Go Ask Alice: Book Summary: Go Ask Alice

591 Words2 Pages

Laina Schumacher
HLT 121 Drug Use and Abuse
Campbell
04/18/14
Go Ask Alice
Go Ask Alice is a collection of various diary entries from an anonymous narrator who is never named (we’ll call her Alice). Alice is a typical teenager in the late 1960’s trying to find herself in the world. She is fifteen years old and is worried about all the normal teenage stuff (boys, sex, weight, social life, parents), and just like many other teenagers, she has trouble finding a place for herself, and turns to drugs for comfort. She becomes rebellious, and in the end, pays ultimately for her actions.
The novel begins with Alice’s first diary entry in September. She talks a lot about feeling like she doesn’t fit in, and butting heads with her mother and siblings. She also speaks of the anxieties associated with having sex for the first time. Soon after the first entry, her father gets a promotion and stages a move for the family, which excites Alice, as she is ready for a change in her life. As the move gets closer, however, Alice becomes nervous and scared about fitting in in an entirely new place. On...

Show More
Related

  • Go Ask Alice Paper

    764 Words  | 2 Pages

    This book portrays the life and choices that fifteen year old Alice faces in her life. Although the character is named Alice, she does not correlate with any specific person in real life. The journals were a combination of different patients Sparks was seeing. Since its publishing in 1971, Go Ask Alice has become one of the most controversial banned books. This is because of its strong commentary on sexuality, suicide, heavy drug usage and teen pregnancy.

    Read More

  • The Looking Glass Wars

    791 Words  | 2 Pages

    Here, Alyss learned that she would need to live up to the real world responsibilities that people have to live up to everyday. Once in England, she was staying with a family that constantly tormented her about her claims of living in Wonderland, which caused her to lose faith in the place where she grew up and had to treat her beliefs and childhood as if they did not exist in order to live a normal life. Alyss even said, “Yes, it was a solution… Become just like everyone else.” (148) She began to accept the life of a normal girl and took on responsibilities like getting married. “If she’d had time to think about it, Alice might have stopped herself, considering the idea too whimsical. But the words had a force of their own, and only after she said them aloud did she realize just how appropriate the idea was. ‘Let’s have a masquerade.’” (172) At this point in time, Alyss Heart, or Alice Liddell, had just begun to take on the responsibility that any young adult would take at her

    Read More

  • Interracial Relationships In Kindred By Octavia Butler

    725 Words  | 2 Pages

    Alice and Kevin have an interesting start to their relationship. Initially, it appears that Dana is not interested in Kevin, as she tries to reject communication and his advances through buying her lunch. This distance on Dana’s part allows readers to contemplate whether Dana is put off by Kevin’s obtrusive attitude because he is a man, because he is white, or a combination of the two. As the novel advances, Butler continues to focus Kevin’s faults in his marriage because of his identity as a white man.

    Read More

  • Go Ask Alice

    879 Words  | 2 Pages

    Go Ask Alice is the diary of a young 15 year old drug abuser. At the beginning of the book, "Alice" is a typical, insecure, middle class teenager that only thinks with boys, diets, and popularity. She never taught of getting into drugs. This girl had a lot of self esteem, and was very happy. Her life changes for the worse when her family moves to a new town and she finds herself less popular and more isolated than ever before. That is why she buys this diary to express herself with personal taughts. She becomes unhappy in the new town, she is overjoyed to be allowed to return to the old town to spend the summer with her grandparents. During this stay she is invited to a party by an old acquaintance; there she unwittingly ingests LSD that had been added to random bottles of Coca Cola and distributed to the party guests as a game. The other guests had mistakenly assumed Alice was aware of what the "game" entailed. After this, she seeks drugs deliberately, and rapidly proceeds to marijuana, amphetamines, and casual sex. A pregnancy scare and the return to her new town encourage her to turn away from drugs; however she soon falls in with the drug crowd where finally she finds acceptance. She starts dating a drug dealer and sells drugs to grade-schoolers for him. After realizing he was using her, she turns him in to the police and runs away from home with her new friend Chris, moving to San Francisco. After being given heroin and then being raped by Chris' boss, Shelia and her boyfriend, she and Chris return home.

