ipl-logo

Summary Of The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test By Tom Wolfe

975 Words4 Pages

The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test was written by Tom Wolfe in 1968. It follows the Merry Pranksters on their trip around the United States and their LSD laced Kool-Aid parties. The book symbolizes the end of the Beat Generation and it ignited the Hippie Movement. It can even be argued that The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test sparked a new religion. It is also one of the best examples of New Journalism. The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test is a highly debated book, but it is also highly influential. The generation of the Merry Pranksters is often grouped into the Beat Generation or the Hippie Generation, but there are a few major differences between them. The Beat Generation was more underground compared to the Merry Pranksters. The only time they came into the mainstream was when books were written about them. The Pranksters wanted to spread their message to the world. The goal of the Pranksters and the Beats were to have a more “real” American experience, but the Pranksters wanted to surpass all experience in human interaction. Wolfe thought that the Pranksters were closely related to other counter-culture movements like the Beat Generation. …show more content…

He compared Kesey to religious figures like Saint Paul and Zoroaster. The other Pranksters were compared to disciples because they took psychedelic messages to the public. In the book, the Pranksters took over a Unitarian Church retreat camp and Kesey divided them into two groups: those who are for him and those who are against him. The young campers call Kesey their prophet. The Acid Tests are managed the in the same way that religious gatherings are held. A Harvard Crimson writer condemned Wolfe’s God-like description of Kesey because Kesey was given the opportunity to speak about the effects of LSD and chose not to do so. The author also condemned Wolfe’s approval of the abuse to LSD, but he admits that Kesey had an impact on the Hippie

Show More
Related
427 Words | 2 Pages

For example, Kesey connects matters of the hospital to the broader concept of the human mind by writing, “Never before did I realize that mental illness could have the aspect of power, power. Think of it: perhaps the more insane a man is, the more powerful he could become. Hitler an example. Fair makes the old brain reel, doesn't it?” (Kesey 220).

Read More
1236 Words | 5 Pages

In Ken Kesey’s One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest, humor is present in an influential form. Not all insane people have the capacity to laugh or find the humor in something as would normal people are capable of. Most people live terrible realities, drifting day by day in the plain, depressing in the place of an asylum. Patients have forgotten how to live because they are under the commanding rule of the head nurse, and under the behavior effect of drug doses and overbearing orderlies. The patients’ laughter is a therapeutic form.

Read More
1176 Words | 5 Pages

The flapper represented the “modern woman” in American youth culture in the 1920’s, and was epitomized as an icon of rebellion and modernity. Precocious, young, stubborn, beautiful, sexual, and independent, the flapper image and ideology revolutionized girlhood. The term “flapper” originated in England to describe a girl who flapped and had not yet reached maturity.

Read More
703 Words | 3 Pages

Greg Graffin’s Anarchy in the Tenth Grade represents the in-group theory presented by Gordon Allport. The in-group theory proposes that people belong to cliques, some by choice and others by chance, and society affects or has influences on these in-groups through equal out-groups. Mr. Graffin explains how it feels to be a new kid in a new school and how he became a punker. Mr. Graffin explains his endeavours through the in-group “punk” and also expounds on how different out-groups react to his in-group.

Read More
832 Words | 4 Pages

Synthesis Essay A symbol is a thing that represent or stand for itself or something beyond itself as well. A symbol can be a color, a book, or a person. For example, Melissa de la Cruz used symbols when she stated that “Black is the color of night. White is the true color of death.”

Read More
1124 Words | 5 Pages

The Beat Generation of the 1950’s and early 1960’s encouraged a new lifestyle for young Americans striving for individualism and freedom, which included rock and roll music, long hair, relaxed style attire, vegetarianism, and experimenting with drugs (“Beat Movement”). Many young Americans of this era wanted to experiment with new social and cultural concepts, rebelling against “normal” American life. One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, written by Ken Kesey, portrays the gruesomeness of conformity through the lives of patients in one of the asylum’s wards. The novel shows how the patients are confined to strict rules and limited freedom because of Nurse Ratched’s power.

