He and alice get to know each other better, as does her family. Go ask alice summary the diary begins right before alices fifteenth birthday. Authentic, tragic tale of teen drug addiction a classic. A shocking true story for fans of reasons why kindle edition by anonymous. I first heard of go ask alice when still in school in the 1980s.
It is the story of a troubled young woman who seeks solace in drugs and the counterculture. Analysis of go ask alice english literature essay uk essays. The novel is in epistolary format, being comprised entirely of diary entries and as such, was first thought to be an autobiography. Use features like bookmarks, note taking and highlighting while reading go ask alice. Oct 03, 2016 go ask alice is the firstperson tale of an accidental downward spiral into drugs, alcohol, unwanted sex, and impoverished living. Go ask alice is still awash in controversy, 43 years after. Go ask alice is still awash in controversy, 43 years. Read a plot overview of the entire book or a chapter by chapter summary and analysis. See a complete list of the characters in go ask alice and indepth analyses of alice, diary, parents, and joel. 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 by beatrice sparks goodreads share book. After publication, go ask alice was exposed as a fraudulent work, not the diary of one girl but cobbled together by an author from the experiences of several people.
Go ask alice is based on the actual diary of a fifteenyearold drug user. Go ask alice questions and answers discover the community of teachers, mentors and students just like you that can answer any question you might have on go ask alice. The author, through this book, doesnt wants his readers to look for advise in it, but to learn about the real world in which some teenagers have to live through. Summary read a plot overview of the entire book or a chapter by chapter summary and analysis.
With a sensitive, observant style, she records her adolescent woes. Go ask alice is a fiction work written anonymously and first published in 1971. Throughout the book, she had a sense of maturity, that later enabled her to take back. 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 escapism. Through out the history of film, many productions have been made based on best selling novels. A literary analysis of the character alice in go ask alice kibin.
Its written in first person in traditional diary form. Geared to what todays students need to know, sparknotes provides. If the book doesnt make strict chronological sense, it does obey emotional logic. Some important other characters would be her mother, father, brother tim, sister alexandria, gran, gramps, and two good friends chris and joel. For thirtyfive years, the acclaimed, bestselling firstperson account of a teenage girls harrowing decent into the nightmarish world of drugs has left an indelible mark on generations of teen readers. With the suburban setting and her nuclear family consisting of her father, mother and younger siblings, tim and alexandra, its an average premise.
Winkles english october 7, 2010 the anonymous writer of go ask alice, a non fiction diary of a 15yearold drug addict, argues that drugs are being advertised, sold and used almost everywhere in society and to anyone that has the means of purchasing it. Download it once and read it on your kindle device, pc, phones or tablets. These papers were written primarily by students and provide critical analysis of go ask alice by beatrice sparks. Originally sold as the real diary of an actual teenager, go ask alice is the fauxmemoir of a 15yearold girl whose life is dominated by her drug problems. In go ask alice, the diary is written by a teenage girl over a twoyear period and chronicles her experiences with drugsmainly marijuana, acid, and speed. This study guide consists of approximately 52 pages of chapter summaries, quotes, character analysis, themes, and more everything you need to sharpen your knowledge of go ask alice. Go ask alice, written by an anonymous author, is a diary kept by a fifteenyearold drug user. Go ask alice sparknotes literature guide making the reading experience fun. Im now a mum and i decided a couple of years ago to read the book myself. Go ask alice is a novel by youth counsellor beatrice sparks, first published in 1971. Go ask alice is a 1971 book generally viewed to have been written by the author.
Strictly speaking, the name of the book s protagonist isnt alice, although thats how its. First paperback edition march 1998 go ask alice taken from white rabbit, written by grace slick. This message is not to start with drugs, it brings many problems with it. As powerfuland as timelytoday as ever, go ask alice remains the definitive book on the horrors of addiction. This is my second read of go ask alice, and i loved it just as much the second time around. First published in 1971, go ask alice is a controversial book involving teenage addiction. An unnamed fifteenyearold diarist, whom the novels title refers to as alice, starts a diary. Alice is an anonymous character and the most we know about her is that she is white, middleclass teenager who struggles to fit in at school and to live up to her parents expectations. Go ask alice is a 1973 tv movie based on a book of the same name published two years earlier. Go ask alice is a 1971 fiction book about a teenage girl who develops a drug addiction at age. A book report on go ask alice english literature essay. In go ask alice, why does alice get sent to the insane asylum. Someone plants a joint in alices purse, and she leaves school to go to his office.
