It was a brave decision on her part, but the text always stayed with me. You watch a young girls life go completly to rock bottom and you feel attached to her. In case you arent familiar with it, its supposedly an anonymous diary found by the. Go ask alice is still awash in controversy, 43 years. A book report on go ask alice english literature essay. As such, we hope it will provide insights into the increasingly complicated world in which we live. Some of the recurring reasons for it being banned are language, sexual content, and drug use. Novel versus the movie adaption of go ask alice essay cram. Every time after she uses, she feels guilty and low and vows to stay away. When the family moves for the collegeenglishprofessor fathers new job, alice apprehensively approaches the unfamiliar and befriends another shy girl, beth, who shares her outsider status. As powerfuland as timelytoday as ever, go ask alice remains the definitive book on the horrors of addiction.
By now, the go ask alice readers narrative is a comic genre unto itself. I think this book writes in a interesting way while it teaches us a life lesson by expressing in diary form. Go ask alice by anonymous if you purchased this book without a cover you should be aware that this book is stolen property. She told me that she started doing drugs after she read the book, thats how amusing the read was for her. It was passed off as a real, anonymous diary for years and years, but the author is actually beatrice sparksdoes this change my opinion of the book. An award winning novel by the name of go ask alice did that. I first heard of go ask alice when still in school in the 1980s. May 22, 2019 of course she knew go ask alice was a fake. Go ask alice was written in the 1970s, a decade with a very unique sense of style. In retrospect, i can see that reading go ask alice at that particular stage of my adolescence had a profound effect on the person i became. Alice was the pseudonymous name of the teenaged author who wrote the book upon which this aboveaverage tv movie was based. Go ask alice by anonymous about the book she doesnt want to get hooked on drugs.
Attributed to anonymous, the book is in diary form, and was originally presented as being the edited real diary of the unnamed teenage p. The chumminess would proceed from here, with each stage. Im not really sure which parts of myself are real and which parts are things ive gotten from books. This is my second read of go ask alice, and i loved it just as much the second time around.
The sobering message of go ask alice had a huge effect on my lifeand then i found out the real story. 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. It is, however, a highly personal and specific chronicle. This book is a dairy kept by an unnamed girl who takes drugs in the early 70s. In langley, a committee of school trustees, librarians and. 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. The book that defined my teen anxiety turned out to be a. I suspect she was exaggerating, but thats not the point. Go ask alice teaches you what can happen when you get into drugs and its hard to stay away from them once you have started and know how easy it is to get ahold of them. 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.
Parents and school boards were worried that this book would encourage teens and preteens to try out drugs. Go ask alice is based on the actual diary of a fifteenyearold drug user. Go ask alice is the firstperson tale of an accidental downward spiral into drugs, alcohol, unwanted sex, and impoverished living. Make your own 1970s project to wear or use as decoration. My favourite part of the book, is the part where alice met joel and she felt in love with him. Heres where youll find analysis about the book as a whole. It was simple to stage, yet the action carries the plays powerful theme. 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. Who does lsd and then marijuana, she asked, as if id read the book for veracity at the ripe age of thirteen.
An intelligent, sensitive girl with a literary flair, she experiments with drugs and the counterculture to escape from her low selfesteem and consuming loneliness. Go ask alice is supposed to be a diary, so theres quite a bit of anguished soulsearching and selfindulgent whining. The book that defined my teen anxiety turned out to be a lie. Through out the history of film, many productions have been made based on best selling novels. The author, through this book, doesnt wants his readers to look for advise in it, but to learn about the real. The girl who wrote this diary lived in two different worlds, the. Go ask alice book by anonymous official publisher page. Like a blink of an eye the main character turns towards drugs, sex, and running away. Stress, anxiety, and learning to cope go ask alice. 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.
The first edition of the novel was published in 1971, and was written by beatrice sparks. My very go ahead principal read it to the whole school in assembly over the course of a couple of weeks. If the book doesnt make strict chronological sense, it does obey emotional logic. See a complete list of the characters in go ask alice and indepth analyses of alice, diary, parents, and joel. Mar 23, 2017 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. 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. In the 1970s, this fake diary scaredand temptedteenage girls all. The go ask alice community note includes chapter by chapter summary and analysis, character list, theme list, historical context, author biography and quizzes written by community members like you.
