over_the_cuckoos.html?cat=38
This website made me see a whole new side to this book. I never saw the aspect of individualism until I read on this website about how that is a main theme in the book. Thinking back now about what I read in the book I realize how much individualism is gained in some of the characters and how much is lost in others. Cheswick for example starts saying what he thinks in front of the others before his suicide, earlier in the book he would have never done that. Cheswick starts standing up for himself and standing out in the crowd of patients. Chief also gains some individualism as well. As the book goes on he starts to talk more and starts telling people how he feels about certain topics. On the other hand McMurphy loses some of his individualism for a while by conforming into what Nurse Ratched wants him to in hopes of being discharged early. Towards the end of the book McMurphy does decide to no longer conform and go back to the way he was. The reason reason that Kesey put individualism and the suppression of individualism in the book was to show us that it is done in society. He wanted us to realize that people all around us are trying to make us conform and that we should stand up for ourselves as individuals.
I like this book and I think that the reason a lot of people like it as well is because there is a struggle of people vs. power. Many people in the world are too afraid to stand up for what they believe in. By reading this book readers can see what it would be like if they acted like McMurphy and stood up for what they believed in and didn't back down. Many people wish they could be like that and stand up for everything they believed in and by reading this book they can put themselves in this story. Readers can really connect with McMurphy because he is fighting the power and disrupts the control that Nurse Ratched has over the ward. People vs. power is really interesting to readers because we, as a human race, like to know that it is possible to disrupt a power that we believe is not good for us.
Period 5
http://www.reelviews.net/movies/o/one_flew.html
This website does not get really descriptive, it explains it in sections and as a bigger part. This makes it easier to understand the harder/more complex ideas of the book and focus on the concept of it. That is why I chose this website because it gets to the point. It shows that McMurphy and Chief become free, that McMurphy and the Nurse are both antagonists, and that the Nurse isn't as evil as she is made out to be. This website helped me understand the book more of as a whole then as something very complex with smaller parts.
I think this book is big in society because is relates to real people. Even though we are not all in a mental institute, we are a part of society which in some way shapes us and helps/makes us conform to what we believe is normal. If you do not cope with society you are left behind or fixed. The Nurse plays the society in the book and the hospital plays the world. The patients are people that have problems or want to be themselves and not conform. In that way, the book is a real part of life, and relates to everyone. I enjoy this book even though it is confusing at parts.
3
http://www.powells.com/biblio?isbn=9780140283341
This particular site I found, I found interesting. This site showed an overview of the book in depth and great detail. The site didn't give away any secrets or occurances, but attracts the reader enough to want to pick this book and dive right in. Novels of this story are being published as well at this site to its readers. It has a cover of the book to try to interest readers in the book even more. Also, towards the bottom, the site gives detials. Details such as when it was puplished and where. It subjects this book also, the subject it has been labelled with is literary, fiction, American fiction, mentally ill, allegories, Psychiatric hospital patients, Psychiatric nurses, and finially Psychological. Overall, I found this website to be helpful.
This book is America's number one seller. I personally think that is amazing since it was published around the 60s to still be one of the "top dogs" in American Literature. I can honestly say I have never read or heard of a book similiar to this achievement. I believe this book is so colossal because it showed Americans how mental institutes were back then and how the patients were mistreated. It most likely was a major eye opener to the Americans of that time, and still is today. It just showed people for reality and how people really can be. I loved this book personally. This book has definitely reached in my top books I have ever read. I enjoyed how challenging this book was to read. I don't like books or movies that are easy to understand instead of using your mind to figure out the true meaning of ideas or concepts.
http://www.answers.com/topic/one-flew-over-the-cuckoo-s-nest-novel-2
Period 1
This website helped give me knowledge of the characters and to further study the book. Also gives you the introduction, info about the author, plot summary, style, historical content, what people say or critize about the book. I checked this website whenever i was in doubt about the book because it has a lot of information and a wide variety of topics that makes it easy to find answers.
I think this book is so popular because it first talks about a mental hospital. Personally i find that interesting just that topic. Also was really popular because the women and black people were the enforcers mostly who ran the ward. And in plus really there is a hero and its McMurphy who gives Chief the courage or confidence to get him out of this corrupt system. Who doesn't like a hero story? Ken Kesey also used great literary terms and made the book more fun to read but yet the book was confusing. The literary terms made it a little bit more bearable to complete the book because he made u feel like u were Chief. I liked the book overall, the ending caught me way off guard. Especially how people ended up. I knew McMurphy would take part in the ending for sure and help someone but i had no clue he would sacrifice himself for someone who people thought who Chief was just a deaf and dumb Indian.
Pd.1
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/One_Flew_Over_the_Cuckoo's_Nest_(novel)
This website gave me a better understanding to what i was confused by in the book. And helped me better understand the characters and importance the importance to what I was confused by. I did not know McMurphy was guilty on batter charge, I thought McMurphy escaped there because he didn't want to be on the farm anymore because it was lame. I did not know Billy lost his virginity from one of the girls. I thought Billy had a wife or something but that brings out another interesting point! Also, I did not know that Nurse Ratched missed a full week from the ward from injuries, I thought she might have just missed a few days; but being gone that long could really disturb the ward.
I think this book is alot better than other books because Kesey uses alot more imagery descriptions and more literary devices to put more character to the characters. I really liked this book because it had more interest and kept me hooked instead of other books that just keep on going on about nothing. This book had humor and kept foreshadowing to whats going to happen later! I think this book kept readers on the edge wanting to read on instead of falling asleep on your bed! A character like McMurphy should be in every book to a reader interested in the book!!
Pd.1
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/One_Flew_Over_the_Cuckoo's_Nest_(novel)
This website gave me a better understanding to what i was confused by in the book. And helped me better understand the characters and importance the importance to what I was confused by. I did not know McMurphy was guilty on batter charge, I thought McMurphy escaped there because he didn't want to be on the farm anymore because it was lame. I did not know Billy lost his virginity from one of the girls. I thought Billy had a wife or something but that brings out another interesting point! Also, I did not know that Nurse Ratched missed a full week from the ward from injuries, I thought she might have just missed a few days; but being gone that long could really disturb the ward.
I think this book is alot better than other books because Kesey uses alot more imagery descriptions and more literary devices to put more character to the characters. I really liked this book because it had more interest and kept me hooked instead of other books that just keep on going on about nothing. This book had humor and kept foreshadowing to whats going to happen later! I think this book kept readers on the edge wanting to read on instead of falling asleep on your bed! A character like McMurphy should be in every book to a reader interested in the book!!