    Read More

  • Go Ask Alice By Anonymous

    834 Words  | 2 Pages

    Teenagers of every race, religion, and clique relate deeply to the words of the anonymous teenager within the book Go Ask Alice, by an anonymous girl whose life enters a place where, as most teenagers, she has no idea who to turn to, or where to go. "Oh dear god, help me adjust, help me be accepted, help me belong, don't let me be an outcast and a drag on my family," (Anonymous, 13). With these words, we are accepted into the girl's life, and into her heart and mind. I chose this quote because it is one quote that I think relates to the theme. She writes in her diary about her life, and her diary is like a best friend. It is someone she can spill all of her secrets to and something to express her feelings. Everyone needs to share his or her feelings in order to live a healthy life.

    Read More

  • The Glass Castle Essay

    521 Words  | 2 Pages

    The book starts off with Jeannette, a successful adult, taking a taxi to a nice party. When she looked out the window, she saw a woman digging through the garbage. The woman was her mother. Rather than calling out to her or saying hi, Jeannette slid down into the seat in fear that her mother would see her. When asking her mother what she should say when people ask about her family, Rose Mary Walls only told her, “Ju...

    Read More

  • Reasons behind Lucas´ Suicide in Good Hair

    1349 Words  | 3 Pages

    The commitment of Lucas to share his last words with his sister shows a deep love and respect for the one that he caused so much pain. The identity that he created in his death is one that shows weakness and a falsehood of what success truly is. Alice’s healing of her own scars starts with her realization that denial of the events of her past have also stopped her from living for the future. With this final set of circumstances, Alice, now can become the person that she truly sees her self to be; An independent black professional woman who does not fit the mold that society has carved out for her to be. Lucas has given her the freedom to create her own identity and the freedom to use his life mistakes as lessons for her own well being and survival of identity issues, societal views, and her relationships.

    Read More

  • Alice’s Maturation through Wonderland

    619 Words  | 2 Pages

    Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland is a book full of mystery, confusion, and chaos. However, beneath the surface of the story lies rich commentary on Victorian England society and the maturation process of a young girl. Carroll provides criticism on various aspects of society including the nonsensical legal system, the class system, and politics. This criticism is entwined with Alice’s relatable journey of becoming a just adult who is willing to stand up for herself, others, and the truth. “The importance of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland as a radical breakthrough in the history of children’s literature can hardly be over-estimated.” (Wullschlager 55) Lewis Carroll gives the reader information about Alice’s maturation and assurance that she will turn into a just adult as well as social commentary on Victorian England through the trial of the knave, the Mad Hatter, and the Caucus Race.

    Read More

  • Sublime Themes In Alice Walker's Poem At Thirty-Nine

    1657 Words  | 4 Pages

    Alice Walker’s writing is encouraging, for it empowers individuals to embrace their culture, human decency, and the untold stories of those who were forgotten. She slays gender roles while fighting for the rights of everyone, and frequently describes how one can impact the life of another and how much control one should have over another’s fate in her themes. Walker’s sublime style exhibited within her works goes lengths to display her themes which are based mainly off of the passionate women she was raised around and the circumstances they overcame. She uses symbolism and metaphors to highlight the themes within her works. Transition needed. carefully cultivates texts that demonstrate her ability to appeal to the minds of the common populace.

