One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest.

Welcome to my Webquest on One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest.

You are going on a scavaging hunt all over the internet to read, watch and listen, and make question that have to do with the book One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest by Ken Kesey.

The Webquest is meant for students who have read the book and are interested in exploring some background information about the writer and the context of the book.

Read the instructions well and have fun!

The aim of this webquest is to provide information on the writer, give insight into the content and the context of the book, let you research the practices and treatments described in the book, and compare the book with the oscar winning film.

At the end of the webquest you will have read texts, watched clips, and answered questions on all the aforementioned topics.

I hope you have fun and learn something new!

Good luck!

Part 1 - The Writer.

The writer of the novel is Ken Kesey.  

There's a biographical piece about Kesey on the following website:

http://www.biography.com/people/ken-kesey-9363911

Read the biography and answer the following questions:

1. What occupation did Kesey's parents have?

2. Why did he choose not to become an actor?

3. What events led him to write One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest?

4. What were Kesey's thoughts about the script of the film?

5. Which social movement is Kesey credited with for sparking?

Part 2 - Content and Context.

At the following link, there's a video with people talking about the social aspect on One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_lpIkVsGeKc 

Watch the video and answer the following questions.

1. What is it colloquially called when you work from midnight to 8 in the morning?

2. Why was the government so against publishing the film version of the book?

3. What does Kesey mean when he says, "until finally you've got an Ahab who goes out there and takes it on"?

4. According to Kesey, which of the characters were ficticious?

5. According to Dr. Robert Faggen, what makes this story still relevant today?

Part 3 - The Treatments.

A. At the following link there's a newspaper article about one of the treatments given to McMurphy in the book, ECT. 

http://goo.gl/NC9Qwv 

Read the article and answer the questions.

1. Explain what ECT stands for.

2. Against whom was ECT very effective, and why; According to nurse Ratched?

3. What is Dr. Pittman's opinion of ECT?

4. The article names positive and negative effects the book had; name 1 positive and 1 negative effect.

5. What three adjectives does the New York Times use to describe ECT?

B. At the following link there's a video on the final treatment McMurphy gets in the books, a lobotomy. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=StrsvKSAbT8

Watch the video and answer the questions.

1. Why was John Folton cutting into chimpanzee's brains?

2. Which part of the brain is attributed with human emotions?

3. According to Moniz, what was the reason for mental illnesses?

4. Why didn''t Moniz perform the first human surgery himself?

5. What was the result of the surgery on the first human?

6. After WWII, how much did the number of lobotomies grow?

7. Name 4 negative consequences of lobotomies for patients?

8. When and why did lobotomies stop being exercised?

9. How do the new drugs work?

10. How come the practices of Moniz, Folton and Freeman are thought of as the darkest chapters of medical history?

Part 4 - The Book vs. The Film.

You've all read the book. Undoubtedly, you are aware of the fact that there is a movie adaptation of the book. In this final part of the webuquest, we are going to explore the differences between the book and the film, because there always are a few!

(for those of you who haven't seen the film, it's at this link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cKCtOcYITcc )

I will describe a couple situations and you have to say if it's in the book or the film or both.

1. Maxwell Taber is is a patient who stood up to Nurse Ratchet and is punished with electroshock therapy. He is released before McMurphy arrives at the hospital.

2. McMurphy plays a sportscommentator to an invisible baseball match.

3. McMurphy hijacks the patients' bus and to take them to the fishing trip.

4. George Sorenson leads the fishing trip because he is an experienced sailor.

5. Dr. Spivey is as afraid of nurse Ratched as the patients.

6. McMurphy punches through the window of the nurse's station.

7. A machine called the Combine runs the world.

8. Billy Bibbit sleeps with a prositute.

9. Nurse Ratchet's breast is bared to the patients.

10. McMurphy is lobotomised and subsequently killed by the Chief.

Of course now you would like to know how to get a sufficient grade.

There are four parts to the webquest where points can be awarded. 

Part 1            5 points.

Part 2            5 Points.

Part 3            15 points.

Part 4            10 points

Total of 35 points. If you have 25 point, you will be marked sufficient.

I hope you enjoyed doing this webquest about One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest as much as I enjoyed making it. I also hope you learned something. It's hard to imagine these practices were still being carried out not even 65 years ago. Let's remember that, and be grateful that we don't have to experience these barbaric methods.