Quiz RL.3: One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
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Quiz RL.3
The following quotation comes from Ken Kesey's 1962 novel, “One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest”. Read the conversation between Ms. Flinn and Miss. Ratched, then answer the questions which follow.
Standard: CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.9-10.3 Analyze how complex characters (e.g., those with multiple or conflicting motivations) develop over the course of a text, interact with other characters, and advance the plot or develop the theme.
One Flew Over the
Cuckoo's Nest
"What,
Miss Ratched, is your opinion of this new patient? I mean, gee, he's
good-looking and friendly and everything, but in my humble opinion he
certainly takes over."
The
Big Nurse tests a needle against her fingertip. "I'm afraid"-she
stabs the needle down in the rubber-capped vial and lifts the
plunger-"that is exactly what the new patient is planning: to
take over. He is what we call a 'manipulator,' Miss Flinn, a man who
will use everyone and everything to his own ends."
"Oh.
But. I mean, in a mental hospital? What could his ends be?"
"Any
number of things." She's calm, smiling, lost in the work of
loading the needles. "Comfort and an easy life, for instance;
the feeling of power and respect, perhaps; monetary gain-perhaps all
of these things. Sometimes a manipulator's own ends are simply the
actual disruption of the ward for the sake of disruption. There are
such people in our society. A manipulator can influence the other
patients and disrupt them to such an extent that it may take months
to get everything running smooth once more. With the present
permissive philosophy in mental hospitals, it's easy for them to get
away with it. Some years back it was quite different. I recall some
years back we had a man, a Mr. Taber, on the ward, and he was an
intolerable Ward Manipulator. For a while." She looks up from
her work, needle half filled in front of her face like a little wand.
Her eyes get far-off and pleased with the memory. "Mistur
Tay-bur," she says.
"But,
gee," the other nurse says, "what on earth would make a man
want to do something like disrupt the ward for, Miss Ratched? What
possible motive ...?"
She
cuts the little nurse off by jabbing the needle back into the vial's
rubber top, fills it, jerks it out, and lays it on the tray. I watch
her hand reach for another empty needle, watch it dart out, hinge
over it, drop.
"You
seem to forget, Miss Flinn, that this is an institution for the
insane." (1.4.2-8)
- Ken Kesey (1962)
1. How does Nurse Flinn feel about the new patient? Does Nurse Ratched feel the same way?
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2. According to Nurse Ratched, what are the reasons a “manipulator” would have for taking over a mental ward?
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3. How are Nurse Ratched and Nurse Flinn different? Cite specific passages to justify your answer.
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4. At the end of the passage, Nurse Ratched tells Nurse Flinn, “ You seem to forget, Miss Flinn, that this is an institution for the insane.” What is she trying to remind Nurse Flinn about? What does Nurse Ratched's statement here tell us about her personality?
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5. Which Nurse do you think is in control of the ward, Nurse Flinn, or Nurse Ratched? Why? (Cite specific passages to justify your answer.)
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