Literature and Film One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest Study Guide
Matching and Short Answer (50 points)
Who is the narrator of the novel?
What does the fog represent?
The geese the Chief sees outside the hospital window symbolize…
The description of Harding’s hands is significant because…
The fishing trip is good for the men because…
The orderlies abuse the patients by…
Cheswick and Billy both commit suicide because…
Nurse Ratched decides to keep McMurphy on the ward after McMurphy defies her authority when he pretends to watch the world series on TV because…
Define “black comedy” and identify incidents as examples from the story.
“Ratched” and “Big Nurse” are appropriate names for the nurse in charge of the ward because…
McMurphy stops his battle with Nurse Ratched when…
Sefelt refuses to take his seizure medication because…
McMurphy tries to fluster Nurse Ratched with little rebellions such as…
When and why does the Chief first feel deaf and dumb?
What things does the Chief believe are examples of the Combine at work?
The meaning of the title of novel is?
The Chief kills McMurphy because…
What does McMurphy promise the Chief if the Chief will agree to lift the control panel?
What does McMurphy ask if the Chief can do?
What does McMurphy ask Nurse Ratched for?
What is the excursion that McMurphy plans for the men?
Whose name has McMurphy added to the trip list?
The two characters who drive the patients on the field trip are whom?
The doctor tells the gas station attendants that the men are a what?
Who says, "We ain't ordinary nuts"?
What does Bromden say happens on the fishing trip that caused the men to swell “bigger and bigger” and causes him to see himself as “blown up off the water.”
6. When the Chief looks out the hospital window, what does he see?
Which character commits suicide in the pool?
Randle Mc Murphy is admitted to the mental institution for what reason?
The oldest Chronic in the ward is…
What do Bromden’s hallucinatory experiences revolve around?
Learning to get along in a group, how the group can help a patient, how society decides who’s sane, etc., are all part of what is called?
The aide who works the “long, lonely, shift from 11 to 7” is who?
Mc Murphy’s underwear is black and covered with images of what?
When the men plan a carnival as an activity, Scanlon plans to do what?
According to Bromden, the item heavy enough to break the metal mesh in the window for an escape is what?
What is the Chief is convinced that Army Surplus supplied?
McMurphy tries to get the men to vote with him to do what?
Identify at least 2 SIGNIFICANT differences between the novel and the film. Be prepared to explain how these differences affect the Kesey’s story and its themes?