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This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. Nic's school is located on the campus of a former what?

2. What university did David attend after high school?

3. Nic decides that his choice of college had been a mistake and that he would do better at what type of college?

4. When Nic misses his curfew for the first time after moving back home, for how long does he stay away?

5. To whom does David attribute Nic's love for film directors such as Godard, Bergman, and Kurosawa?

Short Essay Questions

1. What is the author's purpose for using a quote from The Tempest as an epigraph for Part II?

2. How does David react when he finds a baggie of marijuana in Nic's room?

3. What approach does David take in his stance with Nic about the topic of illicit drugs?

4. How does David Sheff characterize his friend Charles?

5. Discuss Sheff's purpose for providing statistics about methamphetamine use in the introduction.

6. How is the theme of duality demonstrated in David's discussion of Nic's behavior with his younger siblings?

7. What is the symbolism of the word everything?

8. What pattern does David note in Nic's literary tastes in high school?

9. What positive effects of marijuana does David describe in his own life?

10. What is Charles's first close call with drugs and how is David involved?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

What ultimate message is David Sheff's memoir Beautiful Boy sending about the nature and value of compassion?

Essay Topic 2

Discuss the significance of the final passages included at the end of David Sheff's memoir Beautiful Boy.

Essay Topic 3

How does David Sheff’s memoir Beautiful Boy utilize irony within the text? Discuss at least three uses of irony within the memoir and explore each instance's connection to larger themes contained within the piece.

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