One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest by Ken Kesey

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One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest Summary
Ken Kesey

Everything you need to understand or teach One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest by Ken Kesey.

One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest Summary & Study Guide
29 Student Essays
2 Encyclopedia Articles
2 Literature Criticisms
1 Book Notes
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30 One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest Lessons
20 Activities
180 Multiple Choice Questions
60 Short Essay Questions
20 Essay Questions
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One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest Summary

One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest is a classic novel by award winning author Ken Kesey. In this novel, R. P. McMurphy has himself committed to a mental hospital from a work camp because he thinks the stay will be easier. However, McMurphy quickly discovers that life in the mental hospital is not what he thought it was. At first, McMurphy tries to behave so that the head nurse will...

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One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest Study Guide

Plot Summary

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Symbols and Symbolism

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Themes and Motifs

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Encyclopedia Articles (2)

One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest

1,004 words, approx. 4 pages

One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest Ken Kesey's first and best known novel, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1962), the story of an unlikely redeemer who triumphs over the authoritari... Read more

One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest

3,921 words, approx. 14 pages

One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest by Ken Kesey After earning his bachelor's degree from the University of Oregon in 1957, Ken Kesey went on to study creative writing at Stanford University under some... Read more

Ken Kesey Biographies (6)

Ken (Elton) Kesey

2,538 words, approx. 9 pages

Ken Kesey's One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1962) was a critical success from the beginning. Its popularity, particularly among college students, has grown steadily, with paperback sales soaring into... Read more

Ken (Elton) Kesey

5,272 words, approx. 18 pages

A writer who came of age on the West Coast during the late 1950s. Ken Kesey has been profoundly influenced by the Beats both in his life and in his work. Strictly speaking, he is not a Beat writer in ... Read more

Ken (Elton) Kesey

5,593 words, approx. 19 pages

Ken Kesey's diverse creative works provide a colorful testimony to his talent and myriad interests. His reputation as a writer depends mainly on his first two novels, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (... Read more

Ken (Elton) Kesey

4,795 words, approx. 16 pages

[This entry was updated by Laura M. Zaidman (University of South Carolina, Sumter) from her update in the Concise Dictionary of American Literary Biography, volume 6, of the entry by Stephen L. Tanner... Read more

Ken Kesey

4,855 words, approx. 17 pages

Biography EssayA writer who came of age on the West Coast during the late 1950s, Ken Kesey has been profoundly influenced by the Beats both in his life and in his work. Strictly speaking, he is not a ... Read more

Ken Kesey

5,305 words, approx. 18 pages

Writer Ken Kesey has often said that he would rather live a novel than write one--be a lightning rod rather than a seismograph. A lightning rod is exactly what Kesey has been, attracting not only the ... Read more

Essays & Analysis (31)

Critical Essay by Robert Forrey

1,626 words, approx. 6 pages

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Critical Essay by James F. Knapp

1,585 words, approx. 6 pages

1,368 words, approx. 5 pages

A Sacred Theme "Jesus Christ was more than man," (Napoleon I). In America, a large portion of the population associates Jesus with holiness, and as the ultimate savior. Ken Kesey utilizes Christ a... Read more

One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest

1,469 words, approx. 5 pages

In the book One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest by Ken Kesey, there are many themes present. The theme of human freedom verses control stands out the most. Freedom is the ability to make choices and ca... Read more

Symbolism in "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest"

1,437 words, approx. 5 pages

A symbol is a `sign' that represents a more complex notion, especially a material object used to represent something abstract. An olive branch and dove often symbolize peace; the colour purple, royalt... Read more

One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest: Individuality and Conformity

1,363 words, approx. 5 pages

In society, individuals blindly fall victim to society's wants unconsciously. Few succeed in seeing the true colors of society because of its overpowering cover of black and white over our lives, lead... Read more

The Outsider

1,853 words, approx. 7 pages

Human nature being what it is, people often harbour feelings of discomfort around those who are `different' - whether it is because of disability, or because of holding a different personal view of th... Read more

Is McMurphy Christ?

1,252 words, approx. 5 pages

How Far Does Ken Kesey Portray the Character of R.P. McMurphy as a Christ Figure in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" Literary fiction is littered with references to Christianity. It is very obviously... Read more

One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest

934 words, approx. 4 pages

The fog and the Combine are two key concepts in the book "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" and they are specific to Chief Bromden - the narrator. The fog was his safety and the Combine was the Society... Read more

One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest

922 words, approx. 4 pages

The book One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, by Ken Kesey, was a somewhat grim, yet comedic, tale of life in a mental institution. It was made into a movie and many conflicts, events, and situations wer... Read more

Fear and Control of the Unknown

1,191 words, approx. 4 pages

Throughout history many communities have been persecuted for being different from the general public. Society has often forced these unique individuals to assimilate or be constrained because of the ... Read more