    Read More

  • Theme Of Mirror Image

    1295 Words  | 3 Pages

    A major conflict is focusing on after Alice’s brain operation, she perceives to everyone and herself she’s the same girl she used to be. Unfortunately, her friends and family don’t agree that she is the same person. “You’re always saying that you are still you because you have the same brain, but who is to say that your whole personality is in your head?” (pg.5) Jenny argues that Alice is a completely different person than who she used to be. Their mother stands up for Alice but secretly does not agree with her, she does not see Alice as the daughter she used to have. “Sometimes I think my sister is dead.” (pg.5) This similar quote is showing how powerful Jenny feels about the new Alice and her failure to see how Alice is truly seeking self reflection. “Alice stared at her mother, but again her mother avoided her eyes.” (pg.5) This final quote impacts the reader 's empathetically and Alice immeasurably knowing that her own mother doesn’t accept her for who she is now. These quotes show the frustration from Alice and her family, skillfully building apprehensive conflict in the rising

    Read More

  • Nonsense and Justice in Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland

    724 Words  | 2 Pages

    Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland is a story about a little girl who comes into contact with unpredictable, illogical, basically mad world of Wonderland by following the White Rabbit into a huge rabbit – hole. Everything she experiences there challenges her perception and questions common sense. This extraordinary world is inhabited with peculiar, mystical and anthropomorphic creatures that constantly assault Alice which makes her to question her fundamental beliefs and suffer an identity crisis. Nevertheless, as she woke up from “such a curious dream” she could not help but think “as well she might, what a wonderful dream it had been ”.

    Read More

  • The Coming of Age Theme in Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, by Lewis Carroll

    2628 Words  | 6 Pages

    Although the novel is notorious for its satire and parodies, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland main theme is the transition between childhood and adulthood. Moreover, Alice’s adventures illustrate the perplexing struggle between child and adult mentalities as she explores the curious world of development know as Wonderland. From the beginning in the hallway of doors, Alice stands at an awkward disposition. The hallway contains dozens of doors that are all locked. Alice’s pre-adolescent stage parallels with her position in the hallway. Alice’s position in the hallway represents that she is at a stage stuck between being a child and a young woman. She posses a small golden key to ...

    Read More

  • Analysis Of Still Alice

    1141 Words  | 3 Pages

    The story begins when Alice is out jogging following a path she has used numerous times before. However, she gets lost in the Harvard Square and cannot remember her way back home. This is only one of the memory issues she has been experiencing

    Read More

  • Alice in Wonderland

    900 Words  | 2 Pages

    Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland follows the story of young Alice trapped in the world of Wonderland after falling down through a rabbit-hole. The rabbit-hole which is filled with bookshelves, maps, and other objects foreshadows the set of rules, the ones Alice is normally accustomed to, will be defied in Wonderland. This conflict between her world and Wonderland becomes evident shortly after her arrival as evinced by chaos in “Pool of Tears” and Alice brings up the main theme of the book “was I the same when I got up this morning? I almost think I can remember feeling a little different. But if I am not the same, the next question is who am I?” (Carroll 18). After Alice fails to resolve her identity crisis using her friends, Alice says “Who am I, then? Tell me that first, and then, if I like being that person, I’ll come up: if not, I’ll stay down here til I’m somebody else” (Carroll 19). Hence in the beginning, Alice is showing her dependency on others to define her identity. Nevertheless when her name is called as a witness in chapter 12, Alice replies “HERE!” without any signs of hesitation (Carroll 103). Close examination of the plot in Alice in Wonderland reveals that experiential learning involving sizes leads Alice to think logically and rationally. Alice then attempts to explore Wonderland analytically and becomes more independent as the outcome. With these qualities, Alice resolves her identity crisis by recognizing Wonderland is nothing but a dream created by her mind.

    Read More

  • Alice in Wonderland Critical Analysis

    1762 Words  | 4 Pages

    At the beginning of the story Alice is a little girl who is very curious, but also quite scared of being alone. First of all, she has an inquiring mind that brings her down the rabbit hole and, even if her way of thinking could remind the adult kind of thoughts, she still acts like a child. A clear example of this kind of behavior is when she finds a bottle with the words “DRINK ME” labeled on. Before drinking f...

    Read More

More about Go Ask Alice: Book Summary: Go Ask Alice

Open Document