Review Assignment: The Novel One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest
For this next assignment, you will state your opinion and support it in an essay. Since you have read Ken Kesey's One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest(fly asylum）, I am sure you have some thoughts regarding the novel.
Remember that when you are reviewing something (book, album, play, campus event, movie), you are not writing about your preferences. Even though you use "I" in the essay, it is not about you; it is about the item being reviewed. We all have our preferences, but when reviewing ask yourself "Did the author accomplish what he/she set out to do?" This is the major question, not "Did I like it?"
Your thesis will state whether you will give the novel a positive or negative review, and mention the reasons why you came to this conclusion. Here's an example: Kesey's novel is ambitious with many positive themes, like compassion, hope, and willpower. I would expect a positive review from that example. Here's another example: Kesey's plot suffers from obvious problems in construction, meaning, and message. Note how I am making it easy for myself by including the sub-topics in my thesis. This is called forecasting.
Basically your format will consist of a solid introduction, a brief plot summary of no more than five sentences, three paragraphs supporting your thesis, and a conclusion containing a call to action (read this, don't read this). Your essay will be two to three paragraphs long, MLA Style, Times New Roman 12, double spaced. Do not do any research for this essay. Be aware that your submission will be checked via Turnitin software, which will show if you used sources.
Avoid saying "I think" or "in my opinion" in the essay. The reader is already aware that these are your thoughts and opinions.
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Review: One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
Kesey’s One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest is a historically significant novel that contrasts important aspects in the society. Given that it was published in 1962, it does well to usher the reader into the conflicts that were present in the society at the time. The novel describes the occurrences in a mental asylum where the treatments administered to patients are conceived as part of a scheme to produce docile subjects. The novel is interesting because it brings out the conflicts between feminization and masculinity, conformity and rebellion, and nature and machinery. Kesey does well in attacking conformity and celebrating individuality.
In the novel, the conflict between feminization and masculinity is evident throughout. Kesey uses the conflict between feminization and masculinity to bring out the themes of freedom and repression. While the men in the wards were the ones seeking freedom, they were repressed by women. The female characters in the novel were portrayed to dominating men. With the exception of prostitutes, the other women in the novel are depicted as terrifying and threatening figures. Bromden describes the suffering experienced by the patients in the ward as emasculation in the hands of the hospital supervisors and particularly Nurse Ratched. The hospital supervisor happens to be a woman and is depicted as terrifying just like Nurse Ratched. A central aspect that Kesey relays through the novel is the fear of women. In fact, the male characters in the novel agree with one another that they are all victims of matriarchy in the ward. The damage of women in the lives of the characters has been brought up well by the author. Overpowering women caused damages in the lives of most of the patients. Kesey depicts Bromden’s mother as a castrating woman who turned a strong man into a weak alcoholic. She is shown to always put Bromden together with his father down. In the same way, another male character in the novel, Billy Bibbit is treated like a child by his mother. She does not allow him to grow sexually. When Billy engages in sex with Candy, he seems to regain his manhood. However, this is taken away when Nurse Ratched threatens to tell his mother about the incident. This drives Billy to commit suicide. The action of Nurse Ratched furth...