Period 1
http://www.mahalo.com/One_Flew_Over_the_Cuckoo's_Nest
This site relates to the book by telling the summary of the book by Mahalo. It gives facts and other information about the book. Such as the film was directed in 1975 and it was Jack Nicholson's first Oscar win. What this website does well is give the plot summary perfectly. You could almost get away with not reading the book if you came here to find the information about the book. This site also has a little YouTube video attached as well if you want to see what the book is about. Where this website stands alone is all the easy to find links for the books and various other critics.
period one
http://www.cliffsnotes.com/WileyCDA/LitNote/One-Flew-Over-the-Cuckoo-s-Nest.id-136.html
This site is helpful because it goes through each chapter of the book and explains what everything means and who is who in the book. If you’re on a certain part of the book that you don’t understand just go to the chapter in the book and click on that link and it will explain the entire chapter to you. This site is nice to have with this book because its not the easiest book to read and it takes you step by step through the book. This site also has commentary and a glossary tabs to go to. The commentary is just used as another summary but the glossary gives you descriptions of all the slang used back in the 60’s.
I think this book is so popular because of how many literary devices, mainly imagery and similes and metaphors, and real life situations that are being used. Many people for some strange reason want to know more about the people’s lives in a mental hospital. Ken Kesey grabbed the readers’ interests by creating characters that almost everyone could relate to in some way. He used humor and more serious situations to keep us reading. I really liked how much imagery he used in the book because it kept my attention and got me more interested in what was being described.
Period 7
http://www.ellerslietheatre.co.nz/ets/default.asp
This site helped me because it gave me a quick overview of multiple things. It list all the characters and then show who played them in the play. Also it gives a quick detailed explination about the book that has you wondering about. It gives you greatg details yet dosn't give it all away. It also has some photos of characters from the movie and just has you wondering about it while it states it has won 9 OSCARS including best picture. It is informal about how to see the theater put on the play and times and dates as well. It would be fun to read the book, see the movie, and watch the play and then compare them all with each other with what Kesey did, Hollywood did, and then regular old people did.
This book is diffrent in lots of ways. It gives you a heart and you want them to overthrow the power which is what the hippies wanted to do. Its so contravorsal because of all the things that happen yet they are all around us in modern day life. If you turn on the TV you have swearing, poker, girls gone wild, politics, murder, alchool,and other things. This is a great book and keeps you hooked espically at the end with the party. Plus it has a ton of things you can learn about lititure and has unique qualities that leave you wondering about the characters. I think it brought the characters to life because there are really people like that out there. If this book were to be banned it would be unfair to future generations.
pd 7
http://www.usatoday.com/travel/destinations/2008-10-29-oregon-hospital-tours_N.htm
I found this site interesting becuase it shows us that the building it real. It's not just some fake made up hostpital that was made up. It actualy took place in Oregan at a real mental institution. Which as was told in the article that people took tours of. people would go and have a tour of the facility as it was. Although it was getting run down and falling apart. People still wanted to see for themselve where the movie was actualy shot. But now the government has stopped the tour do to health risks. For now there trying to get a virvual tour intell the museum is built for the hostpital.
I believe this book is great because it throws different stuff at us and makes us relate to them as much as posible. The book actualy put you in it. Your go threw the book in Cheifs eyes. The book puts you in there perspective and it make you take their side. A lot of books just tell you what happens and tries to give as much detail as they possibly can. But when a reader can actualy put themselve in there situation I believe they will get into the book then if they where to just read it. In the end I think it was a good book. I was confusing at first but I got used to the way it was written.
pd 5
http://litsum.com/one-flew-over-the-cuckoos-nest/
This website is only one that I could find that no one else had! But it still is good because it has the summaries and the analysis for each part of the book.
This book is America's number one best seller. I understand why One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest is number one. I like it because it is full of the events in a mental hospital. Personally I've never read anything like this kind of book before. I feel like I am seeing the mental hospital and world though the Chief's eyes. Chief's acting deaf and dumb is interesting. I never thought anyone can pretend to be deaf and dumb for so long! I am impressed. Because this book is so full of events and experiences, it has helped me to open my mind.
Period 1
This book is so colossal in America because it flip-flopped racism and the woman's role in America. Normally the black people are the ones being oppressed but in Kesey's novel it is the other way around it makes you think in a different way. Also about the woman's role in america is to follow the mens orders and stay put in the kitchen at that time. In the ward however, the women are ordering the men around. I like this novel very much because it is funny and Kesey isn't afraid of expressing his views of the book in a vulgar manner at times. Also the way he writes the book makes you feel for the characters and there well-being. It saddened me when McMurphy died because i grew attached to him while reading. I also was sad when Billy Bibbit killed himself because the Big Nurse blamed it on McMurphy. If you read this book you have to root for the patients on the ward as they are slowly overcoming the nurse's foothold on them through McMurphy's leadership unbeknown to him.
Prd.3
I believe this book was popular because there was never a book like it before. Kesey sheds light on the situation that patients at a psychiatric ward have to deal with. Such as being oppressed by a power hungry nurse and having all their pride stripped of them by that nurse. He also using language that is generally taboo for other writers. His character often use explitives not in a bad way but to emphasize the point they are trying to make. To some readers that makes the book better not because cussing is cool but you can get a better sense of the atmosphere around the characters. Those are just a few examples of why this book was so popular and why I enjoyed it.
http://www.bookrags.com/notes/ofc/
5
I picked this website because it gave me alot of information that I didnt know about the author. This website also gave summarys of all of the chapters so it helped me understand some of the chapters that were a little difficult to read. There was also a character summary on this website as well.
It gave a description of the acutes and the chronics. The ward was exeplained and how it is run by big nurse. The small japanese woman was described as well as the disturbed ward.
I enjoyed this book. Some of the parts were somewhat boring at times but overall it was a very good book. I liked how it went into detail about each of the characters and how they came to the ward. McMurphy was a fun character. He made me laugh because some of the things he said. This book should be colossal in history and literature because it went into the lives of mental ill patients. Some people probably didnt like this book because of the fact that it did go into a mental ward and the things that went on in there. But it is a very good book, and we can learn a lot because of it.
