Cuckoo's Nest #3

1. Can the Chief really be labeled "crazy?" Why or why not?

• In some aspects, "crazy" would not be an accurate term to describe Chief. He is in the hospital because he refused to talk and to speak. This manifestation occurred after Chief was ignored as the white men were plotting to take his land. He still has the ability to think on his own, to speak, and to hear. However, the Chief experienced hallucinations, mainly visual, in the first part of the book. That would nearly be enough to diagnose him with a schizophrenic label. We are never truly told what Chief has, but we see the disappearance of these hallucinations toward the end of the book when McMurphy's influence has taken over the patients. 

2. How does this book reflect views of women from the 1960's?

• Cuckoo's Nest displays the Nurse as a controlling, manipulating, influential womanly figure. She could represent the corrupting influence of power that strong communistic governments hold, but her influence also stems over to the power of women at the time the novel was written. It was seen women in the government would cause oppression, debilitation, and dehumanization. As much as she tries, she cannot conceal the obvious sign of her womanhood - her large bossom. 

3. In the end, which character achieved the most success? The Nurse or McMurphy?

• We still see the Nurse as on obtrusive figure, but McMurphy has completely shattered her power. She will never again regain the influence she once held in the ward. Because of this, McMurphy has achieved the most success in the hospital. He sacrificed himself to the good of the other people, allowing everyone to escape or be set free.

4. What is the significance of the fog, and why was it reoccurring?

• Because this is a mental institution, we know that the patients are heavily medicated by the Nurse. During the 60's, pharmaceutical companies also chose to use these patients as experimental drug testers, often giving them unconstitutional amounts of medication.  Chief was experiencing the fog more often during the first part of the book where we know the Nurse was continuously handing him pills to take. As he begins to think for himself and stop taking the medication, he can think more clearly and rid himself of the medically-induced fog the nurse created.

Cuckoo's Nest #2

The conflict between Big Nurse and McMurphy is in full swing at the end of "Part One." Who is getting the best of their rivalry at this point? Why do you say that (specific evidence)?

What is your perception of the Chief at this point in the story? Why? And how has the presence of McMurphy changed the Chief's character or his narration (be specific)?

Who are you rooting for at this point in the story and why?
1. By the end of Part 1, McMurphy is getting the best of Big Nurse in their argument. "But she doesn't blow up, not right off, not until about an hour later" (page 124). After they are done arguing, Big Nurse must keep her cool and remain calm in front of the patients. However, McMurphy's rebuttals are finally getting to the Big Nurse and remaining constantly collected is proving to be extremely difficult.
2. At this point, Chief is being "lifted out of the fog" by McMurphy. His personality and thoughts are consequently changing because of his interaction with McMurphy. Soon enough, Chief starts to think of the people around him as insane instead of his fellow peers. "If somebody'd of come in and took a look, men watching a blank TV, a fifty-year old woman hollering and squealing at the back of their heads about discipline and order and recriminations, they'd of thought the whole bunch was as crazy as loons" (page 126).
3. At this point in the story, I am rooting for McMurphy, just as the author expects the reader to. I think McMurphy is crucial to the battle against society and conformity, and McMurphy represents the counter-culture urging people to break free from the holds of society. McMurphy is slowly but surely influencing and changing the atmosphere of the mental hospital, challenging the woman who usually enforces strict order and discpline.

OFOTCN #1

Having talked about hero, antihero, and villain in class, I am sure that you are completely clear on what all three are. And knowing that, you also are aware that how you classify chraracters into one of these categories is a very personal thing.

Chief Bromden: I assume Chief to be an antihero. He is dumb and deaf and without those abilities, he will probably fail realistic to grow as a person if he is stuck inside his own world. We all hope for Chief to regain himself, but this will be a very difficult task when he is alienated from everyone else because of his label of a Chronic. "They got enough of those things they call pills down me so I don't know a thing" (page 8)

McMurphy: McMurphy already appears to be the protagonist. Following common story lines, he will be the villian. He is out of place in the institution, almost seeming happy. "Yet he looks like he's enjoying himself, like he's the sort of guy that gets a laugh out of people."

Nurse: The nurse is the woman who helps everyone and monitors the patients. She seems to slowly dehumanize each person that is taken in, so I would classify her as the villain. "Right as your balls. No, that nurse ain't some kinda monster chicken, buddy, what she is is a ball-cutter." (page 54)

Gatsby 3

Create four open-ended questions - two interpretive in nature and two evaluative in nature - that have to do with the novel The Great Gatsby. These should address a wide array of ideas and themes from the book. You also need to come up with a one paragraph answer for each of your questions. These questions can be something that you don't know the answer to, but are willing to speculate about, or they can be questions to which you think you know the answer and feel very strongly about. Either way, these questions should be thought-provoking and their answers should show evidence not only that you've reasd the text, but that you understood it on more than a literal level.


I 1. How does wealth determine status in Gatsby and what do you think Fitzgerald is implying by this?

• In Gatsby, wealth seems to be the judging factor for everyone in the upper class. If you are not wealthy, you are not worthy. Gatsby worked his way up from a very average man to a rich one. When he was poor, the women he loved would not marry him. As he gained success and money, he was able to obtain Daisy. Fitzgerald is implying that with wealth comes happiness, whether it is genuine or a false sense of the feeling. 