Read More
1389 Words | 6 Pages

In the novel, Kesey employs many characters, each with unique features. For example, Dale Harding, one of the protagonists in the story, was described as, “... a flat, nervous man ...” (Kesey 20) and in one of the group discussion lead by Nurse Ratched, he was reported of saying

Read More
1106 Words | 5 Pages

People are influenced by the events that surround them. Individuals transform into a product of their environment and experiences of the time. The literature and art often reflects the time period in which it is written in, and Vonnegut’s novel is no exception. The novel takes place during World War II, but is written during the time of the Vietnam War. With the Vietnam War, came a lot of anti-war propaganda.

Read More
1689 Words | 7 Pages

Ken Kesey’s book titled “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest” encapsulates the theme of insanity. The book questions not only the reader, but humanity on “What is insanity?” and therefore “What makes a person insane?”. An example of these moral questions is best displayed in the quote “Tell me why. You gripe, you bitch for weeks on end about how you can’t stand this place, can’t stand the nurse or anything about her, and all the time you ain’t committed.

Read More
1047 Words | 5 Pages

One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest by Ken Kesey reveals the insensitive treatment and dehumanization of the mentally ill. The origin of the book is a story of an individual in a mental hospital. Ken Kesey’s character observes the daily life in a psych ward and reveals

Read More
501 Words | 3 Pages

He shows that fear of the unknown can cause people to turn on each other. People started to fear when “As the figure gets close and closer, he pulls the trigger”. Charlie was scared and pulled the trigger on his own neighbor, not even thinking. People feared the worst

Read More
1669 Words | 7 Pages

Literature, old or modern, has always been subject to criticism and judgement due to the issues that exist within classic novels. Whether the issue contains profanity, violence, or content too mature for young readers, award-winning books’ existences receive threats to be banned and forgotten. Unfortunately for Ken Kesey’s classic, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, this may be the only course of action. While the novel displays violence unsuitable for high-school curriculums, Ken Kesey’s classic should be in every library for adult readers. Although the novel teaches valuable life lessons about individuality and is mild compared to modern media, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest should be banned in all high school curriculums because it incorporates

Read More
822 Words | 4 Pages

With the use satire, people have been made famous through this literary work. Many would laugh about the subject of standardized testing. What is the point? Through the use of parody and low comedy, The Simpsons satirizes the judging of standardized tests in the episode “Standardized Testing.” Although everyone in the world has disparate views on educational systems, we should see all aspects of it together.

Read More
1044 Words | 5 Pages

In A Clockwork Orange, the dystopian England envisioned by Burgess serves to exaggerate the evils of both youth and adult society as a way to highlight the futility and the recklessness of youth rebellion. Given that the interactions between the young and the grown up words is one of the primary reasons for the development of rebellious youth cultures, the most effective way of communicating the opposing worldviews of both sides is to take them to their logical extremes. Youth culture is not just carefree and naive, but anarchic and infantile. Adults are not just reactionary and strict; they are antipathetic and authoritarian. It is this extreme clash between the generations that serves to perpetuate and even encourage the rise of youth counterculture

Read More
1468 Words | 6 Pages

Ken Kesey author of the fictional novel One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest published in 1962 has taken the opportunity to write about the hippy culture and how society shames difference. Readers are taken to a mental institution in Oregon in the 1950’s and experience what it is like for the outcast people. The men in the ward are run by Nurse Ratched and have lost control of themselves. Majority of these men are in the mental hospital because they have checked themselves in, but not McMurphy he is a convict there for psych evaluation. Do to Nurse Ratched the men loses control over themselves and they haven’t realized till McMurphy walked through the door.

Read More

More about Summary Of The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test By Tom Wolfe

Related Topics

Open Document