Pd 5.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0073486/quotes
I think that this website is a good one because it helps me picture the charachters as they are saying these things. I love reading quotes that people say silly of runny it doesn't really matter i just like reading quotes so this website to me is a very good one to help me. Some of the quotes remind me of things that i may have forgot had taken place in the book. I think that this book's populairty is so because people want to know what its like to be crazy with out actually being crazy. This book gives people the chance to do that and still keep everything real and not as crazy. This book has a lot of symbolysm and it helps you think more in depth. I really enjoyed this book.
http://www.geocities.com/stuartfernie/nest.htm
I think that this website is enlightening because it shows how other people have reacted to this book and you can somehow relate. It shows very great detail on the thought process while reading this book that most don't even think about. It makes the book much more complex and makes you dig deeper and deeper to find the true meaning of this novel. The website shows everyones point of view so your not just looking at chief bromden you get to see how nurse ratched and cheswick look at things and it shows that if this book wasnt in the point of view of chief it could be a completely different book. I believe this book has become so popular to the American culture because people are able to feel what others feel. Most can't relate to this book and it makes you go into someone elses mind other than the typical American family. Keesey makes the book very humorous so people don't get bored easily yet some points in the book are very depressing and shows you what it is really like to live in an psych ward. I like this book and i believe many other students too because its very interesting none of us can even imagine living and not talking. Most students can't even be quiet for a fifty minute class period i don't think we would be able to not speak for years like bromden has.
P.5
http://www.gradesaver.com/classicnotes/titles/cuckoosnest/
I found this site very helpful because it has alot of different information that can help you understand this book a little better. I found it helpful to read the biography of Ken Kesey so you can kind of see what kind of guy he was and why he would write such a weird, hard to understand novel. This website also has a list of words from the book that are kind of hard to understand with their definitions. The website has quizes that you can take along with the book, so you can make sure you are understanding the novel.
I belevie the reason people like this book so much, and why it is such a big deal in American history is because of how deep it is. This book really makes you think. Not just a little I had to re-read chapters just to half way understand it. You had to think about everything you read. Kesey is an amazing author, how he made Nurse Ratched the combine and just little things like that. I did enjoy this book it was very humerous but also very pathetic and sad at the same time.
Period 5
http://users.owt.com/crbatish/OneFlewOver.htm
I chose this website because it talks about the many different themes associated with the book. I didn't realize how prejudice the book was against women. Nurse Ratched and the whores are the only females who have any significance in the book and they none of them can be seen as role models. Nurse Ratched puts a controlling, sadistic tag on females while the whores put a dumb, slutty, good for nothing but sex tag on females. This website also tells about friendship. The most significant act of friendship throughout the book is when Chief kills McMurphy. You wouldnt think that would be something a friend would do but it is the ultimate act of friendship the Chief could do.
I think this book is so popular because it tells about life from a perspective that few people could understand. People are curious about what life is like in a mental institution and this book tells first hand. Cuckoo's Nest also has a hero that you wouldnt necessarily think would be a hero. McMurphy is a lying, stealing criminal but in the patients eyes he is viewed as a god. This book has everything a good novel needs: a hero, an antagonist, and a great supporting cast. The movie made after Cuckoo's Nest also helped gain popularity for the book. Jack Nicholson is a well known actor and played McMurphy so that people want to learn more about him and read the book.
Period 3
http://jarridsblog.blogspot.com/2007/11/book-review-one-flew-over-cuckoos-nest.html
Period 3
http://jarridsblog.blogspot.com/2007/11/book-review-one-flew-over-cuckoos-nest.html
I found this site to be interesting because it is a blog just like our website we use. The person who started the blog might have ruined the book for people who haven't already read it by mentioning too many details about the end of the story. The website also mentioned how they thought it was somewhat confusing at times and I know that when I started reading the book I had no idea what was going at times. Also the person who started the blog seems pretty sensitive to the feelings of other people and can't take any violence. They said that the lobotomy scenes were graphic and disgusting and I don't remember them really saying anything about them to the graphic extent during the novel.
The book is so colossal in America because it really challenges the readers mind and makes them think alot. Most people can relate to one of the characters or imagine someone they know as one of the characters, which gets the reader deeper into the book. The book is better than others because it offers a hold different point of view to the reader, the view of someone in a mental ward with a psychological disability. Instead of the tradition book having the point of view as "normal" people this book is in the point of an "insane" person and shows us that maybe in all reality society and everyone who conforms to society is crazy not the other way around. I liked the book because it gave me a new perspective about the people who are considered crazy because maybe they are not crazy at all and we just label them as crazy. The book was also good because it showed how people can change and have an affect on other people, how the bes "medicine" for peole is other people showing them that there is hope and they care about them.
http://kclibrary.lonestar.edu/kesey.html
this website is enlightening because it gives a ton of information about the book. It gives biographical information about ken kesey and a historical background of the book. It also gives a brief explaination about the main characters. It lists some topics to consider when reading the book or writing about it and it gives links to other helpful sites about kesey and about his book. It also lists tips on how to write a great essay about "One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest". it makes it easier to understand the book and why kesey wrote it the way he did by giving information about kesey and the historical background also helps me understand it better.
This book is written in a different way than many other books which makes it more popular in history and makes it an all around more entertaining book to read. It's written from a "crazy" person's point of view. I like this book but at the same time i dont. I like it because its interesting to learn how a mental person thinks and how they see the world in a completely different way that we do. It makes us want to keep reading to try and figure out why that person thinks that way. Some of us imagine stuff like what chief sees. For example, if we think a certain teacher is mean we will imagine them as being a big mean monster and maybe draw messed up pictures of them out of anger and dislike. But chief actually sees these things, even though they arent really there but they are more than real to him. however, i dont like this book because it is all over the place. It's hard to understand when the person telling the story is mentally insane. It makes it really hard to relate to the story when you have no idea what the story is about. But all in all it is a good book to read, it challanges you and makes you think but it also is just plain hilarious at parts. These characteristics is what makes a good book.
im in period 1
P.3
http://www.hackwriters.com/oneflew.htm
I found this site interesting, because it gives insite on how the movie is different from the book. It gives a second oppinion of the movie and book through a college student's eyes. This student criticizes Milos Forman's film and the differences between it and the book. This site gives great oppinions on what Forman could have possibly done different. Even though it is very oppinionated this site gives credit to Forman and Kesey on their brillant works. Hollywood has a reputation for making movies much different than the acutal stories/book and in this case there is no difference. It is best said in this site, "If you haven't already read the novel, read it! If you haven't seen the film then watch it"!
