Part One: Plot/Form/Structure/Rhetorical Mode

The novel One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, by Ken Kessey is organized into four parts with a total of twenty-nine chapters in the entire book. While there are four parts, the number of chapters in each part varies. Part one has the most, 15 chapters, while part 3 has the least, 2 chapters. Parts two and four have eight and four chapter, respectively. The story is told in chronological order over the course of what seems to be a few months, but it is impossible to be entirely sure how much time passes in the story. The story is narrated by a patient in the ward, known as Chief Bromden. Though Chief, as he is often called in the story, is six-foot seven-inches, he is described by his fellow ward mates as “scared of his own shadow.” Also, everyone in the ward believes Chief is deaf. In the beginning of part one, the characters are introduced, and the daily routine of the ward is explained. Each day is generally the same, starting with breakfast and showers, followed by chore time, group therapy, and free time. The patients are split into two groups: Acutes, people who are are thought to be curable, and the Chronics, those who are thought of as incurable. The days in the ward are very monotonous, but this all comes to an end when Randle …show more content…
The diction of the novel is mostly colloquial and simple. This is because the caregivers, including Nurse Ratched, often speak to the patients as if they are children. The story For example, when Mr. Taber, a patient asks what the “two little red capsules,” the he was given with along with his regular vitamins, Nurse Ratched replied that “It’s just medication… good for you,” (page 34). She does this because she doesn’t think the patients will understand why they are taking the medicine if they are told what it is. They may also become difficult and refuse to take it, like Mr. Taber did.