Cuckoo's+Nest+Modern

You will look at a set of pictures and determine whether it is a picture from a modern day mental illness treatment center, or one from the 1960's. You will also whether treatment looks the same and such.
 * Opening Activity:**


 * Summary Response:**

Laura Quinn argues in her overview that Ken Kesey’s novel is a good novel to read for modern day education and discussion of some controversy issues. Although she recognizes that the book may be somewhat offensive, the elements discussed in the story are still quite applicable to controversies today. She decides that this is the perfect book to be taught because it often brings up problematic discussion.

Quinn’s stance on this theory is very logical because this book is very easy to discuss. As she points out it doesn’t just touch upon one controversial issue, but many. It brings up facts of life that some people are afraid to discuss such as; sex, race, gender, drugs, rebellion, and mental illness. She is aware that teenagers are not always very naïve when it comes to these topics. Laura Quinn also compares this novel to the short story “The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Perkin Gilman, in which the power of the institution is male; where as in //One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest// the dominating power, is female. This female power is therefore severely rebelled against; rebellion, as Ms. Quinn states is quite the common affair amongst teens who are at a constant desire for power and status. This is a quality seen in teenagers seen throughout history, especially through drugs. Ken Kesey was a man who fell into the drug era of the 1960’s which constantly shines through with his hallucinatory writing. The novel brings up issues of the time period constantly as well as questions the treatment in mental institutions at the time. Clearly Laura Quinn is correct in her theory that //One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest// is a valuable novel that should be taught in high schools to teach controversial issues as well as a different perspective of history.

Quinn, Laura. "//Moby Dick// vs. Big Nurse: A Feminist Defense of a Misogynist Text: //One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest//." __Censored Books: Critical Viewpoints__. Ed. Nicholas J. Karolides, John M. Kean, and Lee Burress Scarecrow Press, 1993. 398-413. **Rpt. in** __Novels for Students__. Ed. Diane Telgen. Vol. 2. Detroit : Gale, 1998. 398-413. __ Literature __ __Resource__ __Center__. Gale. ARAPAHOE HIGH SCHOOL. 12 May 2008 <[|http://go.galegroup.com/ps/start.do?p=LitRC&u=litt24484>.
 * Works Cited:**

**Other Articles:** [|http://go.galegroup.com/ps/retrieve.do?sgHitCountType=None&sort=RELEVANCE&inPS=true&prodId=LitRC&userGroupName=litt24484&tabID=T001&searchId=R1&resultListType=RESULT_LIST&contentSegment=&searchType=BasicSearchForm&currentPosition=4&contentSet=GALE%7CH1100045368&&docId=GALE|H1100045368&docType=GALE] this is a critique from the late 70’s, so not truly that modern but his views are kind of interesting [|http://go.galegroup.com/ps/retrieve.do?sgHitCountType=None&sort=DA-SORT&inPS=true&prodId=LitRC&userGroupName=litt24484&tabID=T001&searchId=R1&resultListType=RESULT_LIST&contentSegment=&searchType=BasicSearchForm&currentPosition=17&contentSet=GALE%7CH1100055057&&docId=GALE|H1100055057&docType=GALE] this is a very interesting modern analysis of the metaphors used in Kesey’s novel as well as the underlying search for liberation.


 * Discussion Questions:**
 * 1) How do you think psychiatric treatment has changed to this day? Do you think this was a realistic interpretation of asylums in the 1960’s?
 * 2) Who won the nurse or McMurphy? Was McMurphy ever truly insane?
 * 3) What aspects of the novel relate to modern day? (Politically, with rebellion, controversial issues, and etc.)
 * 4) Did the chief truly save McMurphy? Did he save himself? Do you think things could have turned out differently?
 * 5) Was there any permanent loss of masculinity or femininity by the end?
 * 6) What makes a person crazy? (what truly is insanity? Sanity?)

Elyse H.