In the book go ask alice, the main character, alice, is raped on. Discuss a terrible or frightening event or circumstance that a character dealt with and explain how the characters life was affected by his or her difficult experience. An intelligent, sensitive girl with a literary flair, she experiments with drugs and the counterculture to escape from. The go ask alice community note includes chapterbychapter summary and analysis, character list, theme list, historical context, author biography and quizzes written by community members like you. It is interesting to see what she wrote, her weight changes, and the evolution of her disorder. Then write an essay comparing and contrasting the book to go ask alice. An analysis and recommendation of the book go ask alice. For example, she is always promising herself that she will never do drugs again for various reasons, and yet, a few entries later she is back on drugs. Maybe its partly to blame for the disconnect i felt to the characterstory. Minor character alices father is a university professor, he loves her very much, is always trying to. The narrators style is so bland, her tendency to dwell on the banal while skirting the biggest traumas so. We really get a sense of how important he is to her because she gets very emotional when he asks her out but eventually doesnt follow through. It graphically describes the waking hell into which the main character descends, her heartfelt but futile battles to return home and stay clean, her pleas to god to. In the beginning, the protagonist is desperate to have friends as she moves in to a new town.
Go ask alice, beatrice sparks in 1968, a 15yearold girl begins keeping a diary, in which she records her thoughts and concerns about issues such as crushes, weight loss, sexuality, social acceptance, and relating to her parents. She could be any middleclass girl from the 1960s, and her death, just one of thousands that year, drives this point home. Go ask alice book by anonymous official publisher page. I had read go ask alice a couple years ago and decided to try out another book from the other anonymous author collection. Every book on your english syllabus summed up in a quote from the office.
A lot of the time i dont notice age with books when im lost in a story but i dont think the text has dated well. Go ask alice is still awash in controversy, 43 years after publication. Essay about go ask alice by anonymous 837 words bartleby. Go ask alice is based on the actual diary of a fifteenyearold drug user. Actions are one of the ways we learn who alice truly is, no matter what she writes in the diary. This passage from the book go ask alice was when alice first decided to quit using drugs and to stay clean. Go ask alice is based on a true story about a teenager who becomes addicted to drugs. It may be reproduced in its entirety or excerpted for these. Who are the main characters of go ask alice answers.
For once i felt myself connect with the main character, it was wonderful when she. In go ask alice, the author uses this literary device effectively by using the exaggeration to illustrate how the character is feeling. She could be any middleclass girl from the 1960s, and her death, just one of. Her name is not known, her name is not mentioned in the book, so the gave her the name alice. This book is advertised as being nonfiction written by an. Alice meets chris in a little hippie boutique in her new town and its practically love at. Each note had a character, shape and color all its very own and. Characters alice alice begins as a typical adolescent whose insecurities about sex, her appearance, her parents, and her social standing are fairly common. Only publishers weekly threw shade, remarking that it seems awfully well. An intelligent, sensitive girl with a literary flair, she experiments with drugs and the counterculture to escape from her. See a complete list of the characters in go ask alice and indepth analyses of alice, diary, parents, and joel.
What is the primary conflict in the book go ask alice. Learn vocabulary, terms, and more with flashcards, games, and other study tools. Every time after she uses, she feels guilty and low and vows to stay away. At the beginning of the book, the authoreditor suggests that the choice to not include her name and change some of the names of those involved with the narrator was done to protect those with whom she shared her short life, but who nevertheless wanted the self. Doing character analysis on anyone other than alice is kind of like the movie being john. Go ask alice is the diary of a fifteenyearold girls experiences within the 1960s counterculture of drugs and free sex. Alice begins as a typical adolescent whose insecurities about sex, her appearance, her.
Quote but i think when a person gets older she should be able to discuss her problems and thoughts with other people, instead of just with another part of herself as you have been to me. Go ask alice was published anonymously in 1971, but in the last two decades, it still lives in the top 25 most frequently banned books, according to the. Were grouping alices little brother and sister into one character because really, that seems to. An intelligent, sensitive girl with a literary flair, she experiments with drugs and the counterculture to escape from her low selfesteem and consuming loneliness.
The main character was a girl, and her name was not mentioned. The sobering message of go ask alice had a huge effect on my lifeand. Although the diarist is never mentioned by name, the title suggests that she is called alice. The first drug that alice is introduced to in the book. Every one of those titles contains the leading character, whose fate is to go on a journey, and whose mettle is tested in the process. I loved how this book is written in a journal style text where the main character, alice, writes entries about her life throughout a period of time in her life where she got caught up in drugs and found herself not able to stop and eventually in a mental facility. Alice is the anonymous protagonist her name is an allusion to a jefferson airplane song whose intermittent diary entries narrate go ask alice.
To ask other readers questions about go ask alice, please sign up. Bookbanners like to take go ask alice out of libraries because they think. Her habit eventually becomes a problem, leading her to run away from home numerous times, before landing herself into serious danger. Alice alice is the anonymous protagonist her name is an allusion to a jefferson airplane song whose intermittent diary entries narrate go ask alice. I cant say if reading this book will save teenagers from becoming drug addicts but i liked this book simply because it is a good, interesting story.