I believe this book is so colassal in American literacy and history, because many Americans can relate to what this book is about. Maybe not in terms of knowing what a phsyco ward is like, but maybe in terms of relating to one of the patients or knowing someone who is similar to one of the patients in the book. I can think of 3 or 4 people who remind me of McMurphy. I suppose what makes it better is that ability to relate everyday things or problems to this book. We as human beings, generaly, have sympathy for people with problems. Therefore, you want to keep reading Kesey's book to find out what happens to these patients. I enjoyed this book, because of the emotions it creates for the reader.
Pd.3
http://pinkmonkey.com/booknotes/monkeynotes/pmCuckoo02.asp
This site helped alot. It gave an overview of all the chapters.Including the setting,mood,and characters in the book. If you didn't understand a chapter you could go to the overview of it and get a better understand of what you had read. Also it gives you a description of all the characters so you could understand the role they play in the story. Also it told you what their personalities were and why they act they way they do. It showed how the mood was really dull and gloomy and how McMurphy tried to changed that with the way he acted to lighten it up a bit.
This book is very popular in American literature because of all the symbolizm and the way it relates to reality. Also it is told by the point of view of someone that you don't really talk to or about on a daily basis. I thought this book was very interesting. It made me feel greatful for what I have. Some of the things those guys went through, I feel bad for them.
period 3
http://schol.wordpress.com/2008/07/19/imagery-in-the-cuckoos-nest-the-combine/
I found this site to be enlightening mainly because it provided me an understanding of the Combine. Throughout the book, I had a very vague idea of what the Combine was, but I did not fully grasp even the beginning of the Combine and what it represented. This site not only showed how the Combine was associated to all the characters, but it also elaborated on the sheer imagery Kesey used to describe it. I felt this site to be very important as the Combine is introduced at the beginning of the book and is continually alluded to throughout the whole book. By examining the Combine further, I have gained a new perspective on our own society and how people react to it and are manipulated by it.
I think this book became so popular because it uses context that a large variety of people could relate to. Furthermore, the author parallels many of the events and issues in the book to actual events and issues that occurred in our American society. For example, Kesey alludes to the racism and sexism that was still so prominent in America in the 1960’s. I think that this book is better than other novels because it uses so much imagery and relatable occurrences that the reader can feel as though he or she was really there witnessing them. Also, I think the book creates a margin of personal interpretation that gives the reader a sense of interest to guess what means what. I liked this book because the plot was continually interesting and it was vivid enough to help me see into the minds of the characters.
Per.5
http://wordpress.com/tag/one-flew-over-the-cuckoos-nest/
I found this website very interesting, it too is a website for folks to blog their thoughts on One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. The blogs are contributed from people of all ages from all over the world, which gave me terrific insight to the novel and had me considering the readers' thought processes over my own. I think you would particularly enjoy this site Mr.Christenson, since you enjoy learning of other peoples perception of the book. I thouroughly enjoyed reading the blogs of those who interpreted the book differently from myself, because the thoughts of others always make me re-think and re-calculate my own interpretations.
The key to this book is how much it's misunderstood. Sure it has its plot, its fair share of conflicts, ect., ect., but can anyone fully comprehend and understand this novel? No. And that's why its so popular, I believe people like stories that constantly provoke them to think for themselves, that have them authoring the story in their own head. This is a book that could be discussed and debated on for days and each person would still hold their own interpretations of why certain events and literary devices were used. That's why it's such a popular and widely praised book.
pd.7
http://kclibrary.lonestar.edu/kesey.html
I found that this website was enlightning because it has brief explanations of the main characters and helps me understand them more. It gives background information on Kesey and talks about how the characters are related to people he knew from the mental hospital he worked in before he wrote the book. It also gives a historical background on the book and the counterculture and the hippies. It talks about LSD how is served as a unifying vehicle that would later define the entire countercultures of the 1960s.
I think this book is so popular because many people can relate or know someone that is "crazy". The book gives a good understanding of how people in a mental hospital are treated and how they really arent getting better in them. I have an uncle that is a schizophrenic and I know how they act he is still living with my grandma and he is 40 and when reading this book I can definitely relate to some of the things that are brought up and the mental conditions of the patients.
Period 1
http://school.discoveryeducation.com/lessonplans/programs/cuckoo/
pd.5
http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20030202/REVIEWS08/302020301/1023
I choose this site because it very interesting. The website starts out by talking about the movie and who all stars in the movie. Then it switches to the book by saying what the movie was written from. After it gets in the fact that there is a movie and a book it talks about both of them and shows you are they have many differences and similarities all at the same time. Also the site drew me in right away by a picture form the movie at the very top of the page right where they talk about the movie at. This is why this site interested me more than the other websites did.
I think this is book is very popular because it shows people what it is really like to be in a mental hospital. This book does not just talk about how paitents in a mental hospital are treated and it goes farther in depth by be presented from the eyes of someone in a mental hospital, which it makes it more real and makes the reader more sympathetic towards them. Also I think this book became popular because it makes you think, are they the normal people and we are actually the “crazy” ones for thinking it is right to do that to them, they are people too. I believe that is why it became so popluar you feel sympathetic and it makes you wonder who is really “crazy”?
Period 1
http://www.answers.com/topic/one-flew-over-the-cuckoo-s-nest-novel-1
I found this site very enlightening because it helped me understand the book better. It explains the book in summaries of each part. It puts it in word that are simple to understand and it doesn't confuse me with all of the similes and metaphors. It also made me understand what the control panel is. I didn't really realize what it was and what is was made out of. Then I found out it was a big cement console. One of the summaries also helped me realize why McMurphy smashed the nurses glass window. It was because Big Nurse took away the ward's tub room privileges.
I believe that this book is such a classic because it goes against society. For example; Nurse Ratched runs the ward, and the black boys are in charge. I think that it really makes people think. The book is very confusing and hard to understand at first. But after you read it again and talk about it you start to realize what is really going on. And how poorly these men are getting treated. As far as popularity goes, I think that it is so popular because it is so confusing. I think that makes people want to read something even more. They want to try to figure it out. I also think that it is so popular because of McMurphy. He help all of the patients on the ward. I think that people love McMurphy and are a little disappointed when they read what happens to him at the end of the book. I personally like this book a lot. I would want to read it again to see if I can understand it a little bit better.