I 2. How is honest (or the lack of) prevalent throughout the story?

• As Nick is introduced, he prides himself in being completely honest. Through the book, we see Nick having biased judgments on the characters that come through. By the end of the book, Nick has been dating Jordan, who is extremely dishonest. She has cheated several times with Nick and they finally split due to her dishonesty and cheating. Daisy is not honest with Tom about her affair, and Tom is not honest with Daisy about his affair. 

E 3. Is it fair to say that based on the characters from Gatsby we are driven by our dreams from the past?

• Gatsby is continuously searching for ways to reconstruct and fix his past. Fitzgerald was a man who lived an extravagant life, but he was barely able to afford the luxuries he indulged in. He was constantly trying to live the wealthy lifestyle he dreamed of and the family he came from. We can probably interpret this and conclude that Fitzgerald implies we are constantly looking for ways to relive the past. We can never move onto the future without satisfying the past first.

E 4. What is the importance of Gatsby and the American Dream to Fitzgerald's view of the American Dream?

• Gatsby worked himself up from a lowly soldier to a highly-regarded man with status and wealth. Fitzgerald was born into an upper middle class family, but as he grew older he was not able to completely indulge in the wealth he was born into. After he married Zelda, they consistently threw lavish parties that constantly kept them tight on money. Fitzgerald was constantly striving to obtain something he could not have, implying the American Dream was a failure. Gatsby was the same way in that even after he built himself up to wealth and status, he was not fully happy. He still died a painful death without the woman he thought loved him.

Gatsby #2

Fitzgerald does a fantastic job of revealing details to us a little at a time, allowing us to pass and change judgment as the story progresses. Address the following questions in relation to the development of Jay Gatsby: 1) What is the purpose of Meyer Wolfsheim as a character? How does he affect the way we see Gatsby? 2) What does the backstory about Jay and Daisy's past do to our impressions of Gatsby? 3) What does the story of the rest of Gatsby past due to our impressions of him? 4) How does your overall impression of Gatsby change over these three chapters - do you like him more, less, and why?

1. Meyer Wolfsheim is almost known as the accomplice to Gatsby when he first started out making money. He is the character that allows us to see into Gatsby's questionable past and we start to wonder whether Gatsby is genuine or not.
2. Gatsby's relationship with Daisy shows us that he chooses to live in the past. He states he feels "married" to her, so he continuously tries to return to her with no luck. When he finally meets her again, Gatsby is able to satisfy his dream of being with her. His feelings in the one moment when he realized he liked Daisy stuck with him forever, never letting him leave the past.
3. With Gatsby's past, we realize he is not always telling the truth. Yes, he is an Oxford man, but it is because he attended Oxford for 5 months thanks to the military. How can we trust the small things Gatsby says? We realize he is much more of a common man than we hold him to be.
4. I started to think less of Gatsby. At first, I felt he was a mysterious character and I was entranced by his presence in the book. After learning about his past, I wanted to resent him. I wondered why he wouldn't tell the truth and stretched the small lies.

Jelly Roll Morton "Black Bottom Stomp"

1. This msc sounds upbeat, happy, and lively. I can see people happily dancing to it at Gatsby's party, smiling and laughing. It would add to the pleasant and sophisticated feel of the party.
2. The mood is joyous and happy. It is upbeat, the melody is sort of higher pitched, you hear drums, you hear some flutes, and even possibly a trumpet.
3. Activities with this song wuld be dancing, laughing, socializing, and maybe being in a hurry. It seems very modern for its time and it not fit for close, intimate contact. This would be a party where people come to dance and not really get to know the other people at the party.

The Great Gatsby Chapters 1-3

Having talked about hero, antihero, and villain in class, I am sure that you are completely clear on what all three are. And knowing that, you also are aware that how you classify chraracters into one of these categories is a very personal thing. 

Looking at first three chapters of The Great Gatsby, make some predictions about these characters and (unlike Nick) classify them into one of the three categories - hero, antihero, and villain. Give ample reasons for your classification, with support for the text (that means quotes...and page numbers).

• Nick Carraway appears to be the main character and most likely an antihero. He is honest, nice, and relatable. "In that consequence, I'm inclined to reserve all judgments, a habit that has opened up many curious natures to me and also made me the victim of not a few veteran bores." (ph 1) Nick is the person you would go to when you needed someone to discuss your personal issues with, that fine confidant everyone wishes to have in their life. It seems he will become an antihero because he doesn't seem to have an distinguishable heroic characteristics. 
• Tom Buchanan resembles a villain in my eyes. "He had changed since his New Haven years. Now he was a sturdy straw-haired man of thirty with a rather hard mouth and supercilious manner." (pg 7) The word supercilious gives off a negative vibe - who wants a stuck-up, conceited man to become the hero of the story?
• Jay Gatsby is a hero or an antihero. He is admired by all and shows no signs of malicious or evil behavior. He is the character we all anticipate to be brought back into the plot once he momentarily disappears. "He smiled understandingly - much more than understandably. It was one of those rare smiles with a quality of eternal reassurance in it, that you may across four or five times in a life." Gatsby is continuously idolized and therefor the reader ultimately wants nothing more than Gatsby to be the hero of the story.