The main character in this book went through and did things she wasnt proud of because of drugs. Go ask alice, a real diary in print for four decades. Ted and richie are chris and alices boyfriends, respectively, who are trying. Go ask alice is a fiction work written anonymously and first published in 1971. Go ask alice is a 1971 fiction book about a teenage girl who develops a drug addiction at age 15 and runs away from home on a journey of selfdestructive. Minor character alices grandparents are very important. He and alice get to know each other better, as does her family.
This leads to conflict with her family and she feels negative about herself, her friends and her family. Richie and teds homosexuality and alice and chris being raped by sheila. The dates and locations mentioned in the book place its events as occurring between 1968 and 1970 in california. The main character struggled with drug use and her family always was there to try to help even through her running away and coming back. She wants to fit in with others, but doesnt make good character choices.
It is, however, a highly personal and specific chronicle. Like go ask alice, this is the main characters journal, which started off as a foodfeeling journal. Were grouping alice s little brother and sister into one character because really, that seems to. Alices kind boss who invites her to his house to meet his large family. The main character did not make the decision, for herself, to try drugs, she. Go ask alice summary go ask alice by beatrice sparks is about a girl whos going through a downward spiral on drugs. Attributed to anonymous, the book is in diary form, and was originally presented as being the edited. The story starts off like any other book, with a normal day and a normal family. Attributed to anonymous, the book is in diary form, and was originally presented as being the edited real diary of the unnamed teenage protagonist. Go ask alice was published anonymously in 1971, but in the last two decades, it still lives in the top 25 most frequently banned books, according to the american library association. Our team members have advanced degrees in public health, health education, medicine, counseling, and a number of other. Both chris and alice decide to go to san francisco thinking that moving to a different place is going to help them with quitting their addiction and habits towards drugs, alcohol, and.
Alice is an anonymous character and the most we know about her is that she is white, middleclass teenager who struggles to fit. For instance, when she irons her hair the other students will like it but her mother goes mad. Go ask alice is a diary of a teenage middleclass girl. It is almost impossible to do an indepth character analysis of alice without first deciding. The main character and author of this first hand description of a teenagers plunge into the american 1960s. Roger is a straight, square boy on whom alice has an overwhelming crush. Go ask alice is still awash in controversy, 43 years.
The unnamed teenage protagonist had a familiar voice. Heres where youll find analysis about the book as a whole. I thought that this book was very interesting because it was true. The diary also functions as the engine for go ask alices epistolary narrative a narrative composed of letters. As such, we hope it will provide insights into the. But she just cant resist the way the drugs make her feelbeautiful and popular and connected to the world around her. Go ask alice is a memoir that follows the diary of a teenage girl during the late sixties. Go ask alice analysis of major characters flashcards quizlet. She is just like any other teenager, insecure and thought to be misunderstood. Read another book that deals with teenagers and drugs, such as crank by ellen hopkins and smack by melvin burgess. I know the book is over 40 years old but go ask alice really feels it. The epistolary novel, especially one in which the protagonist addresses only herself, allows us deeper insight into the characters emotional world. Throughout a lot of the book, she is feeling very sad and overwhelmed. It is not a definitive statement on the middleclass, teenage drug world.
Beth baum roger joel reems richie and ted doris minor characters. The main conflict of this book was drug use and abuse. The book that defined my teen anxiety turned out to be a lie. For once i felt myself connect with the main character, it was wonderful when she was happy and heart. Only parents can decide if they want their children to read go ask alice. Go ask alice character descriptions beatrice sparks this set of lesson plans consists of approximately 3 pages of tests, essay questions, lessons, and other teaching materials. Read a plot overview of the entire book or a chapter by chapter summary and analysis. D espite the popularity of go ask alice, the mystery of the diarists identity has never been truly solved, and none of her relatives have ever come forward to claim a share of the royalties. The book go ask alice, is a very shocking and realistic take on a teenage drug addict and dealer that cannot seem to stop. Also if you remember in the book there is a character briefly in there named alice, but the main character talked to her and met her somewhere, but. The book is written in diary form, but the author is anonymous. The fault in our stars by john green the perks of being a wallflower by stephen. In the 1970s, this fake diary scaredand temptedteenage. Like a blink of an eye the main character turns towards drugs, sex, and running away.
Go ask alice by anonymous about the book she doesnt want to get hooked on drugs. A book report on go ask alice english literature essay. The diary chronicles her struggle to free herself from the pull of the drugs and her efforts to establish her own identity. Everything seems normal at first, but that soon changes when she is enticed into the world of drugs. Personally i think the main conflict was within alice herself.
Pressure to use drugs at school intensifies, as the kids harass alice and her family. Alice meets a freshman at the university library, joel. Go ask alice was published anonymously in 1971, but in the last two decades. The narrator anonymous the central character of go ask alice is never named, or rather she never writes her name into her diary.
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