Period 1
http://school.discoveryeducation.com/lessonplans/programs/cuckoo/
The site is actually more of a lesson plan help for teachers, but when you go on there it’s very informative and makes you think the way a teacher would. They have a set of six discussion questions on the site that give you more in depth thought of what the book is about, as well as Kesey’s thoughts and the way he wrote the book. Kesey said that his book makes you “question reality,” and it some ways it really does. The way Kesey wrote the book completely flip flopped some peoples outlook on the subjects of racism, sexism, and the fact that mentally ill people were incapable of doing simple every day tasks and being productive members of society.
pd. 5
http://www.myspace.com/randlepatrickmcmurphy8
This site was enlightening to me because someone made a myspace of McMurphy. They tell McMurphy's story and even try to talk like he would. It includes interests that McMurphy would have and even music, movies, and TV shows. It also has some video clips of the movie. Throughout the site there are references to both the book and the movie. The site does a good job of impersonating McMurphy and would probably persuade people into reading the book or watching the movie. I know if I stumbled upon this I would be interested in reading the book. This site really gets into McMurphy as a character and is very funny if you have read the book. And probably just as funny without reading it.
I think this book is so popular because it is a rebellious, underdog, sticking it to the man type of book. This is a book that almost anyone can enjoy especially back in the 1960's. Everyone loves McMurphy for rebelling against Nurse Ratched and her staff. It relates to what they were trying to do during this time period. I believe people also like how the other patients grow and become more confident throughout the book. It is probably one of my favorite books. It is better than other books because everything means something and is done or said for a reason. And it definitely help that the book is really funny and entertaining!
http://kclibrary.lonestar.edu/kesey.html
period 7
I know erica has the same one..but I found it really helpful! It gave awesome background on Kesey's character, which I thought was extremely helpful in explaining the way he wrote the book, and his reasons for writing the book. The site was really awesome in providing explanations and backgrounds of all the characters (study tool). The site was enlightening to me because I found out that Kesey based his secondary characters on real life people he met while working at Veteran's Administration Hospital. I thought that was so cool! It makes them seem ever more real to actually know they are.
I think this book is so popular because there are SO many symbols, and SO many different ways you can take them. In this way, it can easily be applied to anyones life. Also, its sort of offensive, which makes it realistic. People like reading offensive material for whatever reason, because it makes the book more relatable to their life, and makes things real in their minds that they probably wouldn't freely express. Kesey brings reality to that of a mental hospital. Most people just put it in the backs of their head, or ignore it all together. I honestly didn't like the book until probably the last twenty pages! But, those last pages really made the book for me, and made everything come together. It was a happy ending minus McMurphy having to die.
Pd. 1
http://kirjasto.sci.fi/kkesey.htm
In this sight I found interesting information on Kesey’s life and how he grew up and lived throughout his years. His father worked in a successful creamery business and became successful with Eugene’s Farmer’s Cooperative. Kesey also grew up like a normal kid in the Rockies. He was a wrestler and boxer and an awesome football payer. Kesey was successful in college, while he was still in it. He dropped out and started using drugs and later married his high school sweet heart. His first book was a book that was unpublished called ZOO. The book was about people like himself in San Francisco. Kesey was also a paid volunteer at the veteran’s hospital for experimental drugs and helped report their affects.
I think the book had such a large impact on the public was because it was something that was done before. It was the first of its kind at the time period. During that time people didn’t want to think or talk about rebellion and the “what ifs.” Two people can also read the book and have two totally different opinions and views on how they read it. It was a book that was so general that anyone could read it and relate to it. That’s what makes a book popular, something that everyone has and experience in and can feel the pain in the character that is given. Every person has experience anger and frustration within and community or work/school environment. Yes, I found the book enjoyable to read and the movie, even if it doesn’t follow the way Kesy wanted, its still a good story.
Period 1
http://www.123helpme.com/assets/16374.html
This passage just kind of sums up the story through chief’s eyes. The site also tells you more and helps you visualize the chief. There were many things throughout the book I was a little confused about. With the help of the movie and the help of this website i can now better understand what he looks like. Without the narration of Chief in this book I don’t think it would be as good of a book to read. The narration of a deaf and dumb character is genius. As most people think he can’t hear what you are saying he can listen in on everything and anything he wants. Also who would think that a large Indian would have nothing to say? For him to stay quite all those years would be next to impossible. I cant ever imagine how you would be able to do something like that.
I think many people like this book because the fact that its narrator is a large Indian who is deaf and dumb. Many Indians had there share of difficult days as well as anyone else. To see someone like McMurphy to come in and change everything makes the book extremely exiting. As you read this book there are many funny parts that you laugh at and you think to yourself this really isn’t funny because people are going through this in real life. You can also think is it wrong to laugh or is it ok? Did Kesey write this book for people to laugh at? The book was a little hard for me to get into and to fully follow but once I got into it I love it.
http://www.novelguide.com/OneFlewOver/toptenquotes.html
http://www.novelguide.com/OneFlewOver/toptenquotes.html
This site provided ten descriptive and memorable quotations throughout the novel "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest." I enjoy quotations and top ten lists, so this website caught my eye. The allusion to Randal Patrick McMurphy being a Jesus figure in the book appeared on this site. He is metaphorically anointed and crowned with a headpiece of thorns. McMurphy is clearly the savior that the residents of the ward needed. He is willing to go through with Electroshock therapy and eventually lay down his life to the hands of Nurse Ratched. He refuses to recant and let the Big Nurse win the war of the wills.
"One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" has been deemed an instant classic by many scholars. I believe that its popularity is caused by its edgy, backwards ideology and rebellious nature. McMurphy is the protagonist of the book and is thought of on the highest level. He presents himself as a rough and tough, tattooed convict which seems to be a foil of a contemporary lead character. Through the eyes of Chief Bromden, he reaches a level of respect high enough to rival Jesus Christ himself. Also, the ward consists of black men and a white woman forcing their constraints onto white men. This is contrary to the past America where these domineering figures in the book are looked down upon and held back because of profiling and discrimination. The unique and new age ideas presented in the novel create an interest for all audiences.
pd. 7
http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/cuckoo/
I found this website almost immediately, but I found it helpful and informing. The website has quotations they though were important explained. I found this really interesting and it helped me understand more about the book.