Pressure to use drugs at school intensifies, as the kids harass alice and her family. It is a great book because it was written by a girl about our age and she knows exactly what is going on. 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. Created by harvard students for students everywhere, sparknotes is a new breed of study guide. Essay about go ask alice by anonymous 837 words bartleby. If you purchased this book without a cover you should be aware that this book is stolen property. That doesnt change the impact created by the hard and honest tone that speaks to how life can fall apart, be rebuilt, fall. This onepage guide includes a plot summary and brief analysis of go ask alice by beatrice sparks.
Supersummary, a modern alternative to sparknotes and cliffsnotes, offers highquality study guides that feature detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, quotes, and essay topics. Im not really sure which parts of myself are real and which parts are things ive gotten from books. 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. Go ask alice essays are academic essays for citation.
Go ask alice by beatrice sparks is an epistolary work, meaning. Her identity is anonymous, her hometown is unnamed and the specific year is not stated. She is accidentally introduced to drugs when lsd is put in her drink at a party. Attributed to anonymous, the book is in diary form, and was originally presented as being the edited real diary of the unnamed teenage p. Go ask alice summary a fifteenyearold girl begins writing diary entries on september 16th. In case you arent familiar with it, its supposedly an anonymous diary found by the parents of a fifteen year old drug user after she. September 21, 1998 go ask alice the character alice is a strong person. From a general summary to chapter summaries to explanations of famous quotes, the sparknotes go ask alice study guide has everything you need to ace. It graphically describes the waking hell into which the main character descends, her heartfelt but futile battles to.
But those of you old enough to remember the latter portion of the 70s might remember that beatrice sparks, the editor of go ask alice, also edited a bunch of other alarmist books aimed at teens, all supposedly taken from teenagers diaries. She is a pretty typical teenage girl in the late 1960sshes mostly concerned with school, boys, her hair, and fitting in okay, thats pretty typical for any decade. More recent analyses have expressed ethical concerns with the books presentation of fiction to young readers as a true story. The book, written by anonymous purports to comprise of extracts from a fifteenyearold girls diary that chronicles a horrifying descent into drug addiction and prostitution. He consoles her, and gets her permission to study at the university library. Go ask alice is a diary of a teenage middleclass girl. It was reported as unsold and destroyed to the publisher and neither the author nor the publisher has received any payment for this stripped book. The chumminess would proceed from here, with each stage. Go ask alice is a reference to a jefferson airplane song called white rabbit, which alludes to rampant hallucinogenic drug use in lewis carrolls alice in wonderland. My very go ahead principal read it to the whole school in assembly over the course of a couple of weeks. Carrolls parodies of wordsworth and tennyson in the alice books. It started when she was served a soft drink laced with lsd in a da.
Textual analysis on go ask alice by anonmyous ea8411s blog. The main character and also the author of the book alice, died. Go ask alice has been around for decades, and is even being used as reading material in high schools. Heres where youll find analysis about the book as a whole.
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 save her, her trust and love for her family, and her ultimate failure. The novel centers around a 15 year old girl who is referred to as alice and her. The go ask alice community note includes chapterbychapter summary and analysis, character list, theme list, historical context, author. The diary begins right before alices fifteenth birthday. This book presents itself as a diary, written over a period of about two years, by a girl in her midteens. Go ask alice is a 1971 book generally viewed to have been written by the author beatrice sparks, however the novel was published originally under the pseudonym anonymous. It was a brave decision on her part, but the text always stayed with me. Teen characters are involved in drugs, prostitution, etc. Go ask alice setting summary symbolism characters plot the main character of this book is alice. An award winning novel by the name of go ask alice did that. Despite the criticism, sparks continued to produce more real anonymous. Our team members have advanced degrees in public health, health education. If you are in an urgent situation, please visit our emergency page to view a list of 24 hour support services and hotlines.
Jul 03, 2014 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. It is not a definitive statement on the middleclass, teenage drug world. Only parents can decide if they want their children to read go ask alice. It is, however, a highly personal and specific chronicle.