Lesson 4.2.2.10

4.2.2.10 One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest by Ken Kesey Quiz: AQA English Literature, Unit 2

20 questions

Written by Revision Ninja · Last reviewed 11 October 2026

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Lesson 4.2.2.10, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest by Ken Kesey: 20 multiple choice questions for the AQA English Literature (7712), Unit 2: Texts in shared contexts, written with Revision Ninja.

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The 20 questions

  1. In what year was Ken Kesey's One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest published?

    • 1962
    • 1975
    • 1985
    • 1948

  2. Who narrates One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest?

    • Nurse Ratched
    • Chief Bromden
    • Billy Bibbit
    • Randle McMurphy

  3. Who is the rebellious new patient who challenges the ward's rules?

    • Dale Harding
    • Randle McMurphy
    • Cheswick
    • Scanlon

  4. Who is the ward's authoritarian head nurse?

    • Mrs Mays
    • Nurse Ratched
    • Nurse Flinn
    • Aunt Lydia

  5. In which US state is the psychiatric hospital in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest set?

    • New York
    • Oregon
    • Texas
    • California

  6. In Chief Bromden's hallucinated vision, what does 'the Combine' represent?

    • An agricultural union
    • Spiritual enlightenment
    • Religious redemption
    • Institutional control

  7. What is the primary conflict presented in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest?

    • Individual versus institution
    • Man versus nature
    • Wealth versus poverty
    • Nation versus nation

  8. Which term describes a narrator whose perception is distorted by illness or trauma?

    • Epistolary narrator
    • Unreliable narrator
    • Chorus
    • Omniscient narrator

  9. Which concept does Kesey question through the hospital setting in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest?

    • Financial greed
    • Definition of sanity
    • Scientific progress
    • Linguistic development

  10. Which character is Chief Bromden's close friend and foil in the ward?

    • Randle McMurphy
    • Doctor Spivey
    • Scanlon
    • Harding

  11. What medical procedure is forcibly performed on McMurphy near the end of the novel?

    • Amputation
    • Lobotomy
    • Electroshock therapy
    • Tracheotomy

  12. Which actor starred as Randle McMurphy in the 1975 film adaptation?

    • Jack Nicholson
    • Robert De Niro
    • Marlon Brando
    • Al Pacino

  13. Which 1960s social anxiety is central to One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest?

    • Feudal hierarchy
    • Rigid conformity
    • Victorian prudery
    • Nuclear disarmament

  14. Which literary concept describes Kesey's challenge to oppressive social organisations?

    • Institutional critique
    • Classical tragedy
    • Epic theatre
    • Romantic pastoralism

  15. How is Chief Bromden's narrative reliability described in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest?

    • Third-person objective
    • Unreliable narrator
    • Omniscient narrator
    • Epistolary narrator

  16. Which term describes the novel's portrayal of a group of people excluded from normal society?

    • Colonisation
    • Marginalisation
    • Patronage
    • Assimilation

  17. Which central theme connects Cuckoo's Nest, Top Girls, and A Streetcar Named Desire?

    • Regulation of behaviour
    • Environmental conservation
    • Medieval courtly love
    • Industrial revolution

  18. What does McMurphy's ultimate fate suggest about rebellion against authority?

    • Total irrelevance
    • Complete political victory
    • High personal cost
    • Financial gain

  19. Which concept describes a character who inspires others to resist authority?

    • Silent observer
    • Charismatic rebel
    • Dutiful servant
    • Neutral bystander

  20. What name does Bromden give to the oppressive, machine-like system of institutional control?

    • The Combine
    • The Establishment
    • The Firm
    • The Machine

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