Kesey+Background,+Critical+Reception,+How+Novel+Changed+Treatment+of+Mental+Illness

http://www.tubechop.com/watch/1169135
 * Click this link to watch a video about Ken Kesey*


 * A) **


 * Kesey was born on Sept. 17 in La Junta, Colorado but moved to Springfield, Oregon when he was 11. He attended the University of Oregon where he earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Journalism. After the University of Oregon, Kesey went to Stanford where he was apart of the creative writing program eventually participating in US Army experiments in which he would take acid, LSD, and mescaline. He soon turned to these kinds of hallucinogenic drugs as a way of liberating himself and founded a group called Merry Pranksters who would be known for their “acid tests” and eventually became the inspiration of Tom Wolfe’s The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test. In 1959 he worked as an orderly part-time in the Palo Alto Menlo Park Veterans’ Hospital, this is where he was inspired for his story One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, published in 1962. He believed that instead of helping the patients recover, these hospitals could often made it harder for the patients to function in society. **


 * B) **
 * Most people found Psychiatric wards to be cruel and unfair because of the way Kesey depicted life on a Ward. They criticized EST and other psychiatric tools. The book showed mental illness as it really is, being disturbing and terrifying. It called the attention of society for most people saw the mentally ill as outcasts and just forgot about them. This book called into question the actions the facilities were taking and it began to make people question institutions and call for change. **


 * c) **


 * Kasey’s book One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest challenged the practices of mental institutions, and brought the horrors of what actually goes on in these facilities to life. In the 1950’s institutionalization for the mentally ill was at an all time high, people with very minor problems were being removed from society and treated with unnecessary and cruel treatments. The publication of One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest changed this perception drastically by the 1960’s. A cultural change happened, many of these people deemed mentally ill were released, as society became more comfortable and reliant on medications. Ken Kesey had effectively given EST a bad reputation and aided its end in the psychiatric world. Many institutions began granting their patients more rights and developed medication to be taken at home as opposed to living in a hospital. **


 * Work Cited **


 * Fernie, Stuart. "Reflections on "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest"." Reflections on "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest". The Film League, n.d. Web. 07 May 2013. **


 * "PennTags /project/26553." PennTags /project/26553. University of Pennsylvania, 11 Oct. 2005. Web. 07 May 2013. **

"TubeChop - Ken Kesey Interview (03:39)." TubeChop. YouTube, n.d. Web. 07 May 2013.
 * Swiane, Jon. "How 'One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest' Changed Psychiatry." The Telegraph. Telegraph Media Group, 01 Feb. 2011. Web. 07 May 2013. **