pd 7
http://www.epinions.com/review/One_Flew_over_the_Cuckoo_s_Nest_by_Ken_Kesey_and_by_John_Clark_Pratt_and_edited_by_John_Clark_Pratt_and_Robert_Faggen_and_narrated_by_Jonathan_Marosz_and_narrated_by_Tom_Parker/content_14526418564
I found this website after i looked up the meaning behind One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest. I found this site to be very helpful. It starts off by disecting the characters, breaking them down by their characteristics, and even giving what they are meant to symbolize. The site then goes inot talking about the meaning of the title and the plot of the book. Following this is kesey's inspiration for the book. Finally my favorite part the "in between the lines" of cuckoos nest. This is my favorite because it tells of the meanings behind the book and tells the messages that the book is trying to convey to you. For example one meaning of the book was to Persist in the face of opposition. Don't give up the ship- and don't let the 'givens' of your life, physical or situational, limit your choices. To me this means alot
Why do people like this book so much you might ask? I personally believe that people like this book because it is so blunt. The book doesnt hide and show that fake, perfect life/world that we all wish to have. The book doesnt try and create that status quo and show how to reach the perfect life, but rather is blunt about life and doesnt hide from the profanity, obscenity, and insanity of actual life. The book points out the truth. This reminds me of the quote Mr. C and I, disected about the book; "the world is so out of joint that it can only be seen from a perspective so different that it cuts trhough illusion to truth". This means that the world/life is so out there, so crazy and profane and obscene that the only way to make sense of the whole deal is to be just as or even more crazy, profane, and obscene to make ends meet. This relates with the messages that run deeper than just the lives of mental hospital patients, and for this reason people read and like the book because they learn life lessons from this masterpiece.
Youtube.com
Per 3.
I understand the website is not really what you were looking for Mr. C, but I like to think outside the box. Youtube allowed me to look at clips from the movie and give me a different point of view then my own. Another thing I found usefull about Youtube, is the videos on EST. Apperently modern EST is less violent, due to the use of muscle relaxers. Giving a visual and factual example of such an important part of the book made me understand the intensity of such an act. Not only do I feel more connected to the charaters after seeing a real EST treatment, but I also feel more human, in the sense that I now know the some what inhumane capcity of man.
The popularity of this book is evident. The book has a varity of points that make it so easy to love. It has humor, both dark and light; McMurphy making fun of harding is light and comical, but dark humor is also not over-looked. The pure drama of the book is appealing. The drama hero who over comes the evil villian is a classic everyone loves. Not only does McMurphy defeat the Nurse, but he also did the most courageous thing in the end, giving up his own life. The developement of the characters is so meaningful and graceful, allows for a powerful connection between the reader, characters, and author. These are just a few point I thought up; there are plenty more, making the book all the better.
Holly T
Period 5
http://www.geocities.com/stuartfernie/nest.htm
I found this site enlightening because it gave me a different perspective on the book from someone different then just myself. I found out many different things and meanings behind the story that Ken Kesey mentioned in book; this site mentioned things that i never got while reading the book the first time through. This site also, included some information on the movie it said the differences and similarities. While reading through the site it gave an outstanding over view of the book and also a little bit over the movie! The site also showed some helpful illustrations from the movie.
The book One Flew Over The Cuckoos Nest is a popular book because it tells a whole lot of information on about what is really going on in mental hospitals and it gives us a different perspective on life from someone who lives on the wild side of life rather then someone who is just chilled and never goes out of the ordinary like Kesey. I liked this book at times when i was able to understand what was really going on, but sometimes it was really difficult to understand what was going on and what Keseys points were. I liked how Kesey set up the characters names to have a really good meaning behind each and everyone. I also liked how Kesey set it up with McMurphy fighting authority and how he stuck up for the weaker people, unlike people do in school all they do is pick on the weaker people, by making fun of them and faking to be their friends.
Mr. C
Do you mean not to have the same site as our period, or all together? I see some repeats.
http://www.reelviews.net/movies/o/one_flew.html
Period 5
This website in enlighting to me because of the fact that it made it alot easier for me to understand the main points of the story. It covered the gist or the main points of the book and it explaiend it in terms different then the book. It shows how Nurse Ratched and McMurphy battle throught the whole book internally and externally. it shows how McMurphy is trying to break the rules of the the robotic nurse by making the patience do stuff that they have never done before or even thought that they could do. It also tells you about everyones puprose on the ward. All in all it really just makes the book alot eaiser to understand because it puts it in different words.
This is one of the greastest books of all times because it shows the preconcieved notions of the san and the insane. It makes people thing from different points of view they then have before. They get to understand life in a different way where they hav never been before. It also makes everything in that book have a point, it hooks everything up and it helps you understand. It is a mix of humor and drama and every american loves that. It helps you think in ways that have you have never thought before by using imagery and tons of metahpors and similes. It really was the first book of its kind and it was almost a rebellion agaisnt the times it was when he wrote this. he switched the roles of black people and women by making them run the patience.
Gil H. pd.5
http://kclibrary.lonestar.edu/kesey.html I found the site enlightening because it talks about his family life and the problems in his life. I liked the site because it gave me a idea of why he wrote the cuckoo's nest and why he wrote certian things that he did. It also says that Kesey's book may have had more influence on society than society had on Kesey, which is true because he never went with the normal train of thought at the time.
I think this book is so popular because it gives a different point of view for the reader than any other book does. It gives a view from Chief's thoughts instead of from somebodies account of Chief. So your looking from the inside out instead of outside in. It lets you understand the fustrations of a mental patient. The fustrations and problems wether fictional or real, you under stand how he feels better and thats why I think this book is so popular.
period 1
http://www.epinions.com/review/One_Flew_over_the_Cuckoo_s_Nest_by_Ken_Kesey_and_by_John_Clark_Pratt_and_edited_by_John_Clark_Pratt_and_Robert_Faggen_and_narrated_by_Jonathan_Marosz_and_narrated_by_Tom_Parker/content_140280303236
I found this site enlightening. The person who wrote the review was comparing the book vs. the movie. He pointed out that the book has a view of a patient, Chief, instead of third person like the movie. As a bonus, he compares that you get more detail and imagination from the book than the movie. He also points out of how society deals with the mentally ill. He says some of the guys locked up really don't need to be confined in the building. I do agree entirely on his empathy for Billy Bibbit. (Which he spelled wrong!) ^^ Billy is a sad case as the writer says. Billy should be having the time of his life. McMurphy gives a little taste of "fun" with Candy to give at least a little time of his life some flavor or vigor. All in all, both are classics, the book and the movie.
The book is very popular! It is not everyday you pick up a book and read from a patient's point of view in a mental hospital. I like this book because of the interiate details and literary devices used. Also, on the fact that you read from a person's point of view. Your in "their shoes" so to speak. This book is better in the aspect of having humor to lighten the tenseness in the book. Some books that I have read have no humor to lighten things up. This book, however, has hillerous stuff! ^^ Some of which I don't get and some of just laughing till your stomach hurts. I would definitely recommend this book!
