Welcome!

Reflecting on Cults What patterns in rhetoric do you see? Why do you think cults have the kind of power that they do? Why would ‘normal’ people be attracted to cults? What can the presence of cults teach us about our society? What we fear: Inability of normal, structured society to protect and keep us safe Fear that governments or institutions are actually causing us harm rather than protecting us

Guiding Question Do institutions (designed to protect societies) ultimately save us from monsters, or create them?

Introducing: One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest By Ken Kesey

Define: Sanity Defined as: reasonable or rational behavior If our narrator is in an insane asylum, and we believe him to be insane, how can we trust him? How does this affect the narration?

Literary Analysis Paper 4-6 pages One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest No prompt  Motifs & Themes Humor (laughter) Society vs. the Individual Conformity Sanity vs. Insanity

“I was too old to be a beatnik and not young enough to be a hippie” Ken Kesey (1935-2001) “I was too old to be a beatnik and not young enough to be a hippie” American author One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (1962) Sometimes A Great Notion (1964) Considered a link between the Beat generation of the 1950s and the Hippie generation of the 1960s Born in Colorado, moved to Oregon Attended University of Oregon Wrestler, great athlete Degree from the School of Journalism in speech and communication in 1957, followed by non-degree Creative Writing program at Stanford Experimented heavily with psychoactive drugs Took part in government funded study around LSD, mescaline, cocaine, DMT Inspired Cuckoo’s Nest Kesey did not believe that patients were insane, but rather that they had been pushed out by society because they did not conform

Began hosting “Acid Test” parties Involved his favorite band The Warlocks (later known as The Grateful Dead) black lights, strobes, florescent paint, and LSD

The Merry Pranksters Cross-country road trip that involved a number of famous Beats A bus named “Further” The trip was the group’s attempt to create art out of everyday life and to experience roadway America while high on LSD “If people could just understand it is possible to be different without being a threat”

Legacy of the Further trip Rooted in ideals of American freedom “more haphazard than planned” Kesey directed the action like a ringmaster Kesey had intended this to be a summer trip, but people started to adopt it as a lifestyle Up to the end of his life Kesey praised the psychedelic 60s – he said he would “accept all the bad again, so long as he got the good too” Popularized the tie-dye effect that would become associated with San Francisco’s hippie scene

Over the weekend, please read through page 14 Homework Over the weekend, please read through page 14

Introducing Cuckoo’s Nest Welcome to the asylum! Introducing Cuckoo’s Nest

Part 1 Initial reactions? What do we know about our narrator? Chief Bromden Half-Native American “Half-breed Indian” (5) “They think I’m deaf and dumb” (3) How is Nurse Ratched characterized? “she’s got that bag full of a thousand parts she aims to use in her duties today – wheels and gears, cogs polished to a hard glitter, tiny pills…” (4) “She nods to each one. Precise, automatic gesture” (5) “Her face is smooth, calculated, and precision-made, like an expensive baby doll…” (5)