One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest
March 18, 2019: Read on for updates to our study of the novel, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, in English 11 ICT.
Overview of the Novel: Parts 1-4
- Part 1 — Pages 3-145
- Part 2 — Pages 149-201
- Part 3 — Pages 205-258
- Part 4 — Pages 261-325
Reading Assignments
- Due Tuesday, March 19 — Pages 3-41
- Due Friday, March 22 — Pages 42-75
- Due Friday, March 29 — Pages 76-158
- Due Friday, April 5 — Pages 159-258
- Due Friday, April 12 — Pages 261-325
Writing Assignments
- Due Monday, March 25 — Response to Pages 3-75
- Due Monday, April 1 — Response to Pages 76-158
- Due Monday, April 8 — Response to Pages 159-258
- Due Monday, April 22 — Response to Pages 261-325
Note that the final writing assignment is due after Spring Break.
On each Friday, when a reading assignment is due, you will write an in-class response based on the assigned reading. You will then type that response over the weekend and submit both the handwritten and typed writing by the beginning of class on Monday. Work handed in after the beginning of class will be considered late, and all insufficient or incomplete work will factor heavily into your GAP scores.
Mondays will still be reserved for sustained, silent reading.
A Thorough Explanation of These Changes
Copies of One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest were distributed before the February break. For the next few weeks, we balanced essay-writing assignments with essential questions related to the novel. Finally, you were given a daily calendar for the rest of the year and a streamlined process for choosing between the assigned novel and a work of equivalent literary merit.
This was a massive amount of preparation and planning. It was meant to give you choice and freedom. Consider the updated makerspace FAQ or this recently published overview of a makerspace: It takes much more work on your teacher’s end to give you choices, because we are essentially creating 32 separate lessons for 32 individuals.
Consider, too, the transparent attempt this year to focus first on skills, and then to build from shorter nonfiction and fiction to several canonical novels. This gave you time to build stamina and develop good habits, and it opened up the possibility of choosing to read over being forced to read.
We even showed you extraordinary empathy and patience by studying, through close reading and discussion, the nature of your struggle with akrasia and self-control. That was back in October, and we’ve returned to your need for self-regulation and self-discipline over and over again.
As a class, you’ve recently failed to demonstrate self-control. You’ve failed to follow directions and take advantage of the opportunities given to you. As a result:
- Your freedom to choose what to read is revoked.
- The choice-related assignment that was originally due on Wednesday is now null and void.
- You now have assigned seats and group members.
- You will not be given Fridays to work on your 20% projects.
You should work on your Pareto Projects on your own time, carving out 20% of your schedule elsewhere. You are still responsible for the project itself.
Instead of your projects, you will now spend every Friday writing an in-class response on the assigned pages from One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest. You will then type that response over the weekend and submit both the handwritten and typed writing by the beginning of class on Monday. Mondays will still be reserved for sustained, silent reading.
You will still do the reading and writing assignments outlined for Tuesdays and Thursdays. The next two are a narrative response based on an essay, “Learning to Lie,” and a character analysis response based on One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest. You will still do silent, individual Regents Exam prep every Wednesday. The only difference will be your assigned seats and groups.
We will update the daily calendar in the next few days to reflect these changes. We will note reading assignments there, too. You may ask questions in the comment section below.