ENGL 202 Palomar The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test by Tom Wolfe
Humanities
For this paper, we are expected to pick something that we found interesting about the book and not only write about it but also pull quotes from the book to support what we are pointing out. My professor wasn’t very specific with a prompt but this is what he said:
“What topic interests you so far? Why is the topic interesting to you? Is it personal or is it something you are simply curious about? what specific events in the story relate to your topic? Are there any contradictions, peculiarities, inconsistencies, interesting aspects of the above events that stand out to you? Spend time finding passages that will be important to your thesis statement.”
Some possible discussion points he listed are:
1.) Pranksters as a community: What values shape the Prankster community? How are their actions reflective of their world view?
2.) Art/Music/Painting/Film/Performance: How does art in its various forms shape the Pranksters experience? What roles does it play and how is it integrated into everyday life?
3.) Capturing the “experience”: Who does Wolfe attempt to capture important aspects of the “acid” experience that evade common language and experience? How does he manage to convey aspects of Prankster life that is difficult to understand?
All in all this can be about anything you find interesting about the book as long as you have a clear thesis statement and are able to pull quotes or passages from the book to support it. Thank you so much for your time!