Period 1
I think this book is so popular do its flipped and rebelious view about society. You see everyday life through a mentally ill man's eyes; you get his point of view, as well as all of his schizophrenic flashbacks and hallucinations. Also, you see the roles of women and African Americans being "inferior" at the time twisted into a role of power and control over the white man. The book is funny at times, and sad at others, but over all it teaches you to look at life differently and have a certain respect for everyone and everything around you.
Pd. 3
http://nikwdhmos.livejournal.com/204588.html
I found this site enlightening starting with the fact that it’s a blog on the same subject (the book) as what we’re writing about. I also found it interesting because of the way they portrayed the book. They called it, “a VERY obvious Christ-story, with the pleasant surprise that the Christ-figure's virtues are brawling, gambling, sex, and drinking -- and where the Satan-values are order, cleanliness, cruelty, and following the rules.” It intrigued me for the fact that I did get out some aspects of how he portrayed it, but by no means were they how I had portrayed the book. It proved how everyone looks at things a certain way and that this book leaves you that room for the mind to wander and take from it what you felt you needed from the book.
I feel the book is popular because it is a book that you could study and analyze forever and stuill not grasp everything that it offers. You could take anything and everything from this book. That is why it is in my eyes such a great piece of American literature and has left an impact on it’s readers. It is also a book not only informing of the story itself, but it gives you perspective of some things taking place during the 70’s even though it takes place in a mental hospital rather than on the outside where the most noted history of the 70’s was taking place. I feel it really put an awakening on that era. All of these reasons are why I feel this book is better than others. I did enjoy the book and all that I could take from it, I wish we could’ve studied it more in general and more as a class.
Adam Dather
Period 1
http://www.webenglishteacher.com/kesey.html
This site seems to have been created for a teacher's reference, but it has numerous ideas for discussion that students can adapt to as well. This site brings up good points, including a large amount of questions about why Nurse Ratched's name is significant, why Chief's race is important, and why the qualities of McMurphy (gambling, his rebellious spirit, etc.) are meaningful to the novel. I think that you (Mr. C) could use a lot of these topics to question our class, or classes in the future.
This book has established a legendary reputation for the fact that it is a very unique book, and unique things tend to interest people. If someone was to look at every book in a library, I doubt many of the books would be about life in a psych ward, with such great imagery and phenomenal detailing. Putting the book in the perspective of a delusional patient of the ward only adds to the already high interest level. I don’t know for sure how someone with schizophrenia would act, but if I had to guess, I’d say Kesey nailed it.
pd. 3
http://www.associatedcontent.com
I liked reading this article because it evaluates from a disability perspective. I think that this book is so popular because it leaves a lot to the imagination. This book relates the people in the ward to ourselves. Instead of reading about people in a ward being oppressed we ourselves feel like the oppressed and instantly feel as though we need to rebel against "the man". People can also draw many lines from the book to their own life, in today's society we constantly are being told what to think, how to act, and how to be. I think that Kesey wants the reader to see past the physical and realized that our strength is within our own mind. We are so comatosed by the things around us we believe in but never see the things that we think hold us down. I think this strikes a cord with many readers because everyone becomes sick of trying to abide by the rules of others.
P5
http://www.answers.com/topic/one-flew-over-the-cuckoo-s-nest-1
This website helps to understand the movie better. It describes what happens in the movie and why it happnes. It helps me understand what happened during the book, because i really didnt understand the book.
This book is very popular, i think, because many people can relate to being in a ward or knowing someone that has been in a ward. It is written from a different point of view, so it really draws in the readers. I really dont like this book because of the author and how it is written. I cant relate to people that use drugs that the government supposedly gave to them. Ken Kesey reminds me of Barack Obama because, I think, they have no clue what they are doing or talking about.
pd. 1st
http://www.gradesaver.com/classicnotes/titles/cuckoosnest/
I chose this website because I found it to help me better understand the book and helped me look at the book in different points and perspectives. This site gives you an overview of the chapters for a quick review when studying for the test to get a rough outline if you maybe forgot something. What I also like about this site is that it offers a few quizes over the book that can help us for our test in class. This site also offers the major themes of the book, lists all the charaters, so I can study them so I don't mix any of them up. This site has a link that allows you to look at essays written about One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Next that can help us for when we write our essays on the same type of subjects.
I believe this book is so colossal in American literary and actual history because it gives us a good perspective on life and shows many themes in the book. The book shows the blacks as dominant over white males in the story and women dominating over all men. This book is the opposite of what we usually see in our real society and that is what makes it appealing. There are so many different characters in this book with different problems that everyone can relate to them somehow at some point in there life. I like this book because it shows different characters with different personalities that we can relate too and it shows how the big and strong in life (like McMurphy) help the weak and small (like the patients) become bigger and stronger in their own minds and gain self-confidence. This book has all races in it and everyone can relate to it somehow.
Casey N's--before the due date/time:
period 5
http://kclibrary.lonestar.edu/kesey.html
What I found interesting on this website is it tells you where he grew up and what all the events that happened in his life. It talks about how he was raised on farms in Colorado and Oregon, so he kept the farming aspect throughout his whole life. He enjoyed wrestling and theater and also married his high school sweetheart. He volunteered to be an experimental subject to hallucinogens and they changed his life dramatically. Parts of the novel were written while under the influence of these hallucinogens but they made a major impact on the book. I don’t think that if he would have been on the drugs (but still worked the night shift in the ward) the book wouldn’t have been the same.
I think that this book made such an impact on American Literature because it was something completely new. No one was really willing to step outside of the box and experiment with the minds of Americans. I think that Kesey truly did a great job with the book, it’s incredible and its a good thing he stepped outside of the box. It made Americans think outside of their shallow minds and to me it makes me think if they are actually normal and we are the insane ones. Maybe we are the ones that are in the ward and we just don’t know it. They could also have us attached to strings and we are their puppets making us the crazy ones for not knowing. The book makes you think in ways you never did before. The book is important to history because people need to understand the background of Kesey to understand the historical events that took place in the Hippie era. I have never read a book that makes me think so much. I am not confused at all when I read it (maybe that’s a bad thing) but I understood it in a way that I can see exactly what is happening without being confused. I loved this book and im glad we read it!
period 3
http://www.bookrags.com/studyguide-cuckoosnest/intro.html
This site is enlightening to me because unlike in the book, it didn't confuse me. It helped me understand the what was going on in the book. I had to reread a every once in awhile to get waht was going on but wwith this site it more like summerized it for me and gave me a better idea and picture. It even gives me some of the background information to the book. It tells me a little bit about the auther but mostly sticks to the book. This website also gives me some background history on some of the characters, which helps understand the way they are a little bit better.
At first, I didn't like this book at all. But once we started getting further into the book and discussing it all the time in class, I liked it. It starts to make more sense in towards the end. And I think that is part of the reason it was become so popular. It keeps you wondering, not in a suspense sort of way, but a I don't get this sort of way. In history, I'm sure there has been events that come close to what happened in the book. And it's not the kind of history that was so, so long ago.
p.7
http://www.cliffsnotes.com/WileyCDA/LitNote/One-Flew-Over-the-Cuckoo-s-Nest-Character-Analyses-Randle-Patrick-McMurphy
This website was particularly helpful to me because it described who McMurphy really is. This site goes into his past and explains how he has become the way he is. McMurphy helped lead an escape out of a prison camp during the Korean War. He was then dishonorably discharged, possibly due to his attitude towards authority. McMurphy is not one to follow rules, but rather do his own thing. McMurphy realizes that all of the Nurses activities are to keep her in authority, not promote healing withing the patients. Throughout the novel McMurphy tries not to help the patients escape from a POW camp , but rather escape the attitude of conforming to Nurse Ratched. All of the patients are little robots following the Nurse's schedule until McMurphy comes in and instills some confidence and fight into the inmates.
I believe this novel is as successful as it is because it is very real, obscene, and honest. Our world is very broken. It is full of situations that are like those in the novel. This book appeals to audiences because we like to see the underdog stand up against the bad regime. I like this novel better than others because it doesn't try to suppress our problems but rather is addresses them head on. Some books try to hide our worlds problems and make it seem like everything is okay when it is not. That is why this book is so popular because it is honest. Also I believe people can relate to the language in the book. Many people in our world use profanity and that also adds both honesty and realism to the book.
Alex W
pd. 1
http://schol.wordpress.com/2008/10/23/structure-in-cuckoos-nest/
I like this site because it gives a quick in-depth look into chief's capability to be a trustworthy narrator. This is exactly what we have talked about in class and what I have had questions over. Kesey took a big risk when writing this book from chief's schizophrenic point of view. The reader at times gets lost in the fog almost as much as chief, especially when are Narrator tells us that patients are floating by and you see mechanical parts in the nurses purse. It confuses the reader almost as much as chief is confused. This is most defiantly done on purpose by Kesey to show the difference between a sane man and a "crazy". Also the conflict within the novel makes it one of the most popular books in American literature. At the time this book was being written, race was a huge issue within our society and I believe that Kesey tried to show this through the conflicts McMurphy has with the black boys and maybe the softer side of blacks through Turkle. Also the conflict between men and women are brought up with Nurse Ratched ruling over men. That didn’t happen back when Kesey was writing. Kesey’s book brought national attention to the injustices of our society. That is the reason why "One flew over the cuckoo's Nest" is so colossal in American literature.
Period 7
http://www.geocities.com/stuartfernie/nest.htm
What I really liked about this website was that it kept up with our class. Many of the other sites I went to first only had the most basic points of analysis. Because our class dug so deeply into the novel, I found it difficult to find a website that could get even deeper. On this website, this man finds the message in the book that we can change the structure of our society, if we have the courage and determination to do so. He also believes that Harding and a few of the other patients could have had the same impact as McMurphy, if they hadn't questioned themselves "to such an extent that they [had] lost confidence and [could] no long function as "normal" members of society".
I believe this book is so extraordinary because nearly everybody can relate to it. They don't necessarily relate to the lunacy or hallucinations, but to the feeling of being oppressed. People can relate to every character. Whether it be to the stubbornness in Mr. McMurphy, the shyness in Billy, the homosexuality in Mr. Harding, or the willingness to fight in Mr. Cheswick, everybody can relate. I believe this book is better than others because it can withstand the tests of time. Some books can be very popular, but within a few years, they die out and are lost forever. Even though this book takes place in a semi-specific time period, I believe it will be able to last for many more years because of it's main point of society's oppression.
1
http://www.allwatchers.com/Topics/Info_3893.asp
I like this website, because it sums everything up quick enough letting you be able to fit other things into your day to do. It does it accurately and quickly without leaving out important plot points. i also like how there are people that add into it, like this blog right now. It helps me understand the book, by clearing up the movie.
Ethan T.
Period 7
www.cliffnotes.com
Part I
-Probably not the most original but this site helped me throughout the book. It summerized the parts of the book making it easier to comprehend, it also analysed the differant parts similar to the way we do in class, so not only do you understand whats going on but whats actually taking place on a deeper more charater personal level. The Character maps helped out a lot as well, because i got a lot of them mixed up at first, forgetting who was who. Not that i did this but it had sample tests and questions to test your Kesey knowledge which was also kind of cool.
Part II
-This book is has popular as it is for a few reasons in my opinion. For one it gets into the human Phsyche more than anything else i've read, not many writers try to accoplish such a feat, Kesey if i'm not mistaken was the first to do so successfully. It was also an unknown topic at the time, nobody really knew what went on it those mental hospitals, and Kesey didn't beat around the bush either he brought you inside of the mind of a patient in one of those places, it really felt like he couldn't have left more anything out; it was already enough to comprehend as it is. One of the more personal reasons that i like the book, is beacuse McMurphy reminds me of a friend of mine who is the coolest person i've ever met, and when he moved to my town he stuck up for me against some of the older kids that picked on me and he gave me my convindence back so i could stand up for my self and then moved away once he occomplished that, its kinda like hoe McMurphy sticks up for the patients on the ward and helps Chief get his size back and died afterwards: only differance i see is that my friend didn't die.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/One_Flew_Over_the_Cuckoo%27s_Nest_(novel)
p.3
This site helped me out because it was short and to the point. it didn't point out the details but it didn't need to, I firgured it out by the end of the site. It even tells u the characters and what their importance is to the book. Also you can see themes that they have come up with. It tells you the books backround about how Ken came up with it and where and when.
This book is so popular because it has so many ways to be interpeted. You could go biblical and say that McMurphy is portaying Jesus. Also you feel sorry for the patients and you know that some of them are like that. You also think if thats how those wards act.
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