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This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. What does Kesey have enameled on one of his teeth?

2. What does Wolfe find distracting about Hassler?

3. What are some of the regular features of life at La Honda?

4. Why does Kesey decide to leave Millbrook?

5. How does Zonker save himself in the water when he's surrounded by suspicious black men?

Short Essay Questions

1. How is Kesey's second novel, Sometimes a Great Nation, received? How does Kesey react to the reviews?

2. What was the original plan for the road trip to the east coast?

3. Have the Pranksters broken away from mainstream society?

4. Describe Wolfe's initial meeting with Kesey.

5. How do the Pranksters view the Beauty Witch's descent into madness?

6. Describe the state of mind and general condition that leads Sandy to take the Unauthorized Acid:

7. What happens when Kesey and Kerouac meet?

8. What do the Pranksters believe about people living the 'straight life?'

9. After Stark Naked goes mad and has to leave the group, the purpose of the trip and the documentary become clearer. What is that purpose?

10. After everything Wolfe had heard and researched about Kesey, when he finally meets him in jail, what does Kesey stress the most?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Do any of the Pranksters really know what to make of Kesey? Why do they find it so easy to follow him? Do they understand what they're doing? Or is it all fun and games for them?

Essay Topic 2

In the first chapter of The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test, Tom Wolfe starts off first by talking about what he has heard about Ken Kesey, and then recounts his first meeting with the LSD guru. He also mentions meeting some of the other Merry Pranksters including Mountain Girl and Neal Cassady. Talk about the tone that Wolfe sets for the book from the start, and his style of writing, and whether this writing style is effective in capturing the story of Kesey and the Merry Pranksters.

Essay Topic 3

Do you think that Tom Wolfe did a good job in telling the story of Kesey and the Merry Pranksters? Did you feel that he captured the essence of these people accurately? Or was he handicapped by his lack of experience with LSD?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 872 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample