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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 happens after the bust on La Honda?

2. How long does the Pranksters-Angels party last?

3. What does Goldhill urge Kesey to stop telling people?

4. What is the Leary group's view of the Pranksters?

5. Who is most likely to understand Kesey and the Merry Pranksters?

Short Essay Questions

1. Describe Wolfe's initial meeting with Kesey.

2. Who is the subject of this book and why does Wolfe want to write about him?

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

4. What happens when Kesey and Kerouac meet?

5. What does Kesey mean when he says that New York is two years behind San Francisco?

6. What happens to Perry Lane when Kesey and his family return following the publication of "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest?"

7. Kesey compares this time in American History to what other time in ancient history?

8. What distracts Wolfe when he is trying to listen to Hassler explain what the Pranksters mean when they talk about the games the straight world is caught up in?

9. Do you think Sandy would have stayed with the Pranksters if he hadn't had a bad trip?

10. At this point, are the Pranksters losing sight of their vision? Why or why not?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

One of the recurring themes in this story is control. Specifically, Kesey's need to have control of the Pranksters and the situations in which he found himself. Starting with the bus, which was apparently Babb's original idea, how does Kesey continually assert his control over the group? Why do you think he needs this control? What does it say about him?

Essay Topic 2

Were the Pranksters just being lazy by not talking about the experience on the bus? Or was it a good idea not to talk about it? Do you think that if they had started talking about their experiences with LSD on the bus things would have been different? If so, how so?

Essay Topic 3

Wolfe writes extensively in the chapter "Dream Wars" about the Pranksters' trip back to California and specifically, about Sandy's bad trips and paranoia. Is Wolfe a fair observer of what's unfolding in this chapter? Or, is he insensitive to Sandy's hardships? How does Wolfe view Kesey and the rest of the Pranksters and their reactions to Sandy's bad trips?

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