One Flew Over the

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• One Flew Over the
• Cuckoos Nest
• Introductory Lecture

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The Life and Times of Ken Kesey
Themes Symbols
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Bibliographic Information

• Kesey was born in 1935 in La Junta, Colorado
• Lived on farms in Colorado and Oregon
• Attended University of Oregon's School of
  Journalism
• 1958 Enrolled in creative writing program at
  Stanford University
• Married his highschool sweetheart, Norma Faye
  Haxby, and had three children, Jed, Zane and
  Shannon.

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• Known as a cultural icon who some consider a link
  between the "beat generation" of the 1950s (jazz,
  poetry, drug experiences) and the "hippies" of
  the 1960s.

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The Beat Generation

• http//www.youtube.com/watch?vfpJZ9j52X2I

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Hippies

• http//www.bing.com/videos/search?qHippiesInThe
  1960Sviewdetailmid9CDD4E1C3CC8F31A916B9CDD4E1
  C3CC8F31A916Bfirst0

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Experimentation

• Menlo Park Veterans Hospital research program
• LSD, psilocybin, mescaline, and amphetamine
  IT-290
• What does this mean?

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Well ...

• Writing One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
• At the end of his participation in drug
  experiments, Kesey worked in a mental ward at the
  hospital and felt that the patients weren't crazy
  at all but did not fit in with society.
• Kesey's goal was to break through conformist
  thought and ultimately forge a reconfiguration of
  American society.
• http//www2.lib.virginia.edu/exhibits/sixties/kese
  y.html

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The Merry Pranksters

• Kesey's group of friends
• Took psychedelic drugs
• Wore outrageous clothing
• Participated in peaceful confrontations with the
  law
• Performed bizarre street acts
• Were against all levels of conformity and
  conventionality

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The Merry Pranksters

• Tired partygoers enjoy the vestiges of the Acid
  Test Graduation, an elaborate Halloween party
  thrown by Ken Kesey and the Merry Pranksters at
  the Warehouse, San Francisco, Oct. 31, 1966.
  Along with live music and psychedelic light
  shows, large quantities of hallucinogenic drugs
  were consumed at the Acid Tests, though LSD was
  outlawed in the state of California (Oct. 7,
  1966).
• Ted Streshinsky/CorbisBrittanica.com

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The Merry Pranksters

• To promote Kesey's novel Sometimes a Great
  Notion, the Merry Pranksters took off on a tour
  from San Fransisco to New York in their 'bus
  nick named Furthur.
• This trip, described in Tom Wolfe's book The
  Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test (and later in Kesey's
  own screenplay "The Further Inquiry") was the
  group's attempt at making art out of everyday
  life.
• "What we hoped was that we could stop the coming
  end of the world." Kesey

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The Magic Trip

• http//www.key-z.com/video.html

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The Kool-Aid Acid Test

• Name given to Kesey's wild parties
• Kesey would have his guests ingest LSD, sometimes
  without acknowledgement
• Blue Kool-Aid
• Facing one's fears under LSD.

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The Merry Pranksters

• Ken Kesey, who was at the center of the
  psychedelic counterculture on the West Coast,
  speaks with his band of Merry Pranksters, San
  Francisco, 1966. 'I believe man is changing,"
  Kesey said. "Our concept of reality is changing.
  It's been happening here in San Francisco. I
  believe there's a whole new generation of kids.
  They're different. I can hear it in the music.'
• Brittanica.com

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The Merry Pranksters and the Psychedelic Era

• It has been said that they were responsible for
  the introduction of the San Francisco
  psychedelic era that is the 60's.
• In 1966, Kesey has stated that these drugs were
  temporary and delusional but this could not
  stop the trend that he and the Merry Pranksters
  has started.

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One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest

• Became incredibly popular and was viewed as a
  critical look on society.
• Still claimed as Kesey's most popular work.

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One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest

• Based on Keseys experiences as an orderly at a
  mental health facility in Menlo Park, CA
• Exposed the public to the inner workings of
  mental health institutions
• Narrated by a schizophrenic patient Chief Bromden
• Reveals Nurse Ratcheds abuse of power (i.e.
  shock theraphy lobotomies)

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One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest

• It was read as a compelling cautionary tale that
  viewed society, represented by Big Nurse, as a
  cold, formidable negation of all that is free,
  lusty and nonconformist. McMurphy, a malingerer
  from a penal work farm, tries to rekindle a spark
  of life among his fellow patients, and is
  thwarted at each step by the cold, calculating
  Nurse Ratched
• Lets see what you think!

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Sources Usedhttp//www.britannica.com/psychedel
ic/scene/kesey.html087p1http//www2.lib.virgini
a.edu/exhibits/sixties/kesey.html 1998 by the
Rector and Visitors of the University of
Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia / 22903
www.wikipedia.com
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American Film Institute Heroes Villains

• -top 50 villains and heroes in 100 years of film
  history
• Atticus Finch (from To Kill A Mockingbird) the
  greatest hero of all time
• Dr. Hannibal Lecter (from Silence of the Lambs)
  the top villain
• The other within the top 5 villains Norman
  Bates, Darth Vader, The Wicked Witch of the West,
  Nurse Ratched