One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest: Mcmurphy as Christ

1,345 words, approx. 5 pages

Randall P. McMurphy of Ken Kesey's classic novel One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest is, in every sense of the phrase, his own man. To say a few things about him, he is a big, loud, drinking, gambling, ... Read more

One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest

240 words, approx. 1 pages

The novel One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest is narrated in the first person point-of-view by Chief Bromden. This is important because Chief Bromden tells the story as it appears to him through a halluci... Read more

The Reality of Insanity

1,145 words, approx. 4 pages

The development of the world has lots of good advantages for men; but besides all these it has also bad effects, too; as the illnesses and most importantly the mental illnesses. As the centuries go o... Read more

One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest

1,523 words, approx. 6 pages

One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest is directed by Milos Forman and is about a group of patients in a psychiatric hospital and their daily lives there under the rule of Nurse Ratched. However, their rout... Read more

One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest

1,020 words, approx. 4 pages

Why are you not in the kitchen making dinner? During the 20th century women were seen as the ones that stay home and make sure that the house is fine. The women do the laundry and clean while the me... Read more

The Influence of Randall Patrick Mcmurphy

812 words, approx. 3 pages

When an external element is introduced into a "closed system,"changes occur. In terms of the book One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest by Ken Kesey, this closed system is the ward in the mental institution... Read more

Chief Bromden Narrates One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest

1,467 words, approx. 5 pages

In the novel, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, the author, Ken Kesey, chose a patient suffering from schizophrenia to narrate the story that is based on Kesey's own experiences. The novel is seen thr... Read more

The Transformation of the Jesus Figure

3,038 words, approx. 11 pages

The Jesus figure is one of the most commonly identified and utilised elements of Western culture to portray and legitimise Christian ideology. The most common way in which this is done is through the ... Read more

Analysis of One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest

1,279 words, approx. 5 pages

In Ken Kesey's One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, the patients of a mental institution are forced to conform to wards rules. One particular patient Randal Patrick McMurphy attempts to avoid conforming ... Read more

On Being Thrust Into Confusing Predicaments

825 words, approx. 3 pages

In the film, Forrest Gump, there is a particular scene where Forrest, played by actor Tom Hanks, waits patiently for a bus. As he waits however, he begins to tell the story of his life, repeating... Read more

Analysis of One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest

794 words, approx. 3 pages

In the novel, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, the mental patients' irrational and maddening behaviors play a very crucial role to the development of the plot. The character that portrays this the mo... Read more

Emasculation as a Theme in "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest"

325 words, approx. 2 pages

In Ken Kesey's One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, women are depicted primarily as threatening or even terrifying figures. Emasculation is brought up time and time again by Chief Bromden and McMurphy in... Read more

Analysis of Chief Bromden

1,083 words, approx. 4 pages

Chief Bromden is a very antisocial character in the novel One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest by Ken Kesey. He is half Indian and half white. His father was an Indian chief named Chief Tee Ah Millatoona a... Read more

Symbolism in "One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest"

569 words, approx. 2 pages

One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest is a novel written and published by Ken Kesey in 1962. This book was based on the author's own experience and had a cultural background of the 1960s. One Flew over the ... Read more

Comparison of the book and novel versions of "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest"

457 words, approx. 2 pages

Both Ken Kesey's book, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's nest and the movie and entertaining and are both considered classics. Both the book and the movie have their ups and down. The story takes place in an... Read more

Significance of Humor in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest

623 words, approx. 3 pages

Laughter is used by Ken Kesey very notably. In the novel, the patients do not seem to have the ability to laugh at anything nor do they find anything funny. The patients live a very colorless life in ... Read more

Randle Patrick McMurphy as a Christ-like Figure

742 words, approx. 3 pages

One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest Ken Kesey created a Christ-like character through Randle Patrick McMurphy. He sacrificed himself for the benefit of the other patients. He was crucified through elec... Read more

One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest Theme

428 words, approx. 2 pages

Society's Suppression of Natural Impulses One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest by Ken Kesey is about the happenings at an insane asylum. Nurse Ratched, the antagonist, dominates all until one day a new p... Read more

Indiviualism Vs Conformity in One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest

835 words, approx. 3 pages

For as long as any one can remember there have always been two types of people, those who conform to all rules enforced by society, and those who oppose conforming and would rather be an individual. T... Read more

Oneflew Over the Cuckoo's Nest

1,572 words, approx. 6 pages

"Microcosm" A literary term in which a smaller universe is used as an equivalent to a bigger universe. Ken Kesey's dynamic work in One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest is the result of many factors. Though... Read more

Free Book Notes (1)

One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest

12,571 words, approx. 42 pages

One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest Book Notes is a free study guide on One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest by Ken Kesey. Browse the summary below:   Author Biography / Context of the Work   One... Read more

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