Review by richard gage, struthers high school, struthers, ohio excellent script with a great message. But she just cant resist the way the drugs make her feelbeautiful and popular and connected to the world around her. Go ask alice, written by an anonymous author, is a diary kept by a fifteenyearold drug user. Its said that the author of the book upon which this movie was based wrote it as a work of.
Free download or read online go ask alice pdf epub book. I never blamed the book for fueling my anxietiesthose wheels were clearly already in motionbut i do. 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. Nov 20, 2003 based on a 15yearolds diary, go ask alice is the intimate account of one girls fatal journey into the world of drug addiction. The book is written in diary form, but the author is anonymous. 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. If you are in an urgent situation, please visit our emergency page to view a list of 24 hour support services and hotlines. Many books have influenced my life and how i think, but very few have altered my sense of reality. The diary begins right before alices fifteenth birthday. Jan 04, 2008 do you know anything about the book go ask alice. Essay about go ask alice by anonymous 837 words bartleby.
There are several books with 70sstyle crafts macrame, string art, clothing items, etc. Poignant and unflinchingly honest, her story is a tragedy that is repeated in towns and cities across the country. This is almost the only happy thing in alices life. The book go ask alice was the reallife diary of a teenage girl. Authentic, tragic tale of teen drug addiction a classic. Sep 16, 2012 go ask alice 1973 full movie miss flowahs. Go ask alice is a fiction work written anonymously and first published in 1971. Go ask alice by anonymous was a completely eyeopening book that both broke my heart, and made me realize the morals of life although they werent mentioned. Alice alice is the anonymous protagonist her name is an allusion to a jefferson airplane song whose intermittent diary entries narrate go ask alice. Throughout the whole book, it brought the readers attention by giving us enough details.
Oct 03, 2016 go ask alice is the firstperson tale of an accidental downward spiral into drugs, alcohol, unwanted sex, and impoverished living. The book was published in multiple languages including english, consists of 2 pages and is available in paperback format. Nov 05, 2012 this is for my english class banned book week assignment. This book presents itself as a diary, written over a period of. Go ask alice book ottawa public library bibliocommons. Pdf go ask alice book by beatrice sparks free download. The reader has to be mature, but the book should not be shot down because some people are too immature to read it. On a normal day in alice s world, she decides to buy a journal to write in it every week to record her. Read a plot overview of the entire book or a chapter by chapter summary and analysis. Theres no getting around the fact that alice has almost nonexistent selfesteem, so her sense of identity is determined by the people she surrounds herself with. The book and especially the ending shows the harsh reality of drugs and addiction in teenagers. Im now a mum and i decided a couple of years ago to read the book myself. The script allows for great impact with a minimal set. In richmond, students sent a petition to the school board to protest the ban, and the richmond teacherlibrarians association supported them.
It is not a definitive statement on the middleclass, teenage drug world. 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. Novel versus the movie adaption of go ask alice essay. Pdf go ask alice book by beatrice sparks free download 2. Go ask alice has been around for decades, and is even being used as reading material in high schools. Go ask alice is a 1971 fiction book about a teenage girl who develops a drug addiction at age 15 and. Go ask alice is still awash in controversy, 43 years after. Go ask alice questions and answers the question and answer sections of our study guides are a great resource to ask questions, find answers, and discuss literature. Our team members have advanced degrees in public health, health education. The go ask alice community note includes chapterbychapter summary and analysis, character list, theme list, historical context, author biography. 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.
If the book doesnt make strict chronological sense, it. The main characters of this fiction, young adult story are. Jamie smithjackson portrays a shy, slightly overweight high schooler who is so anxious for acceptance that she falls in with the drug crowd. Based on a 15yearolds diary, go ask alice is the intimate account of one girls fatal journey into the world of drug addiction.
Some people maintain that alice in wonderland can only have been written by an author with considerable hallucinogenic mushroom experience under their belt. Go ask alice 2006 read online free book by anonymous in. Attributed to anonymous, the book is in diary form, and was originally presented as being the edited real diary of the unnamed teenage protagonist. The story starts off like any other book, with a normal day and a normal family. With over a million copies in print, this book has become a classic.
11 5 67 1466 1355 482 1573 725 1178 1092 248 159 1317 788 228 590 793 1260 408 1253 1528 119 375 303 783 917 632 1000 1399 1288