English 10
Honors and College Prep
Summer Reading (printer-friendly version)
Greetings and Salutations!
We are looking forward to meeting you and to start everything off, we would like you all to read one book and see one film in common. The book you should read is ONE FLEW OVER THE CUCKOO’S NEST by Ken Kesey. The film you should watch has the same title. You can find the book in any library or bookstore and the film is in any video store; it is a classic. Do this assignment as close to the start of school as you can (late August rather than early June) so that the stories are fresh in your mind and please bring your copy of the book to class for the first week. We will be talking about both of these stories and writing about both of these stories in the first weeks of school.
ONE FLEW OVER THE CUCKOO’S NEST is the story of R. J. McMurphy, a man who pretended to be insane in order to avoid staying on a prison farm. He meets and befriends the entire ward of an asylum and no one there will ever be the same again. The film of the same name is the story told in a different way, with its own strengths and weaknesses. We will discuss both of them separately and as they relate to each other.
Please understand one thing before you read. Ken Kesey lived and wrote during the time of the 1960’s in America. This was a time when some people viewed all authority as repressive and wanted to live their lives in complete freedom from rules and previous cultural traditions. This book reflects the time in which it is written very well: the liberated view of sexuality is as evident as the use of drugs and liquor. We will talk about how such a free use of these experiences can affect people and has changed the way we live today. Kesey, living in the ‘60’s, uses the human stereotypes of his time also. Black people, women, and Native Americans were not viewed or treated with respect and equality, and the characters in this book reflect that. In his story, Kesey does plant note seed of respect, perhaps for the first time, and you will see that people who are very different from you can be interesting and special. Even with all these issues going on, this book is a terrific story with characters you will never forget and an important message about the dignity of those people who live on the outskirts of our society.
Read the book before you watch the movie.
First choose three quotations, from any part of this book, that you think are particularly wise or truthful or that perfectly describe either some character or situation from the book or a person or situation from real life. Type them out and explain, for each quotation, why you chose the quotations that you did. You will use these quotations during the first week of discussion of the book.
Then type, in a paragraph apiece, the answers to the following four questions. Remember, every paragraph has a topic sentence and a concluding sentence and misspelled words weakens the greatest of ideas. Both of these typed assignments are due on the first class day.
Questions
In his novel, Chief Broom was Kesey's choice for a narrator and the reader sees the whole story enfold through his eyes. In the film, the director changes Chief Broom’s role and eliminates him as a narrator. 1. Why did Kesey make the choice to have Chief be the narrator of his story? 2. In which ways is he a perfect choice for a narrator? 3. Does his distort reality in any way as he relates the story to you? 4. Which version of this tale do you like the best, the movie or the book? Why?
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A BRIEF NOTE TO YOUR FOLKS!
The movie, “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest” is rated “R”. It is the policy of CDH that rated “R” films will not be shown unless a student has the permission of his/her parents. It goes without saying that if it is a family policy that you do not allow the watching of this film because of its rating, then we will certainly support this decision.
So why are we asking your child to see rated “R” film? The film itself is not as violent or as sexual as the rating suggests. The rating was attached in the 1970’s, when the film was first shown in theaters, and the standards for inappropriate film scenes were much, much more strict. If this film were to be rated today, it would most probably be rated PG; just about every movie your child watches these days has more suggestive scenes, more profane language, more violence.
So why ARE we asking your child to see this film? We like this film because Kesey satirizes the American culture in ways which have become more true as time has passed. Jack Nicholson, as Patrick McMurphy, enters the scene as a man who is so cool that he really does not need anyone else, and he finishes the movie giving his life so that people on the fringes of American society--the great unwashed and unloved--may have dignity. He is a catalyst for change--change within the people around him, change in the systems which hold down the friendless and the weak, change within himself. He is a hero, even a Christ-figure. And, though the book is infinitely better, visual mediums are powerful and the complement of the two should make for some very powerful learning.
You, of course, have every right to forbid your child to see it. They will not feel left out of the class conversation, they will not lose points, they will not be penalized in any way. If you do forbid it, please sign this sheet of paper and have your child hand it in on the first day with his/her paper so that we may never embarrass her/him by calling on them in discussion to answer a question about the movie which they feel unprepared to answer.
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If you have any questions, please call Sheila Malone-Povolny at 651-698-9645. We hope that you have a fabulous summer and we look forward to spending many great days with you!
Hallie Ashenmacher
Susan Vaughan-Fier
Terence Sinclair-Wood
Kevin Lally
Sheila Malone-Povolny
Theresa Haider